Educational Resources
"Directory of Open Access Journals"
This website is one that I have used in high school and college for finding sources when writing research papers. Usable for almost any subject, DOAJ provides an easy to navigate search tool to look up print articles regarding anything that comes to mind. All of these sources are free to use and easy to cite as well. This website will be an invaluable resource to my students when it comes time to assign research papers and Wikipedia is not considered a credible source.
This website is one that I have used in high school and college for finding sources when writing research papers. Usable for almost any subject, DOAJ provides an easy to navigate search tool to look up print articles regarding anything that comes to mind. All of these sources are free to use and easy to cite as well. This website will be an invaluable resource to my students when it comes time to assign research papers and Wikipedia is not considered a credible source.
"Shorpy"
Two things that are extremely important to me as an aspiring social studies teacher are getting kids interested in history and making history come alive. This website works wonders for both of those concerns! Shorpy is a blog where daily posts consist of a simple photo with a description of the who, what, when, where, and why of the photo. The photos, some just of buildings, others of people, are literally a small screenshot of a point in time. Kids are always snapping photos of people and things, so I feel my students would be interested in photos of historical events and people that were taken by people just like them. I also plan to use this website to inspire a weekly writing assignment. I will allow my students to pick one photo from the hundreds of photos this site holds and ask them to research and write a 1-2 page paper detailing some facet of the photograph. This assignment leaves so much room for creativity, as the student could write about anything so long as he or she could relate it back to the picture.
Two things that are extremely important to me as an aspiring social studies teacher are getting kids interested in history and making history come alive. This website works wonders for both of those concerns! Shorpy is a blog where daily posts consist of a simple photo with a description of the who, what, when, where, and why of the photo. The photos, some just of buildings, others of people, are literally a small screenshot of a point in time. Kids are always snapping photos of people and things, so I feel my students would be interested in photos of historical events and people that were taken by people just like them. I also plan to use this website to inspire a weekly writing assignment. I will allow my students to pick one photo from the hundreds of photos this site holds and ask them to research and write a 1-2 page paper detailing some facet of the photograph. This assignment leaves so much room for creativity, as the student could write about anything so long as he or she could relate it back to the picture.
"Al Jazeera"
Al Jazeera is a broadcasting network based out of Qatar. Unlike many American news broadcasts, Al Jazeera has been highly praised for creating unbiased news stories detailing happenings of the Middle East. All too often we find American news sites covering stories on celebrities or viral videos instead of world news, thus leading many minds to question what really is "important news". I want my students to have an unbiased view of what is happening overseas, and there is no better news outlet than one based literally in the smack-dab middle of the Middle East.
Al Jazeera is a broadcasting network based out of Qatar. Unlike many American news broadcasts, Al Jazeera has been highly praised for creating unbiased news stories detailing happenings of the Middle East. All too often we find American news sites covering stories on celebrities or viral videos instead of world news, thus leading many minds to question what really is "important news". I want my students to have an unbiased view of what is happening overseas, and there is no better news outlet than one based literally in the smack-dab middle of the Middle East.
"The Political Compass"
I absolutely love this website and have used it with my friends and family many times! As a former political science major, it is very important to me that my students know where they stand in their beliefs so that they can be better informed citizens who make wise voting choices that are based on facts, values, and morals, not which candidate is better looking. This website leads users through six categories of questions to develop a political persona based on their answers. The test result doesn't just come out as "Republican/Democrat" or "Conservative/Liberal"; instead, it pinpoints students on a graph based on economic and social beliefs. The website also offers an informative brief on what the different axes on the graph mean as well as where popular political figureheads lie. This website is a must-have for any government teacher!
I absolutely love this website and have used it with my friends and family many times! As a former political science major, it is very important to me that my students know where they stand in their beliefs so that they can be better informed citizens who make wise voting choices that are based on facts, values, and morals, not which candidate is better looking. This website leads users through six categories of questions to develop a political persona based on their answers. The test result doesn't just come out as "Republican/Democrat" or "Conservative/Liberal"; instead, it pinpoints students on a graph based on economic and social beliefs. The website also offers an informative brief on what the different axes on the graph mean as well as where popular political figureheads lie. This website is a must-have for any government teacher!
"Before They Were Presidents"
This website offers students a look at what our Presidents were like before they held their title as Commander-in-Chief. Students get to guess Presidents by photos of them from their childhood and are rewarded with information and quotes from them regarding their personal lives as well as their political lives. I look forward to using this website in my future career because I plan to teach a unit about Presidents with a focus on how they are all normal people, just like the rest of us. A project where my students research a certain President will show them that they, too, can achieve great things - such as a Presidency - no matter where they come from.
This website offers students a look at what our Presidents were like before they held their title as Commander-in-Chief. Students get to guess Presidents by photos of them from their childhood and are rewarded with information and quotes from them regarding their personal lives as well as their political lives. I look forward to using this website in my future career because I plan to teach a unit about Presidents with a focus on how they are all normal people, just like the rest of us. A project where my students research a certain President will show them that they, too, can achieve great things - such as a Presidency - no matter where they come from.