Password Safety

It's probably something that isn't thought about much - a field on the electronic form to be completed as you sign up for an account, service, or make a purchase - but it's more important than most people know. Your password is an important step in staying safe online and students in third, fourth and fifth grades have been working on learning how to create strong passwords. It's a skill they will need as we continue to live in a growing digital world.
What are the risks? You don't want your personal information public, and that threat remains constant, especially if you are using free and unsecured wireless connections at fast food restaurants or coffee shops. It's amazing how easy it is for others to see what you may be typing into your phone or computer when the wireless is not secure. Computer viruses are another risk which can cause damage to your device which can be costly to repair. Worst of all, people can damage your online identity which is difficult to repair. The way you are seen online is very important and experts have said that your online reputation may be as or more important than your real life reputation because that's how employers and friends close and far will know you. If negative postings or activity under your name appear online it's hard to correct.
So how does one make a secure password? There are a few simple rules. NEVER use the word "password" as your password. Believe it or not, many people use this as their password. Common Sense Media recommends these steps in creating safe passwords. Changing passwords every few months also is smart for particularly important data.
• Don’t use passwords that are easy to guess – such as your nickname or your pet’s name. People who know you well can guess these kinds of passwords.
• Don’t use any private identity information in your password. Identity thieves can use this information to pretend to be you.
• Don’t use a word in the dictionary as a password. Hackers use programs that will try every word in the dictionary to guess passwords.
• Do use combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols. These are harder to crack than regular words because there are more combinations to try.
Although we have talked about this at school, talk about this with your students and teach them safe password habits. It's a skill they can use the rest of their lives.
photo credit: marc falardeau via photopin cc

Pocket Tools to Help Your Child Learn

There are more active mobile phones in the United States than there are people. Most people have some sort of multi-function digital device. But have you ever thought of using your smartphone to help your student learn? 
One of the most useful functions on a smartphone that is least used is the voice recorder. According to the International Reading Association report by Roxanne F. Hudson, Holly B. Lane, and Paige Pullen entitled Reading Fluency assessment and instruction: What, Why, and How? three factors important in reading development are accuracy, rate, and prosody or expression. In the research, it says that hearing ones own voice is a very powerful experience for readers at any age and helps increase fluency.
So while you are riding in the car from place to place, use the sound recorder application to record your student reading a book and then let them listen to themselves. Talk to your student about what the book was about, about how expressive they were when they read. Make a game out of it. Amazing how something you already probably have in your pocket could be very powerful, and an easy way to help your students learn to read and comprehend.
photo credit: K. Todd Storch via photopin cc  

A Digital Allowance for Your Children!

Are your children reaching the point of obsession with digital products which includes TV, online games, tablet device games and mobile phone/mobile device games? I know mine want their fair share of time on their favorite games. And even as we try balance the amount of time spent on games and television parents sometimes need a plan of action to help them set some boundaries.
Common Sense Media recently published a blog post about the concept of giving your children a digital/virtual allowance.  The concept gives parents a way to help balance the amount of time students/children spend on digital media while also teaching them the concept of money management. Basically, if your child receives an allowance he or she must decide how to manage their money in order to gain access to their digital media time. While that's not for everybody it is one idea that might work at your house with consistent enforcement.
Just don't forget video games can be good for students too and  truly great video games can help your kids grow in ways you never thought possible. Here's more on that concept. So it's a balancing act and one we need to address as a community of educators and parents. These games and tools aren't going away so we need to stay informed as to what to look for, how best to support the growth of our children through these tools and how to balance it all to nurture well-rounded students.

photo credit: smcgee via photopin cc

Lowman named Kimmel Farm principal

Courtesy of the WSFCS Communications Department.

Floyd Lowman, (far right)the principal of Bolton Elementary School, will be the new principal at Kimmel Farm Elementary School.
Lowman has been the principal of Bolton since 2010. He replaces Gaye Weatherman, who retired last month. Weatherman opened the school in 2009, and Lowman will be the school’s second principal. Frank Holcomb will continue to work as interim principal at Kimmel Farm until a replacement is hired for Lowman at Bolton.
He has worked in Cherokee County Schools for two years, first as the principal of Andrews High School and then as principal of Marble Elementary School. Prior to that, he was principal of Leesville Road Elementary School in Wake County for one year and an assistant principal in Wake County for seven years.

Lowman also worked as a teacher in Wake County and Ohio and as a director of music and ministry at Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church in Raleigh. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Dayton.

Symphony Percussion Visits "The Farm"

Three members of the Winston-Salem Symphony visited Kimmel Farm today as part of the education outreach program. They talked to fourth and fifth grade students, showing them instruments from snare drums, to vibraphones, to the marimba, and instruments as seemingly simple as the tambourine and triangle.

Students heard musical pieces played from a variety of genres and heard some pretty cool beats along the way. Thanks to our music teacher, Mr.York, for providing the photos of the event.