Eating HEALTHLY – a key to better choices – What can you do!

I read an article from the New York Times today and was surprised that just making simple changes to the layout of the food with little to no expense could make such a dramatic change in choices kids make when buying their lunch.

Take a look at the ARTICLE  / Picture

Malicious Software – What are you doing about it? Security!

One of those things we say we should do and don’t…  My computer at home is only used by me, so I am confident that I will not do something silly and get infected.  My other systems in the house is another story – my wife and two daughters use this and you never know what might happen.  You need to keep yourself safe when on the WEB, if you don’t do a few basic things you just might end up getting infected and that is not fun.  Sometime you can get it removed and go on, other times you have to start from scratch which could mean losing information or just a lot of time or money to get it done.

First off everyone should have Antivirus software running and keeping it up to date.

You should also be running a Malicious Software Removal Tool regularly to ensure no one has done something they shouldn’t have….This advice was too late for my father-in-law whose system got infected bad!  All antivirus software is shut down, no internet access at all in order to download the MSRT either.  I am hoping the USB ports are not shut down as well as I am hoping to load up the MSRT from a USB key – we will have to see!

Microsoft – Malicious Software Removal Tool

The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is a free malware scanner and remover which is updated every first Tuesday of each month. The tool (mrt.exe) is located in the system32 directory of Windows and it silently scans the computer after being updated via Windows Update. MRT or MSRT does not run to scan the system all the time but any PC user can manually scan the PC to check the system from Trojans, worms and other malware that MRT can identify. Note that MRT does not detect all type of threats but was developed by Microsoft to detect and remove malware that is in the wild, especially from worms that targets vulnerable components in Windows.

Related Articles

• Microsoft Tool Now Roots out Zeus Malware (pcworld.com)

Facebook or not!

Like most of you with kids I had the issue of “should I let her on Facebook or not”  With the age limit of 13 plus with Facebook, which I am sure is not followed…  There is an alternative to kids who want to do what their older sisters, brothers and parents are doing on Facebook.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER – Kids are smart and they may have two personalities on Facebook – They one you see and the one you don’t.  Always take note and make sure you look over your kids shoulder every little while to make sure your not being duped.

TOGETHERVILLE – this is for kids under 13 and they have done some upgrades to allow for better connection to friends.  This also answers a lot of questions for parents as they have complete control on who becomes friends as well as other features.

Can Spell Check Make Things Worse? The Most Misspelled Words (via Dr. Diane Hamilton’s Blog )

I will be honest with you, my spelling & grammar are terrible and I use spell checkers and the thesaurus all the time. You also have to be very careful as the spell checker checks spelling, but not if the word is the right one – You can have the wrong word, but the right spelling.

A great article was on another blog with a bunch of suggestions that really make sense and I think everyone one can use. I will be taking this to my kids as I believe it will help them as well.

Today's Ask Dr. Diane:  What are some of the mostly commonly misspelled words? I post a lot of information about spelling and grammar for my students.  There are certain words that many people tend to misspell.  For a list of the top 100 misspelled words, click here.  I often ask students to quiz their family and friends to see how they do with some of the more commonly misspelled words . . . For fun, ask people to spell the following words that … Read More

via Dr. Diane Hamilton's Blog

Violent Games & Kids

Something that has been discussed for many years is how do we control access to violent games and when will the GAME makers start doing the right thing and regulate themselves.  I believe the makers need to do more than they are, but ultimately the control of what my child plays and sees and doesn’t is my responsibility.  We as parents should be very aware of what our kids are doing online at all times.  I am a strong believer in that the home computer is in a public place and not behind closed doors. 

Standards have to be set, better ranking has to be put in place and retailers – brick and cloud have to get involved.  But again ultimately it is the parents who have to police what our kids do online.  My two cents….

 72% of Americans think there should be a law against children playing violent games

More sleep and good eat’s MAKE for better Students….

Something I think no parent needs to be told, but it’s easier said then done.  An article was in District Admin about a study done that showed kids that slept an extra half hour and had breakfast where not as tired and paid better attention in class.  Eight hours of sleep and eating a healthy breakfast makes all the difference.

Changing the start time to school is not easily done for many reasons.  Being a parent of two girls – one in HS and the other in grade 8 we have a mandatory bed time that can be flexible on occasion, but not the norm.  Being that my girls start school at or just before 9AM, makes it easier for me then others that might start between 7-8AM or for those needing to take a bus and travel.  My oldest goes to bed by 10 or a little after and ends up with 9hrs of sleep most nights throughout the school week.  Breakfast has never been an issue, we have always stressed it as being very important. 

What can be done, I am not sure other than doing our best and making sure they get as much sleep as possible.

DistrictAdmin Article – “Research shows HS students benefit from later start time” 

Digital Devices & Learning – Connection?

I read this piece and believe that there might be a lot of truth to it!  I have no personal experience, so I will let you make your own minds up.  They mention a lot of changes in kids over time, but is it the devices or our environment or both?

Take a read

Could digital devices be harming your child’s ability to learn?

Knowledge & Information for PARENTS

I have been thinking…  I have posted before that I believe – we as TECH people have a responsiblity to keep not only kids save, but parents as well when they are on the internet.  We may take the information we know for granted, but many parents just don’t know and really don’t have the time to figure things out.  We need to HELP!

Most districts have parent section for getting information about the school and kids on the WEB, how about putting up important information that can keep them and their children save when at home.  This information would have to be front and center  – opening page of the Parent WEB – it will have to be updated, but keeping a history area of information as well.  You might want to have a TIP of the month put into the NEWSLETTER as well.  Some of you might already be doing this and that is great.

Getting this started at your district would be very simple, I have posted over the last few weeks about 5-6 items that you could include right away.  I will continue to include items of interest on security and internet safety that you can use as well.

Let me know what you think and if your already doing this, I would be interested in hearing about what you have done in this area.  Honestly – I will be looking into starting this in both my girls schools.

Kids & WEB Research

I read an article in District Admin and was first surprised, but when I thought it through I really wasn’t.  I have two young teenagers and they have done research on the WEB for assignments and have done the exact thing the article talked about.  

Kids cannot believe everything they see after doing a Google or Bing search, but a lot do and it’s not just kids.  There is a lot of great information on the WEB, but there is just as much and maybe more junk.  I believe there is a much large number of parents that don’t know, then do know about things like this. 

So how do kids learn what information to us and what not too – What to believe and not?  This becomes difficult as Teachers need to understand this as well and stay on top of the changes happening all the time.  This has to come from several fronts to be successful.  Both Parents and Teachers need to educate the kids, companies need to get involved as well.

Take a read of the article if you haven’t already