About

Welcome to the "About" page! 

Please use the links below in the Table of Contents  to find what you are looking for on this page or simply scroll down to find information about the author, information about the people who had a role in helping construct this website, this website's copyright & disclaimer information, & help or troubleshooting information.

 Table of Contents

I. "About the Author" 

II. "Special Thanks" 

III. "Copyright Notes & Disclaimers" 

IV. "Help" 

I. About the Author

Ms. Briana Takhtani is a second year special education teacher in upstate New York. She graduated with distinction from SUNY Potsdam's School of Education with her MST in Adolescent Social Studies Education & received her New York State initial teaching certification in social studies, grades 5 to 12, in 2016. She also received her initial teaching certification in teaching Students with Disabilities, grades 7 to 12, in 2017. She is also a certified Teacher of Social Studies in the state of New Jersey. Ms. Takhtani has also completed graduate coursework at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education (GSE) & completed elective coursework in Special, Urban, & Literacy Education. She earned her BA in History with a minor in Education summa cum laude from Rutgers University in May of 2015. 

Ms. Takhtani is a member of multiple academic & professional organizations including the National Council for the Social Studies, Kappa Delta Pi, & Phi Alpha Theta. Her research in the field of education has centered around citizenship education, character education, & teaching for social justice. 

In her spare time, Ms. Takhtani enjoys reading dystopian fiction, going on adventures, eating chocolate, & spending quality time with her young son. You can also find her glued to the TV watching Jeopardy every weeknight without fail.  

Please feel free to contact Ms. Takhtani at brianamtakhtani@gmail.com with any correspondence, questions, or feedback related to this website. You can also find more of Ms. Takhtani's academic work on her blog at Wordpress.com.

II. Special Thanks

No project like this is ever the product of a single mind. As such, I, Ms. Takhtani, would like to especially thank the following individuals for their roles in helping me construct this website: 

Dr. Marta Albert, Associate Professor in SUNY Potsdam's Literacy Education Department - Without Dr. Albert, or her supervision over the course of this project, this website would not have existed. Dr. Albert originally contracted me to build a study guide using Crash Course to support students' social studies content & literacy development with the ultimate goal of helping students pass the NYS Global History & Geography Regents Exam. Through her invaluable guidance that project was transformed into the creation of this website & its materials. Her perceptive observations, "editor's eye," & constructive criticism helped form each & every aspect of this website. I am forever grateful for her unwavering support & her faith in my ability to complete this project. 

Ms. Irene Michaels, Teacher - Without Irene's drive to help her students succeed, the idea for this website would have never come about. Irene's students' learning needs & her feedback over the course of this project were ever-present in my mind when I was constructing this resource (& when I got sidetracked, Dr. Albert was sure to remind me!). This website is for you & yours Irene. I hope what I've created fits the bill. 

Miss Megan Leger, Teacher - Meg's role in shaping this website was crucial. Not only did she share social studies resources, strategies to help students prepare for the NYS Global Regents, & suggestions for the improvement of the website & its materials throughout the project, her comments helped me reflect on the effectiveness of my own teaching practices. Meg prompted me to think about how I could ensure students construct the knowledge they need without bombarding them with complex information, dense texts, & or overly demanding tasks. As a pre-service teacher, this priceless lesson will not be soon forgotten. Meg, I am in your debt. 

Mr. Ryan Hewer, Teacher - While to some it may not seem like a lot, watching Ryan's original Interactive Regents Exam Review video led me to think about the different ways to use YouTube & other online platforms to create educational resources. If I had never seen his video, I would not have had a clue on how to begin constructing the types of videos I wanted to create for this website & for my future classroom. This line of thinking helped me recognize that to get students interested in social studies, educators must tailor their resources to fit into students' increasingly technological world. Thank you Ryan for sending me the link to your video (which was definitely not cringe-worthy!), explaining to me how you made it, & always answering my seemingly endless number of questions. 

Dr. James O'Kelly, Retired Kindergarten Teacher & Part-Time Lecturer at Rutgers University's GSE - Walking into Dr. O'Kelly's "Education & Computers" course in the Spring of 2014, I thought integrating technology in the classroom solely consisted of knowing how to use a projector. Before taking his course, I always became frustrated when I tried to learn how to use anything relating to computers or the mysterious "cloud". Dr. O'Kelly was always understanding, thoughtfully addressed my concerns, & showed me that learning to use technology is no longer an option because of how essential it is to our daily lives. Dr. O'Kelly also taught me that even though learning to use technology is absolutely necessary, it does not have to be difficult. He constantly emphasized the idea that learning is a lifelong process & that learning to use technology was no different. Almost needless to say, I also learned a lot from him about perseverance, patience, & the human capacity for kindness. As such, Dr. O'Kelly, I want to genuinely thank you for having the courage to be a lifelong learner & to continue teaching even after your well-deserved retirement. If you hadn't, I doubt I would be here today designing a website & that I would be brave enough to begin planning to use educational technology in my future classroom. 

I would finally like to thank SUNY Potsdam's Center for Applied Learning, the first of its kind in the SUNY system, for funding this project. I hope my creation does SUNY Potsdam proud & encourages future SUNY Potsdam students to engage in research with real-world applications sponsored by the Center. 

III. Copyright Notes & Disclaimers

The following notes & disclaimers appear on every page of this website:

Any copyrighted material on this website is used in "fair use" or for the purpose of education, study, review, or critical analysis only, & will be removed immediately at the request of copyright owner(s) under any potential circumstances of copyright violation after emailing the author(s) of this website at brianamtakhtani@gmail.com. 

Attribution to the original authors for outside materials & resources on this website have been noted in an attempt to ensure credit is given to these authors for their works. This website was not created with the intention of violating any copyright or ownership laws, & any unauthorized use of copyrighted materials is purely accidental. 

This website is not affiliated with the New York State Education Department. For official information concerning the New York State Regents Exams, please visit the NYSED website at http://www.nysed.gov/. 

In addition, under no circumstances does this website or its author(s) claim this website & or the materials on it will undoubtedly help students score at a higher level on the NYS Global History & Geography Regents Exam than they would have scored without the use of this website & or the materials on it. This specific website's (& or the materials on it) efficacy in that capacity has not been proven through academic research or with experimental evidence. This website simply has been constructed to aid & guide students in their own self study or preparation for the NYS Global History & Geography Regents Exam. 

To the best of the author(s)' knowledge the information on this website & or the materials on this website are true & correct, however E&OE. 

IV. Help

Please view the "Troubleshooting" video below or the "Sitemap" page in the top navigation bar if you encounter any difficulties with this website. Also make sure you have read the "Home" page. It includes descriptions of each of the pages within this website & information on how to work through the materials on this website. 

This website is currently under construction & is updated frequently! Please check back in the future if a certain page or section seems incomplete. 

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