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The intended purpose of this page is to educate people on the self-esteem changes that occur in middle school students, through a study done with different ethnic groups. The indented audience is for anyone I would say middle school and older interested in this study and the information. The full article and study, the publication date, publication type, authors, and editors are available through this site. I think this site is very informative and credible based on the information given, and the site is set up for easy access. This study takes a look at middle school students grades 6-8 of different gender and ethnic groups. These ethnic groups include European American, African American, and Hispanic. This study was done on the same students for the consecutive three years comparing the self-esteem of ethnic groups and of gender. The content of this page is relatively old, dating in 2006, but the rest of the article is credible, peer reviewed, and the authors and editor are educated on the subject. This web page does not have a strong eye appeal, and does not bring a lot of attention. The page is easy to navigate. The title and the authors are clear, and all the information regarding the study is listed for easy reference. A summary is posted on the actual web page, and the full text is available through a link. The design is very simple, and is only one page that summarizes all the information.

The intended audience appears to be parents of middle school children, and the intended purpose is to try to explain why self confidence in middle school takes a hit. The article was written in 2010, and there is no evidence to suggest that the website has been updated since then. There is no information on the author, but she has written a lot of articles for this website. Unsure what her credentials are. The website provided a lot of good helpful information, but I would be hesitant to use it as an educational site, because there is not enough information about the author, and her expertise on the subject. The content of the article is about why students self esteem takes a hit in middle school. The author explains one way is bullying. She elaborates on the topic of why students are cruel during these years. She gets her information from a book written by an author with a PhD. This author is quoted many times, and the article is entirely based on this book. The problem is explained, then possible solutions for the victim students to stand up against their peers and build self-esteem. The author of the book is well educated, but that is all that is provided, and no information of the author of the article is provided. The website has some eye appeal, using bright colors such as pink to emphasize. The cover of the book the article is based on is provided. There are a lot of ads for other articles written on this website, and links to these articles both in and around the story. There are videos at the bottom of the page, explaining different articles and how-to's. There is also a comment section for readers to rate the page and write comments.

The purpose of this article was to encourage teachers in their work and the impact that they have on students, as well as provide a few resources that have held true for the author, sixth grade teacher, Elena Aguilar. Mrs. Aguilar said that she received an email from a student who had taken her middle school English class and was now going into the same profession. On a personal side, I would like to note that my story is very much the same, so this caught my attention. The teacher recounts what she told her student, that middle school was and still is her favorite level to teach. She then shares a book, websites, and blogs that she has referred to many times throughout her many years of teaching. Visually, the website is appealing. The content is simple and organized. There were no graphics, but there really was no need for any here. The content is formatted in such a way that there are no distractions along the sidebar or even at the bottom of the page. I personally really enjoyed the simplicity of this article. The piece is only a few paragraphs long, but the message being relayed really only needs that much content. There are no spelling or grammar errors here and Mrs. Aguilar maintains a professional speaking voice while she relays a very personal story. The resources that she provides at the bottom of her article are also worth a look. Overall, the article is short and sweet, yet helpful.

Posted by Tanisha Daugaard on September 21, 2009 This site is mainly intended for middle school teachers, but it can also be used as a resource for students. It focuses on English, writing, and reading. It is a great site to find lesson plans, electronic books and manuscripts, and other useful information for the classroom. Content: This site is very well organized. It is divided into three sections: English, reading, and writing. It has numerous links to other sites dealing with each subject area. It appears to be updated frequently and the website developers also take input on what other sites would be good to add. I feel the content achieves the purpose quite effectively. Everything just flows together. It is easy to understand, and each link has a description of what can be found on the site. The authors appear to be qualified in middle school education. In general, the links work properly and route the users to other useful, creditable sites. Individual contributors are not listed, but an email for the designers is provided. This site also clearly labels the new links that have been posted. Design: The site is designed very well. It is clear of ads and other pictures that are not related to the subject. This site is easy to navigate. Each site that is linked falls under one of three categories. Each graphic serves a purpose and the site doesn't include anything that distracts the users. There is enough information provided that makes the site usable for teachers and students. It covers many areas under English, reading, and writing. The site is modified and the updates are clearly marked. Everything is well organized and easy for anyone of any age to use. Attribution: Using and quoting information from this site can be tricky. Some links clearly state who the authors are, but others don't at all. Overall, I think this site is used more for getting ideas than actually quoting someone. The information provided is very useful, but one has to be careful

