Wednesday, May 14, 2014
@MonsterProducts Rock!
I do have to say...I am very pleased with my @MosterProducts surge protector. It just saved my brand new TV and sound system (and satellite receiver). As a tech-geek, I highly suggest their products - particularly their power/surge protectors. The cost is well justified.
www.monsterproducts.com
Business is booming!
Officially, LG Consulting has made it's first dollar! Through German to English translations, we are making a move. Our Central Kentucky German School is gaining a lot of ground at this point too, but we hope to continue expanding our offerings to include consulting on World Language programs in KY (particularly elementary programs in anticipation of the WL Program Review in 2015), more translations, and consulting on general business practices.
Make sure you check out our current offerings!
www.ckgermanschool.com
http://www.fiverr.com/lucasgravitt
Monday, April 7, 2014
CK German School
LG Consulting is excited to bring the Central Kentucky German School to reality. Providing cutting edge, technology infused German instruction to students of Central Kentucky will begin this fall, September 2014. Please visit our web for more information - http://www.ckgermanschool.com
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Cursive Handwriting - Nein Danke!
While listening to Dr. Terry Holliday, Commissioner of Education in KY, last week at Leadership Kentucky, I was so glad to hear him and others discuss cursive handwriting. He explained to the group of KY business leaders, educators, bankers, and more, that the reason we, humans, started to use cursive handwriting was because of the quill and ink. If you were using a quill to write, and picked up the quill between each letter, you'd end up with a mess, thus making cursive a more attractive alternative.
When was the last time you used a quill and ink well to write?
As I continued to reflect on this, I began to change my mind on a previous stance (just like our politicians, I'm a flip-flopper) that it is important for the mental and cultural development of our students to teach cursive writing.
Should we not rather be teaching our students have to type on little glass screens? I know that not everyone is using touch screen devices, but at some point in the future, this will be the case (Meet George Jetson...ba-ba-da). Why do some people continue to harp about the fact that we are not teaching cursive handwriting to students, when that is preparing them for absolutely nothing.
We as teachers need to take the future into account for what we are teaching our students. What will help them in 10-20-30 years? As the various inspirational videos (just check out YouTube) say, and I'm paraphrasing, "we are preparing our students for jobs that don't yet exist". Let's get with the program and get students using more and more devices, wireless internet, and cloud services. This is where we are now. Who knows where we will be going (that is, if the Mayan's are incorrect).
When was the last time you used a quill and ink well to write?
As I continued to reflect on this, I began to change my mind on a previous stance (just like our politicians, I'm a flip-flopper) that it is important for the mental and cultural development of our students to teach cursive writing.
Should we not rather be teaching our students have to type on little glass screens? I know that not everyone is using touch screen devices, but at some point in the future, this will be the case (Meet George Jetson...ba-ba-da). Why do some people continue to harp about the fact that we are not teaching cursive handwriting to students, when that is preparing them for absolutely nothing.
We as teachers need to take the future into account for what we are teaching our students. What will help them in 10-20-30 years? As the various inspirational videos (just check out YouTube) say, and I'm paraphrasing, "we are preparing our students for jobs that don't yet exist". Let's get with the program and get students using more and more devices, wireless internet, and cloud services. This is where we are now. Who knows where we will be going (that is, if the Mayan's are incorrect).
Using Google Voice to Assess Students
I've talked recently with several colleagues about how I use google voice in my classroom to assess my students' speaking skills in German. I remember back in German 1 when I was a student in high school, and (even though my German education was a bit unconventional - with Distance Learning), we still had to take quite a bit of time out of our scheduled class for speaking practice with the teacher (or tutor in our case). When I started observing more and more German classrooms as an undergraduate student, I saw this more and more. The teacher would give the class an assignment that would last the entire period, he/she would stand in the hallway (by the door), and call students one by one out to give their speaking quiz. It was such nerve racking for the students to have to perform on the spot with the teacher towering over them with his/her clip board. If they said "Ich bist Lucas" the teacher would start scribbling down marks that the student did not have control over the verb "sein" and could not correctly conjugate the verb.
I've found a solution.
Google Voice is a free service offered by the fine folks of Google. Users create a telephone number and can set up their voice mail system. For teachers, I recommend linking the telephone number to your school's main office (so that all "prank" calls go there instead of to your email - more tracking available on that side). Absolutely select "do not accept blocked calls" and you definitely need to link the account to your school email address.
By linking the number to your school email address, you are able to have all voicemails (as mp3 files) and text messages come directly through the school server (therefore it is being tracked and logged to protect you and your students).
You need to have permission from the parents (in some situations) for the student to use their phone during the school day, and most definitely need to have "approval" by your school administrators.
I generally will ask the students to spend their designated homework time planning what they are going to say during the quiz (usually it is a verbal response to a prompt). Sometimes, it is best to assess spontaneous speaking too. After explaining the ground rules to the students, I ask them to get out their cell phones, go find a place in the hallway that is quiet and away from other students, call my google voice number, leave a voice message with their response to the prompt. Then my blackberry starts buzzing with all of their responses.
Something that usually would take an entire class period (to assess 30-35 students), now can take 3 minutes to get done during the day. This does allow for less class time to be "wasted" and keeps students engaged. It also allows the teacher to grade the speaking skills on their own time (during planning, before or after school, or on the weekend - see previous post on weekends...), thus giving them more time to listen, and re-listen to each student's skills to more accurately assess them.
I'm sure there are 3 million other ways to do this, but this is what works for me. Let me know if you give it a try or need help with setting it up!
I've found a solution.
Google Voice is a free service offered by the fine folks of Google. Users create a telephone number and can set up their voice mail system. For teachers, I recommend linking the telephone number to your school's main office (so that all "prank" calls go there instead of to your email - more tracking available on that side). Absolutely select "do not accept blocked calls" and you definitely need to link the account to your school email address.
