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Boy Charges $2,500 In App Buys

zombies vs ninjasCall it a lesson in password protection. The parents of a five-year-old boy in England are regretting handing over their iTunes password after the youngster managed to rack up over $2,500 worth of purchases on the family's iPad.

In the middle of a dinner party, the boy's mother gave him the Apple password so that he could download and play the free app Zombies vs Ninjas. When the child ran into trouble defeating the enemy, he made a series of in-app purchases to stock up on weapons for his digital assault.

This incident comes on the heels of a recent Apple settlement in a case where the Cupertino company was accused of making in-app purchases too easy.

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Apple Tops in Harris Poll

appleCall it a clean sweep for Apple, as the Cupertino-based tech firm took home all of the top spots, including Brand of the Year, in a recent Harris Interactive poll.

Apple was voted the best computer maker, while the company's iPad and iPhone were tops among tablets and mobile phones repectively. "Americans continue to give Apple brands strong ratings," Manny Flores...

Partnerships-The Key To Creating...

You can only do so much.

I wanted to expand an enrichment program I established at the school where I work~ but I just didnt have the man (or more accurately~ the lady power). With the help of five~ very loyal~ moms~ we had enrolled about 45 elementary students in a program that involved them joining various enrichment clusters.

The program was a success~ and school administrators were interested in expanding it to involve all 250 or so of the campus elementary students. The...

Three Ways to Successfully Work with...

Recently~ after giving a presentation on gifted education to students at the University of South Florida~ one of them asked about a topic that often scares aspiring educators away from working with gifted children.

The dreaded gifted parent.

Yes~ gifted parents have earned (rightfully so in some cases~ but definitely not the norm in my experience)~ a reputation among educators. They can be known to be overbearing~ over involved~ and just a pain in the-you-know-what. You need to...

SanDisk Unveils Wireless Flash Drives

Known as a leader in the Flash storage business, SanDisk is taking its first step into wireless territory with the release of two Wi-Fi-based storage devices.

The Connect Wireless Flash Drive and the Connect Wireless Media Drive join the already-impressive lineup of standard storage devices from SanDisk....

From Every Angle: Building Tomorrow...

I cannot begin to count the number of times I hear a statistic related to children and education that causes me to pause and ask additional questions about the context. A troubling number is often just an indicator of a larger problem~ which serves as backdrop to help explain how we as a society arrived at this measurement. I recently attended three separate events that collectively reminded me~ once again~ that we can help all children realize their true potential through collaboration and...

Developing "Social Capital"...

I just had to e-mail this childs parents.

Have you ever had a student do something that blew your mind~ and you just had to tell his or her parents?

Im not talking about bad behavior (we could dedicate a series of posts to that~ I know) but rather~ when a child acts in an exceptional way~ a way that makes your entire day~ week or month.

I recently had such an experience.

Ill call the student~ Bella. Shes in the fourth-grade. The kind of student that teachers dream...

GooglePlay Confuses Disney App for...

Google MickeyParents and teachers who allow the children in their care to use Android devices are paying closer attention to content Google thinks they want. The cause for the scrutiny is a series of dubious recommendations when users search GooglePlay for the Disney app "Where's My Mickey." The results include the popular Disney app, and what are described as gay...

Substitute's Adventure Goggles...

I am very excited about my new short stories for social studies and I hope teachers will find them of value!
Substitute Mrs. Purpilopolis brings her purple backpack filled with Purple Adventure Goggles and takes kids on an adventure to witness historical events. The stories are about 9-10 pages and present historical topics in a fun and very informative way.
The first adventure has students travel back to learn about the life of Alexander Graham Bell. While wearing the purple...

In the News: A National Park is...

Another short news idea for your classroom:

A new national park is being considered by Congress but don't expect to visit it any time soon. That's because the proposed park is on the moon! Two congresswomen have sought to establish the lunar park at the area where the first Apollo manned space landing occurred back in 1969.
Why make a national park on the moon? There is concern that future space travelers might damage the site where footprints of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin can...

A Poem For Your Thoughts

First Grade

Squiggles.
Indecipherable~ incomprehensible;
Foreign yet familiar.

Cherub faces eyeing pages.
Filled to bursting with squiggles-
A banquet set for voracious appetites.

Prepare the meal with the utmost care~
Serve it on the fine china~
Don't forget the dessert.

Learning how to read shouldn't hurt.


Sometimes we...

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