Overview MyHistro is a multifaceted site. It's main purpose is to aid history teaching by providing interactive maps that display the locations of historical events. It also is trying to jump on the social networking bandwagon by allowing users to create their own timelines with maps of their own lives. It also does the same for businesses. For educational uses, this site can be used for middle school students and above. For middle school students, some discretion needs to be used when choosing which parts of the site to use. It might be a good idea for the teacher to operate the site on a projector. For networking uses, I would recommend that only adults use this site and even then with discretion as by doing so you put your personal information out there. My initial impressions were that this site is very professional and has a ton of content to explore. It is a site that is very engaging for both educational and other uses and could really be a good motivator for kids.

Sara Hindman January 24, 2010 Overview The site I evaluated was NobelPrize.org and its main purpose is to educate anyone about the history of the Nobel Peace Prize award and possibly convince people to pursue that award. Along with educating and persuading, the website has educational games in subjects; such as, chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, peace, and economics. The intended audience for the Nobel Peace Prize website is for anyone over the age or 18, while the educational games section of the website is for high school, middle school, and late elementary school students. Some games include blood typing, Pavlov's dog, Lord of the Flies, electrocardiograms, and a split brain experiment. Unfortunately there are no links to available resources outside of the website. The content was very clear and concise, but the only thing I had trouble with was who designed the website and who could I contact if I had questions. Design is awesome, everything is easy to find and there is clear instructions for the games. I would use this website in my classroom, but it definitely for older children. Content NobelPrize.org had many strengths and little weaknesses. Their strengths included understanding the purpose of the website, easy access to the latest revision dates, and information quality. Their one weakness was I could not find the name of the person who provided all the information. I assume that the Nobel Peace Prize Organization provided all the information and games and that it is credible, but I do not want to jump to conclusions. There were also no links to outside resources that related to some of the same areas of interest; such as, medicine or economics. Overall, the content was great except for the lack of authority. Design This website is one of the best I have seen. The speed was fast, the home page attractive and informative, and the website was extremely easy to navigate. All the graphics, audio files, and video files worked perfectly

Sarah Skinner on January 21, 2010 Overview The purpose of this site is to provide educational equipment to school aged children that will help them be more open to the idea of learning. There are educational games. A child could learn to speak Spanish or English if English is not the student's first language. They can also translate words into English, Spanish, or Portuguese. There are educational coloring worksheets and painting activities that can be printed out. A student can learn how to play and read music as well. Math and Science games are also available as well as books that are recommended for children. There are recommendations for special need students as well. There are arcade games and sports game that can be fun for children. This site also has a link for tips for buying children's footwear and clothing. Content The basic content of the site is clearly laid out. There are accessible links that are clearly marked to what they lead to. The intended audience is a little confusing. The site has games that are for elementary school aged children and they advertise for children. But, there are other links that are more for parents are teachers that are selling their products and advertising for hotels and teaching jobs. There is no author that is visible but the website name is clearly marked. Since there was no author visible, there was not information on the author available. There is a link to learn more about the company which shows that they are qualified to give out this information. There is contact information to ask questions. The latest revision year is provided at the bottom. It was last updated in 2010 so the information is up to date. All links are working appropriately at this time. The purpose of the site is hard to determine. There are many links for a variety of purposes. The content appears to be complete as well. The site is well organized. The information is easy to interpret. There is a lot of information that is useful. The

Katie Hurrell January 21, 2010 Overview: The purpose of learn4good.com is to allow students to access this website in order to play games to help them learn in different areas of school. The intended audience is elementary school children. The available resources are games, worksheets, coloring pages, and any other internet game that students might find entertaining in order to help them learn. My overall impression is that the content is clearly divided into different sections and the design makes the website easy to use. Content: At a first look the website is very user friendly and shows the user the sections of learning that the website offers. Also each sections talks about what type of activity is offered so student s can see what is appealing to them. The content is well organized and the website is free of bias. The information seems to be accurate based on the team that created the website. The links to other sites are related to the students learning needs, as well as the teacher's needs. Design: The homepage is attractive and each section has its own little graphic with it. The colors that are used on the website make it look attractive to little kids. The website is easy enough that students can easily find their way around the website. There is sufficient information that makes the website worth visiting. At the bottom of the website the user is able to find the revision date on the website. There is a working link that is provided to contact the website. I would say that the website is well designed and easy to use.