By linking the number to your school email address, you are able to have all voicemails (as mp3 files) and text messages come directly through the school server (therefore it is being tracked and logged to protect you and your students).
You need to have permission from the parents (in some situations) for the student to use their phone during the school day, and most definitely need to have "approval" by your school administrators.
I generally will ask the students to spend their designated homework time planning what they are going to say during the quiz (usually it is a verbal response to a prompt). Sometimes, it is best to assess spontaneous speaking too. After explaining the ground rules to the students, I ask them to get out their cell phones, go find a place in the hallway that is quiet and away from other students, call my google voice number, leave a voice message with their response to the prompt. Then my blackberry starts buzzing with all of their responses.
Something that usually would take an entire class period (to assess 30-35 students), now can take 3 minutes to get done during the day. This does allow for less class time to be "wasted" and keeps students engaged. It also allows the teacher to grade the speaking skills on their own time (during planning, before or after school, or on the weekend - see previous post on weekends...), thus giving them more time to listen, and re-listen to each student's skills to more accurately assess them.
I'm sure there are 3 million other ways to do this, but this is what works for me. Let me know if you give it a try or need help with setting it up!
Everybody's Working on the Weekend
Firstly let me apologize for not being a good steward of my blogging. Having had a rather "busy" summer, then the start of the school year, plus graduating Georgetown College (with my MA in Education with endorsement in Instructional Computer Technology), receiving the Deans Honor Award, planning a trip to Savannah, St. Petersburg (FL), South Africa (again), and Germany (with 30+ students). Shew. So here I am - just working on the weekend right?
I've been reflecting on the tune (by Loverboy in 1981) and its lyrics a bit this weekend, as, in reality, we are all so connected to everything these days, there aren't such things as weekends anymore. Many of us tend to always have work that needs to be done on the weekend, but I'm talking about those of you who don't necessarily have to work on Saturday and Sunday. With iPhones, BlackBerries, iPad, laptops, digital/satellite TV, and more, we are still constantly receiving and processing information, thus not actually giving us a relaxing break.
I cannot help but think about what a weekend should be (to the normal human). On average, people work 40 hours a week, then have two days off. Those two days should be left for family time, time to work around the house, time for religion, time for yourself, etc. With all of our buzzing and glowing devices, tweets and posts, calls and text messages, we truly aren't taking weekends "off" these days. Those of us in the education world know this well.
After teaching 5 classes a day, the last thing I want to do is continue working; therefore I sometimes save my extra work (grading, planning, etc.) for the weekend (not counting my extra duties). Because of the current state of technology, I can work more efficiently from home (on grading, planning, etc.) than I can from my school. I am just as connected (if not more), and can be a bit more relaxed in my own comfort zone. I really don't mind this.
Technology, as great as it is, has a hold on weekends. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I encourage everyone to take a techno break (at least for a few hours) on a weekend (whenever that may be). Take a break from the tweeting, texting, facebooking, etc. Technology has it's place, but we cannot forget basic peace and quiet in our lives too. I look forward to taking my own advice (maybe) and turning off the phone, the iPad and the MacBook, and just having a bit of peace and quite.
I've been reflecting on the tune (by Loverboy in 1981) and its lyrics a bit this weekend, as, in reality, we are all so connected to everything these days, there aren't such things as weekends anymore. Many of us tend to always have work that needs to be done on the weekend, but I'm talking about those of you who don't necessarily have to work on Saturday and Sunday. With iPhones, BlackBerries, iPad, laptops, digital/satellite TV, and more, we are still constantly receiving and processing information, thus not actually giving us a relaxing break.
I cannot help but think about what a weekend should be (to the normal human). On average, people work 40 hours a week, then have two days off. Those two days should be left for family time, time to work around the house, time for religion, time for yourself, etc. With all of our buzzing and glowing devices, tweets and posts, calls and text messages, we truly aren't taking weekends "off" these days. Those of us in the education world know this well.
After teaching 5 classes a day, the last thing I want to do is continue working; therefore I sometimes save my extra work (grading, planning, etc.) for the weekend (not counting my extra duties). Because of the current state of technology, I can work more efficiently from home (on grading, planning, etc.) than I can from my school. I am just as connected (if not more), and can be a bit more relaxed in my own comfort zone. I really don't mind this.
Technology, as great as it is, has a hold on weekends. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I encourage everyone to take a techno break (at least for a few hours) on a weekend (whenever that may be). Take a break from the tweeting, texting, facebooking, etc. Technology has it's place, but we cannot forget basic peace and quiet in our lives too. I look forward to taking my own advice (maybe) and turning off the phone, the iPad and the MacBook, and just having a bit of peace and quite.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Scott County Technology Jubilee 2012
Scott County Technology Jubilee 2012
On June 12, 2012, I'm presenting at Royal Spring Middle School at the 2012 Scott County Technology Jubilee sponsored by Scott County Schools. I am so excited to be able to present on Social Networking and Micro-Blogging (which I need to do more of). If you can't make it out to Scott County tomorrow morning at 8:50AM - check out my presentation (it's rather bone dry, I don't like to type everything - makes it too boring).
Follow the conference on twitter using #sctj12.
Thanks!
Lucas
On June 12, 2012, I'm presenting at Royal Spring Middle School at the 2012 Scott County Technology Jubilee sponsored by Scott County Schools. I am so excited to be able to present on Social Networking and Micro-Blogging (which I need to do more of). If you can't make it out to Scott County tomorrow morning at 8:50AM - check out my presentation (it's rather bone dry, I don't like to type everything - makes it too boring).
Follow the conference on twitter using #sctj12.
Thanks!
Lucas
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