Spammer Alert

"Hello Dear, I would like to get acquainted with You...." Can you say creepy? That is the spam message many of students found on their slice posts this morning after we had our discussion. Thank goodness for Stacey's message in the classroom round up post for today. I love the quotes she uses as frames:

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. –Confucius

If your plan isn’t working, adjust your plan. Never give up. -Matt Martin

I shared the quotes with students before we sat down in our discussion circle for a Slice of Life check-in. Students came in excited to talk about their slices and the comments they are getting and giving each other. Some, though,  are still having difficulties: confusion or their schedules got in the way of writing over the weekend. They were the opposite of excited-glad.  I spent much of the discussion time reassuring students who are stressed out because theirs posts are late or their slice links are in the wrong place or not linked. It's going to be a process of working it out. I've explained that to students, but they don't believe me yet. They're afraid I won't believe their troubles or will hijack them (or their grades).

I believe them. I'm writing with them, so is my son. He didn't post his slice yesterday either. He went to a baseball game with his Dad and grandfather. Between church, the game and dinner with the grandparents, he wasn't in a place where he could sit, write or post. He drafted something, but didn't finish it. I know why. It is okay if he doesn't post every single day. Some days he will meet the challenge of writing or blogging daily and some days he won't. He's eleven. My youngest students, some of them, are thirteen. Students are learning. Making mistakes and failing are part of learning.

They don't control their families' schedules. While they can work ahead and schedule posts, there will be times when things don't go as planned. We'll adjust. We'll try again. We'll keep going.

That was the thinking that took me to our Ning space after our discussion, during work time, when a student said, "Miss! Do you know this person?" He was pointing at the screen and to a comment left by an outsider on his slice. I took one look and knew we'd been spammed. Man!

That's the risk I took when I stopped moderating members and opened the site for viewing. I knew if spammers discovered us what to do: I had a plan. So I went to it: I changed the privacy settings. I went back to "lock down" mode where visitors to our Bear English site can only see the front page of the Ning and not go deeper into members' content  or blogs. I hope that stops the problem. The spammer has tried to join twice more in the minutes after I re-instituted moderation. If you are wanting to connect with my students, we've probably already emailed, messaged or spoken. For now, for today, we'll slice privately until I come up with a fix.