Daniella Gonzales Late, September 29,2009 Content: This website, SOU: Guide to Writing History Papers, is a very good resource for both students and teachers. It shows different structures for papers, general recommendations for writing a fact document as well as encouraging words for those who might get discouraged. I think this would be an excellent resource for any student having difficulties with writing fact documents, as these are much different than creative writing pieces. Also it is a good resource for teachers to use, so they can teach their students how to write papers before any are even due. Another reason it could be good for teachers is it would be able to help teachers know what to look for when grading a paper for a history based class. Design: The design of the website is very clear and concise. It starts with saying that it is a guide for writing papers, followed by a list that the website provides of everything that this website helps with, including links to help navigate to a specific part easier. After this navigational list the website starts going in depth of everything that was found on the list. It is very simple and even the individual who is completely new at using the internet could follow it. Attribution: I think that this website is an excellent resource for both students and teachers alike. I want to become an IB history teacher and as one you must prepare your students to write history papers in less than two hours that cover all aspects of the question. This website would help me learn how to teach my students to write better papers so that they can succeed on the exams. Also I think any student from middle school through college could use it if they didn't understand how to write a paper. This website is very well written and I would definitely use it as a teacher.

Daniella Gonzales Late, September 29,2009 Content: This website, SOU: Guide to Writing History Papers, is a very good resource for both students and teachers. It shows different structures for papers, general recommendations for writing a fact document as well as encouraging words for those who might get discouraged. I think this would be an excellent resource for any student having difficulties with writing fact documents, as these are much different than creative writing pieces. Also it is a good resource for teachers to use, so they can teach their students how to write papers before any are even due. Another reason it could be good for teachers is it would be able to help teachers know what to look for when grading a paper for a history based class. Design: The design of the website is very clear and concise. It starts with saying that it is a guide for writing papers, followed by a list that the website provides of everything that this website helps with, including links to help navigate to a specific part easier. After this navigational list the website starts going in depth of everything that was found on the list. It is very simple and even the individual who is completely new at using the internet could follow it. Attribution: I think that this website is an excellent resource for both students and teachers alike. I want to become an IB history teacher and as one you must prepare your students to write history papers in less than two hours that cover all aspects of the question. This website would help me learn how to teach my students to write better papers so that they can succeed on the exams. Also I think any student from middle school through college could use it if they didn't understand how to write a paper. This website is very well written and I would definitely use it as a teacher.

Colter Huhn 1-24-10 This site has a very clear purpose which is to be a resource for middle school teachers and students, which is the intended audience of the site of course. The resources available on this site lessons and activities for a classroom, project ideas for clubs and classrooms, information on science, games for students and a message board for teachers to share ideas. My overall impression of this site is it is a spectacular resource. The content is perfect for the intended purpose and the design is easy and also nearly flawless. For the content this site is very strong. The basic content is easily found as well as the audience. The author is found at the bottom of the page with some information as well as how to contact them. The information is current, revised within the last ten days, and all links seem to be working fine. The information meets the sites purpose, is complete, very well organized, easy to understand, interactive, accurate as far as I can tell. The web site design was also very strong. The site was fast and compatible with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. The homepage was attractive, clear; it has the site organized into sections, with the site sponsor, information of the provider, and a copyright date. The site was very easy to navigate with the site split up into sections of interest, and all links were appropriate and working fantastically. All videos and pictures helped to enhance the information and the site was very current. The presentation of content was sufficient in information to make the site worthy, it was clear and organized, basic theme, info was easy to find and the links were well organized.

