If you’re reading this, odds are you are not one of the 570,000 people in the U.S. infected with the DNS Malware Virus. Congratulations. Yet, while you can still surf around to your heart’s content, ISPs are working overtime to help those less fortunate users find their way back to the information superhighway.
This morning at 12:01 the FBI shut down its DNS servers, which were acting as the only path to the Internet for hundreds of thousands of computers. s reported by CNet, the whole problem goes back to an online criminal ring from 2007 that was tinkering with computers' settings and then directing users to rogue servers that the criminals had set up. These servers then re-directed users to malicious Web sites. Late last year, the FBI arrested the ring and seized the rogue servers. But since so many infected computers relied on the servers to reach the Internet, the agency opted not to shut them down and instead converted them to legitimate DNS machines. Due to the high cost associated with operating these servers, the FBI has decided to shut them down.
ISP are taking a proactive approach to the problem with Comcast has contacting users with infected computers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Verizon has lined up technicians who can help customers remove the virus and AT&T plans to redirect infected PCs to the correct Web sites.
People who are unable to get online should call their ISP to see if their computers are infected. CNET has also posted a how-to guide to help people detect whether their PCs are pointing to the DNSChanger network.
For many, many years parents have met with teachers to check their child’s progress at school. This could be meetings concerning academics, social, behavior, or a combination there of. Since the student’s progress is the focus of the meeting, who knows better about the situation than the parent and the student. This is particularly true if the teacher and student are planning, agreeing upon, and assessing the student’s learning progress.
Obviously, these conferences which include the...
I think this might be one of the least discussed, possibly most important, aspects of teacher preparation: learning to pace yourself on the job.
Student teachers study curriculum, classroom management, and other basics but how much time is dedicated to helping future teachers manage time and manage themselves? We know burnout in the profession is high; working on your feet all day, keeping up with students, planning for lessons, handling the pressures of paperwork, parents, school...

“We should be working harder to figure out how soon large-scale employment disruption will occur and exactly what income policies will be needed when the time comes.” — Elliott/Van Damme
Technological advances are going to change work skills in the future and leave certain kinds of workers unemployable. A new book, Computers and the Future...
Mentoring is a relationship in which a more experienced person facilitates the broad development of a less-experienced person on a regular basis and over an extended period-of-time, as said by B.A. Lankford.
In its simplest form, a veteran teacher volunteers or is assigned to guide a novice teacher for a certain amount of time to help smooth the transition. How new teachers are mentored will likely determine how successful they become and how long they stay in the profession.
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“Our global society faces dangers of inequity inside and outside our schools. If we are to realize the peaceful and prosperous vision of the future we desire, a focus on equity through and within our educational systems must be one of our main driving forces.” — Michael Soskil
Welcome to the...

Something needs to be done about student well-being globally.
Today students face many different environmental, social and economic challenges compared to the generations that came before them. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of children and adolescents admitted to children’s hospitals for “thoughts...
During their preparation years, teachers likely learn to ensure that assessment appropriately aligns with learning objectives. However, the words real-world and authentic are often also associated with assessment. While it sounds nice, just how do we make an assessment “authentic.”
First, let’s discuss what’s meant by authentic. One definition might be: assessments that measure not only the learning objective but also how those skills and knowledge might be applied in real-world...
One of the major concerns facing literacy and writing today is the lack of interest or time paid to children of different learning styles. 90% of our students are visual/kinesthetic learners, yet not enough resources or time is placed on this learning style throughout many school districts and unfortunately, some at-risk children or those with needs have fallen into the gray area of education. They might be over-looked, taught with mediocrity, or expected to not succeed. Interestingly, these...