Technically Trying

 Last year I wrote this post about holiday shopping and I feel it still stands the test of time today! Be safe this holiday shopping season! Holiday Shopping and New Gadget Safety Keep safe and don't stress!

 Sometimes teachers like to do what is called a "bell ringer" or "seat work" when they begin the class. Sometimes its the "warmup" activity of the day. (or the hour) They come up with different things to show their kids a fun fact, make them answer a question, have a thought provoking conversation, or finish a quick game or activity. This helps them start the class on the right foot. Well I found a really cool activity for teachers to use that takes a lot of the guess work and thought out of creating those first things every day! EdTomorrow First Five! https://www.edtomorrow.com/today/ This website has grade level appropriate games, memes, thoughtful writing prompts or questions that can help get their minds focused, relaxed, and ready to learn. Today is Halloween, so they had a themed post for the day: Those are just for the "secondary" level. They have two other grade levels: The teacher can pick which one fits their students best and then pick...

 I've talked about AI before and its been something that I feel, as a parent, needs to be discussed openly almost as much as pornography if you are going to protect your kids from harm. ( PYE's Ten before Ten ) I truly believe that AI has a lot of good and help in the world. But I also know that, as we have seen in news articles, AI can hurt.  I use AI a lot in my job: research, problem solving, and creating emails when I just don't have the right words to explain my point of view. But with the ever growing "AI as a therapist/friend/confidant" generation of development, its becoming more and more dangerous to use AI when you are not fully aware that this is not a human . I'm speaking mostly about our children and their interactions with AI. Children don't need to be using AI. Especially unsupervised. They do not need an AI companion, they do not need to have a therapy session with ChatGPT, they need to learn to talk with humans, interact face to face, and ...

 As technology grows in our world and we become more immersed in the every day tasks that require said technology, we are faced with a dilemma right down to the very core of our human nature: Is this natural? Is this human? Is this right? I was recently made aware of an issue where robots are being created to birth children. Human children. These robots are being designed to actually carry the fertilized egg the full ten months of gestation and have a fully formed human to be given to new parents.  This brings up a new question that is directly related to our deeply rooted faith: Is this God at work? And I think the answer here is "no".  Technology can be a lot of things! Technology helped us create better paper for stories to be written on, better vehicles for safety, better medicines for healing, better entertainment for fireworks, and better convenience for every day life. But at what point do we stop and say "no thats too far"? At what point do we, as the human ...

 Google recently released access to their AI tools for all ages and its as if none of them have kids of their own! Releasing a powerful tool like that for all age users inside an educational setting is another way for students to find content they don't need to see or learn behaviors they don't need to learn. I'm not against AI. I use it constantly. I am always looking up things that I don't quite know, or using the conversational style researching to figure out problems I am working through with my job. Sometimes its nice to type in a query that is going through my head in one fashion and asking it to word it more clearly for another search I need to make. AI is a great tool in my toolbelt and I can see how it becomes an every day habit. However, our kids brains aren't developed! Their pre-frontal cortex hasn't finished growing and introducing them to a tool as powerful as AI that can speak back to you in a conversational manner can cause some serious problems!...

 Welcome back to another school year! A new school year brings a lot of new plans, new ideas, new habits, and new rituals. Make sure to include safe technology use with those new habits by creating a family friendly technology schedule or set of habits that everyone can follow. Ease into the Day * Don't allow television, ipads, kindles, or cell phones before you leave for school. Instead, allow your child to eat breakfast, get dressed, and have a small amount of quiet play time or reading time to ease into the day. This helps regulate their system to keep them calm and prepare their mind for the work ahead. Mimic the behavior you want to see * If you require no tech for your child, try to do the same for yourself. Yes we all have emails that need to be answered, texts that come through for last minute spirit days, or the random phone call before 7am asking for a ride. But be open about your use "I'm sorry, I just got a text and I need to make sure its not from school, hold...

 Going into the summer months can be daunting when you're a working parent with kids at home. You might feel concerned about their screen time and the various un-monitored hours they could spend on their devices. Now is the best time to talk with your child about their device use and making sure that they understand you are their safe place! Use this time to confirm with your child that they can talk to you about anything . You are there to keep them safe! Remind them that you can look at their device at any time and if you are curious about something, that they will have a conversation with you and together you can work through the issue. Give them the opportunity to be outside and spend time with friends without  a device. There are lots of summer camps and fun activities this summer! Get your child out there!  I recommend creating a tech friendly summer plan to help your child feel like they're getting what they want while also getting what you feel is right for your f...