For middle school teachers and students. Resources given are lessons and activities for a classroom, project ideas for clubs and classrooms, information on science, games for students and a message board for teachers to share ideas

Posted by Allie Parrott 09/17/09: Homework spot is a site that simplifies the search for popular homework topics assigned to students K-12. It can also be used by parents and teachers. Content: This site covers a variety of topics. There are even virtual field trips. Other benefits this site provides are SAT tips, current events, and how to write a great book report. Students can find almost anything they need here. The site was last updated today. The incoming information is always fresh and relevant to what students are learning today. There are not only articles from their own authors, but also links to articles that may provide better information for the student. Information is presented in a clear manner. The sight is sponsored by a bigger company StartSpot Media Works Incorporated. HomeworkSpot would help any child navigate their way around the internet. It is also beneficial because the sites that are recommended are credible well researched sites. Design: The most helpful part of the design is that is separates the topics in to age groups. There are a number of links under the heading "Elementary" and the same goes for the headings "Middle" and "High School". This way there is no time wasted, looking but information that is above a child's head, or below their level. The only flaw in the design is that the user has to click at least links to find what they are looking for. However, once they find it the information is most likely exactly what they are looking for. There are Google ads, however advertising is only on the homepage and is kept to a minimum. Attributions: The most helpful link for this is the "About this Site" link. It gives the user all the necessary information about what the site is about and who is running it. It makes the purpose very clear. This would be another site I would recommend due to its fairly obvious credibility. \n

Middle school math problems from Math TV. Each problem is accompanied by a video tutorial, follow-up problems, online calculator and sketch pad.

Deneé Chintala October 7, 2012 Overview The purpose of cellsalive.com is for the instructor of a biology class to provide their students with interactive activities online regarding the parts of the cell, phases of mitosis and meiosis as well as more background information of microbiolgoy. The audience includes biology teacher as well as their students. The site is free with many different activities to do including quizzes and puzzles with content about cells.  Content All of the information on the site is incredibly accurate due to the author, Jim Sullivan. The site provides information in at least two ways for each link (interactive video and a summarization of the video below). Interactivity is huge on this website because the student not only gets to interact during the lesson but a review can be given to gage the student's progress at the end of the lesson. The fact that there are simple cartoon graphics which can allow students to depict different organelles help, but there are also real pictures of microorganisms throughout the site.  Design This site has flare to it with the black background and neon text. It's appealing to a middle school age group but I could see high school students finding it alluring as well. It is also easily maneuverable due to the hyperlinks on the left side as the title of the lesson. If I were to give a class of the links to click on to get to the lesson it would be a very simple task with little to no questions.

Overview - This site gives pretty good information and i believe that it is suitable for probably upper middle school and high school to college students. It includes information on the histories of dissection and vivisection in regards to animals and educational purposes. Content - I do believe that this site has good content, but it wasn't exact what I was looking for when I searched dissections. This site talks about how animal dissections are used for educational purposes and not really the history of dissection or vivisection as stated in its title. Design - This site, i believe, had the worst design of the 3 that I evaluated. It is very boring all around the page and doesn't do anything to draw there reader into reading it. There is no helpful images or videos, just dull colors and the article.

The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about primary colors.  The intended audience of this website is probably middle school students and up.  It provides a summary of what the standard primary colors are and why.  It talks about the different standards and when they apply.  It seems like a good website because it is informative and easy to navigate with no advertisements. The user is able to quickly determine the basic content and intended audience of the site.  The names of the authors of this site are not provided.  It is open to editing to basically anyone.  The usernames of the authors can be found, along with the date that they updated the site.  The site does not provide a good way to contact the authors, either.  The last date that this site was edited was 4/10/15.  This is appropriate to the material, and the site is updated frequently.  There are links to many other sites related to the topic, and they work properly.  The quality of the information is very good.  There is no detectable bias, and the information makes sense.  It provides information that is different than what I learned in elementary school, but I believe it is still accurate.  There are many other sources that provide consistent information.  The grammar and spelling are correct.  

