I teach English, Social Studies and International Baccalaureate classes to English Language Learners and English-proficient students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California.
I've written or edited thirteen books on education: The ELL Teacher's Toolbox (with co-author Katie Hull Sypnieski); Navigating The Common Core With English Language Learners (with co-author Katie Hull Sypnieski); Building A Community Of Self-Motivated Learners: Strategies To Help Students Thrive In School and Beyond; Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching; Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies For Student Motivation; The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide (with co-author Katie Hull Sypnieski); Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers To Classroom Challenges; English Language Learners: Teaching Strategies That Work; and Building Parent Engagement In Schools (with co-author Lorie Hammond). Katie Hull and I also edited a series of books on Math, Science and Social Studies that are modeled on our ELL Teacher's Toolbox. A second edition of the ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide was recently published. The Student Motivation Handbook is my newest book.
My other writing includes a popular education blog at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ , a weekly teacher advice column for Education Week Teacher and a series of posts for The New York Times. My articles on education policy regularly appear in the Washington Post. In addition, my articles have appeared in publications such as ASCD Educational Leadership, Social Policy, and Language Magazine.
I've won several awards, including the Leadership For A Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation, and was the Grand Prize Winner of the International Reading Association Award for Technology and Reading.
You can check out three hundred radio show segments I've done on BAM! Education Radio.
I was a community organizer for nineteen years prior to becoming a public school teacher.
In the personal area, I'm married and have three children and four grandchildren.
A basketball team I play for has come in last place every year since 2014, so I should not give up my day job for a career in sports.