In today's digital world, kids are often more tech-savvy than we realize. One tool they might use is a VPN, or Virtual Private Network. While VPNs are commonly used for privacy and security, some children may also use them to bypass parental controls. This guide will help parents understand VPNs, recognize signs of misuse, and maintain open communication with their kids about responsible technology use. Remember, your child is really smart! Communicate your concerns with them at every turn when it comes to digital safety. You're helping them grow and become healthy tech savvy adults! What is a VPN? A VPN encrypts internet traffic and masks a user's location by routing their connection through a secure server. While this can protect privacy and secure sensitive data on public Wi-Fi networks, it also allows users to hide their online activity, which may be concerning for parents. How Kids Might Use VPNs to Bypass Parental Controls Children might use VPNs to: Access res...

 Our school is fully immersed in the Google Education field by using managed devices (Chromebooks) and Google email sign-ins. We find this to be extremely helpful for us when having AMI days or keeping track of assignments. Going the digital route has allowed us to alleviate the need for photocopies for every assignment, keeping track of paperwork, and teacher's grading hours past contract time.  But a downfall of being almost all digital is also that students get around those safe guards we have in place to monitor all of this digital activity. They are smart and they are determined! Students will find every caveat or work around they can in order to feel some independence and "stick it to the man". This is completely normal and healthy for them, especially at the ages we are giving them the technology. We, as adults, need to be aware that they will do these things, not to test us as adults, but to test themselves: Can I do it? Will I get caught? What else could I try? T...

 The week of the inauguration brought a lot of emotional turmoil for many of our American citizens. Some good emotions, some bad. But at the same time, a popular social media platform, Tik Tok, was warning its users that there was a ban coming and they would no longer have access to their content. During this short ban of just a few hours the Sunday before the inauguration, users were unable to reach their content and were very frustrated and decided to seek their content elsewhere. Here's where Deepseek came into play. Deepseek is an AI alternative that allows users to interact with a platform like Tik Tok but with the communication like ChatGPT. Its very smart and a whole lot cheaper to run than the usual AI chatbots we have access to here in America. Deepseek has been around for a while but during the time frame of the TikTok ban and leading up to that point, there was a burst of downloads for the app. This creates a huge security issue for users. There is fear that the Chinese ...

 If you've ever had a virus on your computer, you know how frustrating it is to try and save your personal files and also get rid of the virus. Sometimes it costs money to get rid of the virus because you couldn't quite figure it out yourself, or you had to completely reformat and reinstall your operating system, losing everything in the process. Your personal devices are no different. They need protection just like your tablets, computers, and home network. You have a firewall for your network, you have an antivirus program for your computer, you need protection for your hand held devices as well! Malwarebytes is an excellent tool to use to help protect your system against attacks while browsing the internet, downloading apps, or listening to your favorite podcast. (or white noise while you sleep, you do you!) They have created a mobile app that you can get for Android or iPhone through your App store. You can use the service for free to simply scan your phone manually for iss...

 Using Gmail for home or business is an easy way to gain access across all your devices to your family, friends, or work. Gmail is adaptable and can be on a smart phone or computer or even a smart TV. When you make a new Gmail account, you also gain what is called Google Drive. This drive is a cloud based storage system that is free with every Gmail account. You can keep videos, pictures, articles, spreadsheets, and so much more inside this free space hosted by Google. All Google account holders have access to Drive, Photos, Gmail, Maps and Calendar. But today, we are talking about Drive. To get to your drive, simply open your web browser and click on the 9 dots by your photo. You'll see the Drive icon looks like a triangle with the traditional Google colors.  You'll land on what Google calls "My Drive" or "Home". Either of those options are good to begin with. Inside this drive you can click around and create folders to store your things, share drive items ...

 The Christmas bustle is over, all the gifts are open, and now you're staring at a pile of technology that seems to grab your child and never let go. And you're thinking 'What have I done?'  but don't worry! There is a great way to start this year off right for your entire family! I've talked a lot about setting up parental controls and having open conversations with your child about their technology use. I've also talked about how to set the example with your own technology use and making sure you practice what you preach .  So here's some links as a reminder: Never Too Late! Become Tech Savvy Build Better Families I also recommend sitting down with your child and engaging with them on that new technology. Did they get a new Chromebook? Ask them how they navigate on it, what they usually do to entertain themselves, and allow them to show you how they play paper.io or some other browser based game they are obsessed with. What about a new Nintendo switch?...