1) Name of Web Site
Teaching Texas
2) Web Site Address
3) Copyright date and/or last update
I had a hard time finding an
update date on the page, but the most current newsletter is for March 2015,
based on that information and by the information found throughout the website I
believe that the web site is maintained regularly.
4) Author/Organization credentials
This site is a collaborative
project of the Texas State Historical Association, the Portal to Texas History,
the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and numerous partners. This
service is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, a state
partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © Texas State
Historical Association
5) Web Site design and ease of
Navigation
This web site has a very
simple navigation system. On the main page it utilizes icons to take you to
different resources for Texas History teachers. This area is very helpful in
the fact that many things that could be useful to a teacher are easy to navigate
to and back home. The labels and pictures are very clear and easy to
understand, no surprises when you click on an icon. On the side bar you have
other navigation links these are helpful as well, but they are not the main
focus of the page. The design of the page makes everything very easy to find
and I did not come across any links that did not work or seemed overly out of
date. The main icons on the home page would take you to online primary or
secondary sources, lesson plans, staff development, speakers or presenters,
student programs, interactive websites and apps, audio-visual materials, books,
guides, museum exhibits or programs, special events, awards, and a link to the
newsletter. All of these things have a wealth of information for a teacher to draw
from. For example under lessons you would have different lessons with a title
and the source of its origination, most of these would take you to another page
with a short explanation then a link to the website to have the full plan. Also
on items throughout the web site, some of the information such as the primary
source link they had the TEKS that went along with the information. This could
be very useful when working on STAAR preparation.
6) My Response and recommendation for
use
Most of this web site is
geared toward the teacher. There is so much information on this site that a
teacher can pull from to enrich his classroom. The TEKS assistance would help
in lesson planning. The newsletter is a monthly update of events, you have date
page, so many different things to keep a teacher current on events and
resources.
1) Name of Web Site
Texas Independence
2) Web Site Address
3) Copyright date and/or last update
I could not find a date or an
update, but the page did not seem to be out of date or have any errors from
lack of maintenance so I believe that it is a regularly updated and maintained
web site.
4) Author/Organization credentials
Texas Independence is a collaborative
project. There are many teachers, advisors, and contributors listed on the
credits page. It appears to be the work of many people together to make a fun
interactive page for Texas history.
5) Web Site design and ease of
Navigation
From the home page you can go
to many different places. On the right side bar you can make your own comic,
this would be a fun place to let students tell a store of independence, you can
go to a timeline of Texas independence, read about the grievances of Texans,
You can see who signed the Declaration of Texas Independence, there is also a
link to primary sources, and a Teacher resource link that provides resource
material and lesson plans. Also on the home page you can play an interactive
revolution game or watch a movie. On the bottom is another link bar with web
site information. The ease of navigation is very simple and easy to follow. The
material provided is “cartoony” for lack of a better word, but I feel that this
interaction would be helpful in getting a student interested in the site. All
the links appear to work and have a wealth of information that both teachers
and students can use.
6) My response and recommendation for
use
I found the web site very
useful and could be a valuable tool for interactive lessons with students. I
think students could really get into making a cartoon about Texas Revolution.
The site is geared for both student interaction as well as a resource for
teachers. The lesson plans are helpful and having another place to find primary
sources for research is always welcome. There is also a link to a mobile app, I
did not use this, but this could be another tool to let students use personal
technology in the classroom.
1) Name of Web Site
ICivics
2) Web Site Address
3) Copyright date and/or last update
This web site is current and
has many things that are listed in 2015.
