History in Focus

Hi! My name is Mike Goldfein. I have taught history and government in both middle school and high school.

History should be a blast and I try my best to make it that way. I believe imagery is a strong learning tool. Pictures help students relate to and remember historical facts. Locating authentic copyright-free images is a big part of the challenge. All of the images I use are in the public domain and obtained from government sources, specifically the digital archives of the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the Smithsonian. But just knowing where to look is only half the challenge. I carefully curate each image to insure it is historically relevant to the lesson and age appropriate for students to see and learn about. I continue to add new products to my store, and encourage you to check back. I also want your feedback! Please feel free to offer ideas and suggestions. My only goal is to produce tools that educators like, respect, and want to use. My Pinterest Board, History in Focus, has lots of resources for history classrooms: https://www.pinterest.com/historyinfocus/

Emmy Award in Broadcast Journalism; Gold Award-Documentaries, from the New York Film Festival

M.A. History, George Mason University. B.A. Political Science, University of Puget Sound. Graduate Studies, Education, University of Virginia.

Education is now my first love, but admittedly my second career. A few years ago I retired from a 33 year run as a broadcast journalist. The last 25 years were spent covering Congress, the White House, national and international events. I used to like to tell students that I spent the better part of my life watching history in action. I was lucky enough to cover every presidential election, inauguration and political convention from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama. In between there were numerous NASA Space Shuttle missions, hurricanes and Supreme Court decisions. It was all very thrilling, and now I work hard to pass that excitement on to students.