Hello and welcome to my website. My name is
Mr. Barry Hoffman and I am the creator of Hoffkids. Hoffkids
was always a vision and back in 2002 an idea came to me.
As a 6th grade middle school teacher, I
wanted to use the growing internet & interactive web sites, to help my students
become better at math & science, as well as enhance my own teaching. I
had so many links in my Favorites/Bookmarks folder, yet I couldn’t find
anything. I needed something better…The purpose… I wanted my own site with links to interactive web sites that other people created for math and science skills. I wanted the links to help my students with topics we did in our 6th grade classroom, and in addition, provide enrichment for those wanting more challenge and inquiry. Most importantly the site needed to be purposeful (notice there aren’t any outdated class photos or student work from 2 years ago). I wanted the site to be a comfortable place that was always there for my students; whenever and wherever they needed it. I also envisioned the parents interacting with the site along with their children.
Naming the site… This was given considerable time. I wanted the name to be simple to remember so that students would not forget it over the school year, and would remember it 15 years after they first used it. If you want to know more about the name, you could ask a student from the 2002-2003 school year. I put them through a lot. The name had to be simple to remember, short, easy to spell correctly, catchy, and reflect the site itself. I came up with some ideas for the name and surveyed my students and their parents. I was close to using the name NOHOMEWORK.com. My slogan was going to be “Everyone loves NOHOMEWORK.com.” It actually was owned by someone and they wanted $500 for the name! I almost bought it, but after a final survey, I realized my students and I wanted something that meant more, and reflected both me (Mr. Hoffman), and the students (kids) of our classroom. Thus the name Hoffkids.com was formed.
The design… While finding great math and science web sites, I began to stumble across some fun sites that were not directly related to our math and science studies, but included games of strategy and engaging items of interest. This became the popular Assorted Fun section that now exists. I also wanted to show that learning through games and challenge is an integral part of the learning process.
Making it work… At this point I had the idea for the site, the name, and the links (and most important, my friend Drew to help host the site). Now all I needed was support from a school administrator. That is where A.P. Mr. Chris Shields came in. He spoke with me and supported the site. I remember he told me in his office; “This is wild and it could work. I’ll fully support you.” I knew after talking with him that it would take off. On the night of Tuesday, February 25th, 2003 Hoffkids was “born.” Over 155,000 website visits later, I am proud of how often my site is used by my students and people around the world. I'm also proud of how it continues to develop from suggestions and the needs of the kids in my class during each new school year. Some new goals for 2012 include a fresh re-design of the website, more interactivity, flash video, 5 star interactive ratings, contact form, Port Coupon Zone for stores in town, and increased .pdf file availability.
Thanks for taking your time to read this, and be assured Hoffkids will always remain cutting edge!
Let’s see what the site offers in 5 years!
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