4) Author/Organization credentials
The web site has many
different organizations and persons on its credit page, but it was founded and
is led by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
5) Web Site design and ease of
Navigation
The web site design can be
simple if you stick to the basic links, but you can get lost on the web site
very quickly if you go too far off task. If this is used with students for
games you will have to provide direct instruction on what links they can and
cannot click. The main page has two major icons in the middle one is to play
and one is to teach. This is the big decision of the website to gear toward the
teacher or a student. The student link has fun games that bring the government
system to life, you can play many games such as running for president and
learning about immigration. The teacher link takes you to a menu that contains
curriculum units, lesson plans, games, drafting boards, webquests, and DBQuest
challenges. All of these tabs give a teacher new tools to help teach his
students and the go right along with the links on the student side so you can
create an interactive lesson that both the teacher and student can engage in
together. Web sites such as this one have so much information that it can be
overwhelming if you have a student log onto it, this being said teacher
guidance is needed. After exploring all this website has to offer and
navigating through all of its links and games I am sure there is something here
for everyone interested in history. The games have an educational look to them
that may turn off some kids to the site, crisper graphics and smoother
interface would help the games be more interesting to the student.
6) My Response and recommendation for
use
I came across this web site
when I was looking at things about immigration. Immigration is a big part of
Texas history and Icivic has a game about immigration-nation. This is a good
tool to teach students how important immigration is to the nation and the
state. Upon looking at this one part I joined the website and found that it has
many different games and huge library of tools that can be utilized in a
history classroom, not just a Texas history classroom. The website is geared to
both teachers and students, but from the home page it is very obvious which way
to go for the user.
1) Name of Web Site
The Education page for
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum
2) Web Site Address
3) Copyright date and/or last update
This website was updated in
2015
4) Author/Organization credentials
This is a part of the web site
for the Panhandle-Plains History Museum. There is no particular author, but as
part of the museum website it is ran by the museum and college.
5) Web Site design and ease of
Navigation
The navigation and design of
the web site is user friendly and easy to navigate. With a quick link back to
the main museum page where there is more information for people to enjoy. The
education portion is not very in-depth, but it is a local historical resource.
The museum has several events through the year that you can be involved in,
with ages as little as 2 all the way to adulthood. There is another link to
help schedule field trips or even a visit to your school. The next link is a
lesson plans, these are geared toward 4th and 7th
graders, I am concluding this centers in on Texas history. Although it is not
very extensive it does offer local activities and information that can be
useful to teachers. The trunk idea is a way to bring the museum to your
classroom if a field trip is not possible.
6) My response and recommendation for
use
Most children in the
Canyon/Amarillo area have been to the Panhandle-Plains History Museum, so using
it as a resource to teach a lesson, helps the children connect to it, because
they have been there and seen what you are talking about.
1) Name of Web Site
Texas Archive of the Moving
Image (TAMI)
2) Web Site Address
3) Copyright date and/or last update
There are events scheduled for
April 8, 2015 on the website, so by this information I gather that it is
updated regularly and maintained as well.
4) Author/Organization credentials
The Executive Director is
Caroline Frick, managing director is Madeline Moya, administrative coordinator
is Susan Dirks, the technical director is Afsheen Nomai, marketing and event
coordinator is Sarah Marshall, and the education specialist is Caitlin McColl.
The site was founded in 2002 by film archivist and UT at Austin professor Dr.
Caroline Frick. TAMI is a non-profit organization working to discover,
preserve, provide access to, and educate the community about Texas’ film
heritage.
5) Web Site design and ease of
Navigation
TAMI has a larger web site,
but I concentrated on the education tab at the top of the page. On the
education page it has a flipping main screen that has recent teaching resources
flipping as well as updates listed below. The updates include news, new lesson
plans and activities. The Teach Texas links on the right side of the screen
give you resources grouped by both topics and grades. This makes it easy to
find information or lesson plans that have been created for the grade you teach
or for the topic you want to cover (TEK). The navigation is simple and takes you
right where you need to go, I did not come across any errors or links that did
not work. The design is simple and not distracting, very business. It could use
a little flashing up to bring more interest, but it is an educational site and
the design fits the content. I think there is a lot of information here that
could be useful to a new or seasoned teacher.
6) My response and recommendation for
use
This assignment has opened my
eyes to how many sources there are out there for teachers to pull from to make
their lessons come alive and be more interactive. This site is a teacher web
site with helpful links and assistance. I like how this site narrows it down to
topic and/or grade and makes the searching for plans or ideas much easier. This
could be a quick go to site if you need an idea real quick and don’t have time
to look through a mountain of information.
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