Thursday, May 5, 2011

Responese to Dave Meslin TED Talk: Blog 8



This video was my last one and I think that it was a good one to finish with. Dave really came up with some good ideas and I could really understand what he was talking. The main idea was that it is really hard to get involved in our communities, and it is not just that we are selfish, stupid, or lazy. The reason for this is that the things that we could get involved with seem like they do not want us too. What I mean is, if there is something going on, the media may tell you about it, but it is extremely hard to get involved with it. It really seems like the companies do not want people involved. But why would this be? Having people involved is the whole point, right? We need to make ourselves get involved. Since it is so hard to get involved, we may seem selfish, stupid, and lazy, even if we do not mean to be. We need to let go of our apathy just because it is hard, and give the extra bit to make a difference. This is a really important idea. Just because something is hard does not mean that we should not even try. If everyone did that, what would society be like today? Would it be better or worse? Probably worse. Our society is already heading in that direction, and if they are not stopped, everyone will expect easy jobs and activities, and anything hard will be thrown out. But, how do you get people to work hard on everything that they do? People need to learn to do what is important even if it may be difficult.


Dave's speaking techniques and presentation styles may not have been the best, but I still think that he did a good job with them. Dave used a good form of talking. He was nice and slow, and you could really understand him. He also did a good job of not standing in the same spot. He was able to use gestures and was able to walk around. He also did a good job with the slides that he used to enhance his talk. He had on the slides just what he needed. He did not add a bunch of random pictures or words, he just put up the main idea, and was able to articulate his ideas through speech instead of visuals. His speaking was not the best one I have heard out of all eight that I have watched, but he still did a great job.


As for what matters in this video, many parts of it do. But, the main thing that matters to me is what I talked about earlier. Giving everything all of the time and not settling for something just because it may be easier. Our society needs to learn to work hard, because we are starting to become very lazy. We should not settle for anything below what it should be (as I have said before) and we should strive to give our all in everything that we do. Our lives could be so much better if we could grasp this concept. In education, this idea could matter drastically. Students of all ages, especially older, do not try as hard as they should. They stop yearning for excellence, and begin to settle for mediocre. Why is this? Shouldn't school help students to give more instead of stopping it? What can we do to make school something that is given everything? This could result in much higher rankings, and a better time in school which matters more. I can even see this happening in my own life. I have started to let go of my yearn to learn. I have started to become alright with getting B's, which I never have before. Why is this? High school should have made me more excited for learning, but it did the exact opposite. Shouldn't school be helping? It is really puzzling why this happens, and I think that something should be done about this. Even throughout the whole world this matters. Everyone in the world, or at least a majority, are starting to let go of their willingness to work hard. They have been brainwashed to settle for mediocre days because society has told them to. Maybe if we stop listening to society and think for ourselves this will not be as much of a problem. We could fix it, and help millions.


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Response to Kiran Bir Sethi TED Talk (Blog7)



For this blog I watched an amazing talk that I really enjoyed. This talk was by Kiran Bir Sethi who is a remarkable woman that spoke on many important topics. Her main idea was that kids need to take charge and do something about their ideas, and that they can do anything that they put their minds to. Two words in throughout the whole thing may be the most empowering: I Can. This really hit me more than the rest of ideas that she stated. I Can. And I know it too. But, why is it that I am not told this every day? Why is this idea not encouraged? These are the same questions that Kiran probably asked, and she did something about it. At a school in India called Riverside, Kiran implanted this idea, and it became contagious. Everyone started to believe that they could, and they tried to make things happen. Then, they took their ideas and spread them to thousands of others so that everyone caught the disease.

Kiran had an amazing way of teaching this lesson also. She used a method: Aware Enable Empower. First, she showed the children what something was really like so that they could feel what it was. Then, she would tell them to think and imagine what this could lead to and what they could possibly do. And last, they would do it. Because of this, the students could see that their ideas mattered and that they could make a difference. Their ideas were just as important as the others. They had learned the important lesson: I Can. But, this also makes me wonder. If the results of this are so great, why do all schools not use it? Why isn't  creativity asked of students instead of pushed away? Why shouldn't our ideas matter as much as anyone else's? Are we really that much less intelligent? No.