Posted by Erika Jeffs on 1/24/2010 Overview: Math Apprentice is designed to show kids that math is used in the real world, and not just the obvious careers like an accountant, but other developing areas such as graphic design. The students get to pick from 8 different careers, and explore the features of the line of work they choose and do some hands on math related activities. These activities make the website very interactive. The site is designed to use in the classroom for middle school students, but could also be useful for high school students as well. Content: The website clearly states the purpose of the website and the audience, in fact, it has a tab specifically for this information. The "About" tab gives and overview of the entire website. Sponsor and contact information is easy to find, however the authors of the website are unclear. The site was copyrighted in 2009 and is fairly new, so it should be up to date. The links are relevant to math and are in working order. This site is very interactive and gives many examples of math in the real world that would come as surprise to many students. There is also a tab that gives teachers a detailed description on how to use the site in the classroom. Math Apprentice's sole purpose seems to be to educate and not to sell anything. The website is easy to navigate and well organized because there is only four tabs. Everything seems to be accurate, up to date, and correct as far as my knowledge. Design: Math Apprentice loads very quickly, especially considering all of the interactive features the site provides. The home page is attractive, easy to navigate, and the format is held constant throughout the entire site. Copyright and contact information are easy to find. Directions for using the site are easy to find and very helpful. All links are working properly and quick to load. The site specifically states that the site works best with Safari or Firefox, and that there may be some bugs th

Rebekah Asay January 23, 2011 Overview: This website is an online game that quizzes students on geographical information. It includes quizzes on locations, climates, industries, physical systems, population, culture, environment, and society. Content: The website is fun and educational. It has many categories to choose from and tests students on their knowledge of the world using fun, educational questions based on those categories. The content is mostly for older middle school or high school students. Design: The design is fun and interesting. It is easy to navigate and is engaging.

Sheppard Software is a website for students of all ages in all subject areas. It has hundreds of games for a very wide variety of audiences. However it is a commercial website with as many advertisements as games in the free version. It does have an ad-free version, but it comes at a pretty steep price for a school or school district.  Content: This website does not have a specific audience, it is directed to students in all grades. It covers many bases, but in is mostly online games and doesn't really offer any classroom activities. I was also disappointed by the number of advertisements and user reviews on each page. This only distracts from the true purpose of an educational website.  Design: This website I found to be pretty disorganized. There are breaks in the middle of lists of games for ad banners that do not relate to kids and user reviews of the website. They do have a toolbar at the top that navigates to pages if you are looking for specific types of games, but those are colorless, and still full of review and ads. I also did not see information for when it was last updated or contact information. 

9/13/11 This is a good starting point for a history project. The website has many links to other credible sites including government site. The target audience is late middle school to high school. The main page is easy to navigate and links open easily.

Whitney Reese Reviewed: 2/4/12 Overview: The purpose of this site is to help children learn different math skills through games and word problems. The intended audience is school age children from grades 2nd through 5th.  The available resources include several games or "challenges". Each challenge has informational hints and fun facts to go along with it to help the user figure out the problem. I think this site has good resources for helping children learn a wide variety of math concepts. However it doesn't seem as kid friendly as other sites and may be hard for kids to understand how to navigate the site.  Content: This site has several useful tabs for navigation. The website has clear and credible authors and the information seems fairly up to date.  The challenges and games make learning math fun for children and demonstrate how math is used in everyday life and why these skills are important. It even includes a tab that changes the content of the site from English to Spanish.  Design: The design of this website makes it fairly easy for kids to navigate. They may get confused at first because the intention of the site is to keep you on a certain challenge until you have figured out the answer and chosen a new challenge. However, once the kids are able to understand how to navigate this site it should be no problem for them. There is a lot of text on this site that may seem boring for some kids. The graphics are fun and colorful. This website is clear and organized fairly well.

This site is intended to help families outside of school enjoy math by solving everyday problems, but may also be used at school. The material is at a middle school grade level. There are multiple challenge problems and for each problem the website gives hints, complete solutions, additional related problems etc. This website was developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. So there is a lot of valuable information. I like how the challenge problems are unique and different than your everyday practice problems. Although, there was one major problem with the site. It was very confusing and hard to navigate through. There was not a clear indication on the home page of what the purpose of the website was and how to find the information. There were silly animations that had nothing to do with the math and distracted the eye. The set up was not appealing or well organized. Once I figured out how the website was set up I enjoyed the content, but they should have instructions or a table of contents on the home page. I would definitely like to use this website in my classroom and even with my family once I have older kids, but I would hope the authors improve the navigation system for future newcomers