Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski wrote The ELL Teacher's Toolbox and conceived of a series replicating the format of their popular book. They identified authors of all the books in the series and worked closely with them during their writing and publication.
Larry Ferlazzo teaches English, Social Studies, and International Baccalaureate classes to English Language Learners and others at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California.
He has written nine books: 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); The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide (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; 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).
He has 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.
He writes a popular education blog at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/, a weekly teacher advice column for Education Week Teacher blog and posts for the New York Times and the Washington Post. He also hosts a weekly radio show on BAM! Education Radio.
He was a community organizer for 19 years prior to becoming a public school teacher.
Larry is married and has three children and two grandchildren.
A basketball team he played for came in last place every year from 2012 to 2017. He retired from league play after that year, and the team then played for the championship. These results might indicate that Larry made a wise career choice in not pursuing a basketball career.
Katie Hull Sypnieski has taught English language learners and others at the secondary level for over 20 years. She currently teaches middle school English Language Arts and Social Studies at Fern Bacon Middle School in Sacramento, California.
She leads professional development for educators as a teaching consultant with the Area 3 Writing Project at the University of California, Davis.
She is co-author (with Larry Ferlazzo) of The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide, Navigating the Common Core with English Language Learners, and The ELL Teacher's Toolbox. She has written articles for the Washington Post, ASCD Educational Leadership, and Edutopia. She and Larry have developed two video series with Education Week on differentiation and student motivation.
Katie lives in Sacramento with her husband and their three children.