Kiran Bir Sethi's presentation style and speaking techniques were magnificent. It is not that I did not like the speaking of all the others speakers, it is just that I loved this one the most. As for the way she spoke, she did an excellent job. I really liked how she was relaxed, but I also really liked how she was really getting into it. Because of this, you could see that she really cared about what she was speaking. It was important to her, and I think that that is a key factor for any TED Talk. I also really liked the way she presented. She showed a view short clips of her success, and I really could understand what she was saying, she also had lots of results for what happened so that I could see the success. It is very amazing to see what she started.


This video matters immensely and is very important. I really liked what she was talking about and the ideas that were presented. Especially the whole I Can thing, because it is really inspiring. It shows people and especially students that they matter, and their ideas matter. To me, I can see this being applied in everyday life. I can definitely tell that my ideas are not as important to people as older or "smarter" people's ideas are. People do not tell me that I Can and they do not encourage my ideas. Why? To education, this is very important. Just like Kiran shows, encouraging students brings the results way up and is obviously successful. This also applies to the world too. To education throughout the world, and also to students around the world. Students can become empowered and can let their ideas flow. They can let their creativity come out as much as they need. Students need to know that they can.


Monday, May 2, 2011

Response to Dave Eggers' TED Talk


           This TED Talk was very interesting and it was one of my favorites of all of the ones I have watched so far. The reason for this is the main idea of this talk, which is that everyone "will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area and that you'll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of transformative partnerships." What he means is that he wants everyone to get involved to help the public schools in their area to come up with one on one time with each student. This idea seems to be very crucial in our society because of class size and length. With even twenty students in a one hour class, there is still barely any time for a teacher to teach one on one with a student. But, with Eggers' ideas, there is a way around this. He came up with many tutor places that were able to help students and progress them along the educational path. He allowed for students to get some one on one time with a teacher to learn the way that is best for them, and allows them to progress the most. As a result, most of the kids rose up at least one grade level just because of this. This also makes me think of many ideas. Why is this project not implanted in all schools? We should try to persuade all of the schools throughout the country to adopt this project, and success will flow from all places. And, personally I would love to learn one on one with a teacher, and I am sure that most other students would also. This also gives students a way to learn the way that is best for them, and allows them to get farther in their school career. Not everyone learns the same way, so if schools keep teaching everyone the same subjects in the same way, what will happen? Will our creativity disappear into thin air? Will our interesting thinking methods be overrun by the ones that are thrown upon us? And if this will happen, schools need to find a way to stop it. During one of our class fishbowls, we came upon this topic, and a large argument started about whether schools should be smaller, or it there should be more teachers, or if there should be less students, and it got out of hand. But, after watching this video, I can see that there is a smart alternative to all of this, which is this tutoring idea which seems to work. But, it all brings me back to the same question, why has no one done anything about this problem? I know many people have made large impacts in this field, and have worked hard to succeed, but why can the leaders of our schools realize what needs to be done??? It doesn't make sense.


              Dave Eggers' speaking style and presentation technique was very good, but also unique. He incorporated some comedy and many great ideas, but he also did a few things that were not as good as they could have been. He talked a little too fast so it was hard to understand, and he also had a few too many pictures so the focus was more on them instead of him. But, overall he did a pretty good job. I liked the way that although he was nervous, he still acted loose. He also did a good job of showing exactly what he meant, especially though his TED wish. This showed the viewer what he was saying, and what he wanted them to do on their own. He did a good job.
  


             This idea matters immensely to education, to the world, and even to me personally. What matters is that everyone needs time to learn how they like to learn and can flourish while learning in this way. Teachers need to be able to have one on one time with each student, and they need to be able to work with the kids in a way that works for them specifically. This will allow for much more progress in all students, and it will let their creativity flow. This applies to education immensely because with it, education may never be the same. Kids will be able to express themselves and learn the way that they want to learn, and that in itself is a huge accomplishment. This is important, and I can even see it in my own life. Last year, I got really close to one of my teachers and she was one of the greatest people ever. Since my class was extremely small (only six people) I was able to learn a way that I wanted, and I could do what worked best for me. And, looking back now, I can see that the math that I learned in that room has stuch with me much longer than any other math I have ever learned. This idea even matters thoughout the while world. If this is applied, many more creative ideas will come into play, and creativity will not be blocked. Everyone will be able to learn the way that is best for them, and they will completely fourish. If this idea can be accepted creativity will blossom, and the world may even change.