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.
Classroom management styles can greatly differ. Some rule with an iron hand; others are fairly lax. Most teachers are somewhere in between.
It wasn't until I met one of my early mentors~ Rafe Esquith~ the nationally recognized teacher based in Los Angeles~ that I began to look at my management styledifferently.
He told me that~ at the start of each school year~ he mentally divides his students into three categories. The "ones" are those students that totally get it...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Matthew Lynch, an assistant professor of education.
School-based management is another means of increasing parental involvement in the educational process. Proponents of this approach believe it is better for schools to create a managerial group, which possesses most of the decision-making power to influence the learning process of students at schools, rather than this power residing...
Greetings~
I want to talk about what I think is one of the best ways to improve as an educator. It boils down to two words:
TAPE YOURSELF.
Or rather have someone videotape you teaching. Tape yourself in action for at least 10-20 minutes then sit down and watch it. You will be amazed at how much you learn! I have taped myself a few times this school year and~ though I think I have improved in some areas~ Ilearned things about myself I would have never seen without...
You have to try this idea!
Let your students write on their desks using dry erase markers. Yes~ that's right. Ditch the pencil and paper and let them write~ draw and create on their desks or tables. Don't worry it comes off.
I tried this a year ago and was amazed at how much more engaged my students became when I let them work math problems on their desks. I was tired of wasting time getting paper out and sharpening pencils so I said "just write on your tables using...
Greetings~
I want to share a creative way to motivate and focus your students during math instruction. I call it Kung Fu Math.
First~ I created a series of belts or levels that the students aspire to and have them write it in their notebooks.
Then~ I tell them that everytime they get a math problem correct they earn a tally or "notch" towards the next stripe or belt. Everytime a student earns three notches they move up a stripe or belt (my...
With so many curriculum demands on teachers today~ do we have time to add career exploration(something popular back in the 80s)? I think young people need to be exposed to different career choices and careers can be incorporated into the subjects being covered. For example~ if you are covering the ancient Egyptians~ you could share the work of an archaeologist. Having kids discuss the different characteristics needed to be an archaeologists~ perhaps go on a dig using a chocolate chip cookie...
I want to share a new way to go over homework. I use my CPS remote control system and have students punch in their answers to random questions. The class has its homework out~ then students click in their answers~ with the option of revising them as they go along. I quiz them on just a few questions from each page to check understanding--in my opinion you can get a sense if the students "got" the homework without going over every problem. The CPS system then grades the homework~ and I...
I was watching Weekend Today and the topic was~ "Is cursive writing something we should still be teaching in school?When I first starting teaching 6th grade~ back in the days of being self-contained~ I remember planning for 15 minutes of cursive penmanship instruction. The students usually copied a famous quote or a funny tongue twister. Then~ as more and more responsibilities were placed upon the day~ penmanship went on the sidelines. The alphabet~ which was posted~on a bulletin board~ was...
One criticism of education (and there are many :)~ is that schools fail to teach kids about money. If you haven't come across a money system created by fifth-grade teacher~ Rafe Esquith~ you need to read his second book "Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire." There's a lot of good ideas in that book~ but the money system is something I believe should be taught in all classrooms across... the country.
Essentially~ the kids...