Vlog Update

Instead of writing out the results of Gab's most recent doctor appointment and test results along with my views on the problems we are dealing with in the public school system, I decided to vlog it. After watching my vlog below if you have any advice please leave me a comment with your tips or thoughts.



Again thank you for stopping by and taking time to listen to our updates!

Update on Glogster

So this post is a follow-up from the School Promotes Glogster post. If you haven't read that post, you might want to first.

I received several comments about this post and one specially that I wanted to share. The comment below is from Glogster themselves.

Hi DJane

Glogster here – we saw this post voicing your concerns over your daughters use of Glogster for school projects and thought we would be able to share some helpful information with you. The same tools that allow Glogster users to express themselves also provide educators with a great opportunity to provide their students with interactive tools for projects. In order to help schools, educators and parents leverage these opportunities further; Glogster will be launching an education version of Glogster. This special section of the site will be launching soon and will have many new capabilities, including the ability to keep students separated from the social network part on Glogster. We will continuously work to perfect use in this new education segment.

If you would like, we can keep you updated on the education version of Glogster. I hope this information helps you and your readers and that the new education version will afford your daughter the opportunity to use Glogster for school in a manner you feel is appropriate.

Kind regards,
Glogster

Well I have to admit that I was a little impressed when I first read their comment. I mean Glogster is apparently growing large and they took time out to place a comment on my little blog. WOW! I am also excited about the upcoming education version of Glogster to protect kids. As soon as they inform me about more news I will make sure to share with my readers. So KUDOS to Glogster for trying to clear their name!

Now..... Below is what I found on their website under the FAQ section.

What is an inappropriate content?
Inappropriate content is any content that contains racial hate, nudity, pornography or anything unsuitable for an audience of 18 years and younger. If 5 users click the inappropriate tag on your Glog, the Glog will be hidden. Then, only our administrators can change the state of your Glog. If the Glogster Team finds any Glog inappropriate, it will be erased immediately.

Readers, did you read the last sentence? Did ya? Oh go ahead and read it again, LOL. As we all know the Glogster team read my blog, they saw the links, they heard our disgust frustrations and concerns. However if you click on the link in the original blog post, the one titled Not Intended for Eyes Under 18 the glog is still listed. So did Glogster really want to clear their name? Are the FAQs just listed to make you feel secure with joining Glogster? Did they really not intend to hold their word?

Hey... Some sites are made for kids and some aren't... Who am I to judge?

BTW those who wanted to know what the Principal at the elementary school said, well let's just say she about had a heart attack!

School Promotes Glogster

T comes home from school today all excited about this new site her librarian tells the fifth grade class all about. I do not allow her on MySpace so when her librarian is telling the class how she found a site that is perfect for children and so neat to create their own page, well let's just say T was sold! The librarian even tells the kids how she doesn't allow her own children to have a MySpace page but allows them to use Glogster b/c it is aimed towards children. HA HA!! At first I had never heard of Glogster, so of course when she came home I said I had to research it to decide if she was allowed to create an account. T brought home a paper that was printed out with Quick Guide Online Resources listing links and such from school today and one of the links is the schools Glogster page where they can read books and go online to take the tests. They even use this website while at school in the library. So with all this info, the paper promoting it, T telling me all she heard and finally the initial opening of the web site was... okay for the moment. Until of course I started browsing around and found trashy non-appropriate glogs for my 11 year old to view. I am in total shock! I can't believe the elementary school is promoting this. On top of that now all of T's friends were going to go home to create a site and all of them planned to network together over the weekend. Mom, once again, is the bad guy in all of this b/c I am the one who had no choice but say no. So let's link share for a moment...
The school's link for their Glog: Click Here
To view Glogster's main initial web page: Click Here
Now whatever you do, don't accidentally type in glogspot dot com b/c let's just say you will NOT end up at the right location, lol
Now here are a few glogs that I was able to browse around through within a few seconds...
Sex Education ~ All youngsters need to know this, right?!...
Not Intended for Eyes Under 18 ~ I mean come on!

Now that is just two, RIGHT AWAY that were found. Now remember... A piece of paper came home promoting this web site from my 11 year old daughter's school. Her fifth grade peers all get on this web site while at school. I just can't believe it. Yes, of course there are some really cute, innocent ones out there but is that enough? Not for me. I have decided to add a poll out there and would love for everyone to answer it. The poll is to help give me some insight as to how other parents feel about this topic. Some questions to think on....
1. Do you allow your children to get on MySpace, Glogster or other networking websites? What age is old enough?
2. Is telling your children not to look at bad things, enough but still allowing the access to be there?
3. Would you say it was okay to have their own site as long as it was kept appropriate and just tell them to not look at inappropriate things?
I would love honest comments. I know I can't control what everyone puts on the internet but I can control where my daughter goes. Or I guess I should say I will try my hardest to control where she goes. Just wonder when is the right time to trust her to make good decisions on her own. I think for now we will stick with Webkinz World, Toon Town and other Disney sites. LOL I am sure I would keep her young for ever but either way 11 is just not old enough for me.

I think all of us wahm and/or sahm should get together and create a Kid ONLY networking website for children to be safe on. Literally delete every profile or page that has one inappropriate thing (language, photo, etc.). It is so sad that kids can't do something fun/innocent without other people ruining it. If you know of a place like this, please send me the link.

Back to School

So a quick post with thoughts for the night...
Although I have a few blog posts coming soon, it is getting late tonight and I am tired. However, I do have a few thoughts I would like to post. School has been back in now since August 25th and the kids seem to be getting back on track. Things are good and we love their teachers.

Today something happened to make me feel old, LOL. No I'm not old! But I felt like one of 'those' older people who always say things like "we never had that when we were kids" or "consider yourself blessed b/c that is not a necessity". It is funny to think about it now... When T came home from school telling me she had a project due that consisted of creating a PowerPoint presentation and saving it to her flash drive (that was on the school supply list) and she needed me to teach her how to do it, well let's just say I was in shock. Now don't get me wrong, I am a total PowerPoint guru and have put together many presentations when I was part of the corporate world back in the J.O.B. days. I guess I just can't believe that computers, internet and flash drives have become a necessity even for children. I mean does every home to a 5th grader have these items? The part that was the best is when I asked T if she was learning P.P. in school and she said no. I looked at her and said what if the parents don't know how to use it?.... Her reply was, well the teacher said we could do one in MS Word if we don't have PowerPoint. LOL How convenient. I can't say that I complain because I think it is fun to work with my daughter and teach her how to use the program. I just love P.P. and have fun designing presentations. I really made her do the work though and she is learning to use a new program which is great. Although with having a sick two year old at home, I am sure glad we have a week.