TED Talk Response #5

Ken Robinson talked about how schools don't encourage students to be as creative as they can be. He talked about how schools around the world are focused on Math and Science and at the very bottom they teach arts and dance. Ken Robinson said that he thought that creativity was the key to success in the future. Robinson was very informative in his speaking style. He was casual in speaking, but he spoke seriously. He was funny here and there to add flavor to his talk, but for the most part he didn't joke around. Another thing was that Ken Robinson just talked. He just spoke. He didn't have anything to elaborate on his subject. He didn't have a slideshow, he didn't have pictures or music or things like that. He just spoke about his topic. But he spoke in a way that you could picture in your head what he was talking about. His topic on how schools are killing creativity warns society that schools aren't preparing children for the future enough or even in the right way. He warns that if schools don't start incorporating creativity and art type things into their curriculum  things could go wrong.

TED Talk Response #3

John McWhorter talks about how people think that texting is degrading language, and how they are wrong. He goes into describing how people in previous generations had thought that the youth of their time had been  throwing away the classical ways of speaking and writing. Well he gave an example of someone in 63 a.d. who thought that Latin was being spoken to casually. That just happened to turn out to be French. McWhorter is very serious when he talks. He speaks intelligently, informatively  but every once in a while he throws in some humor. That's what makes his audience like him. He teaches, but adds just enough fun so people don't fall asleep. His presentation style is simple and has been done over and over again. He talks about something, and his slides go along with it to help explain what he is talking about. Everyone who watches this video, well almost everyone, will realize that texting is not in any way degrading how we speak or talk. It's just evolving how we speak or talk. His main message is for people who worry about this kind of thing should calm down.

TED Talk Response #2

Seth Godin talks about how he thinks things are broken. He thinks they're broken for different reasons, and that may be good or bad. He says that there are several reasons that an object, system, or idea may be broken, and gives examples with solutions. Seth Godin makes his talk funny. He makes his audience like him by making them laugh. He is serious about the topic that he is talking about, but deliverers it in a light hearted fashion. His presentation style uses something like pictures on a Power Point. He presents his main idea and why he is speaking, then he shows pictures of his examples and talks about them. Seth Godin's TED talk shows why things are broken. This shows people the inconvienceses that the broken system, object, or idea causes. This in turn inspires them so that when they create something, they take into mind how to make it as efficient  workable, and easy to use.

TED Talk Response #1

What makes this video great is the lessons that Sarah Kay presented. She talked about being open to all experiences in life, not just the happy ones, but the sad ones as well. That allows you to learn from what went wrong in that experience and handle things better the next time something like that happens. Kay uses a very laid back speaking style. She makes her presentations feel like your a friend that she might meet for lunch. Even though she is nervous she is really, relaxed and calm in an energized way. Her presentation style uses her work to illustrate her point. She lectures, but in a casual way. In a few weeks our class will be doing a speech. A pretty lengthy speech as well and up until now I have had no idea how to do public presentations. This gave me an example of what looks good, but also let me know that it's not the only way to do it. This TED talk also reminded me to learn from my mistakes. It reminded me that good days are just around the corner if we can hold out for just a bit longer. Kay also inspires teachers. She gives them new ways to teach poetry and new ways for students to learn. The last thing Sarah Kay reminds us of is that the world is not a nice place. It can be downright cruel. You have to be open up to everything to catch those glimpses of happiness. Ernest Hemmingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." Morgan Freeman said that he agreed with the second part. Well I do too. It is a mean place that can punch you in the mouth. You have to take your joy from the healing.

Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle Sandwiches

Early in the morning, the chirp of the clock awakes. He rises, knowing what the new day holds. Shuffling downstairs, To the kitchen he goes, and makes a choice most consider quite bold. Peanut butter dill pickle sandwiches, What a wonderful way to start the day. How he craves the way the nut butter, closes his windpipe, and nearly suffocates him to death. At 6:00 a.m. sharp, the door raps a knock, and his friend greets him on the other side. Piling all their gear into the car, coats, hats, gloves and all, they embark on a two hour long car ride. They pass through valleys, they pass under mountains. They travel through snow and sleet and ice. While all the way talking, and enjoying a treat, which many do not consider quite nice. Peanut butter dill pickle sandwiches, what a wonderful way to start the day. How he craves the way the nut butter, closes his windpipe, and nearly suffocates him to death. At last, the car is parked! Out into the cold they step, and proceed to layer for warmth, for the mountain is deceiving. The transit authority's vehicle, rumbles up the dirty lane, and stops so it may take it's first passengers of the morning. At the mountain's inn, the boy decides to treat himself a treat, and vanquishes his hunger with the food he has been hoarding. Peanut butter dill pickle sandwiches, what a wonderful way to start the day. How he craves the way the nut butter, closes his windpipe, and nearly suffocates him to death. Finally on the lift, the cold blowing the snow up the mountain, the flakes caressing the near vertical ground like a wraith. At the top, unload and strap in, and forget all of life's pain and hate. Sliding effortlessly over the snow, throwing the angelically soft powder aside like a wave. Finally getting hungry again, they stop for luncheon, and he pulls out his favorite delicacy. Peanut butter dill pickle sandwiches, what a wonderful way to start the day. How he craves the way the nut butter, closes his windpipe, and nearly suffocates him to death. To tired to challenge the mountain any longer, they pile back into their preferred mode of transportation. Drifting dreamily back the way they came, not able to notice the overpowering pines. Back to his dwelling, he bids farewell to his old friend, and drops his bag on the floor. Shuffling once more to the kitchen, he produces bread from the cupboard, pickled Cucurbitacea from the fridge, and his beloved nut butter, and finally creates: Peanut butter dill pickle sandwiches, what a wonderful way to start the day. How he craves the way the nut butter, closes his windpipe, and nearly suffocates him to death.

pln#3

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, 1759 This quote basically states that people who can willingly give up their freedom or liberty, don't deserve the freedom that they still have or the safety that they wanted. It was talking about the people who wanted British control over the colonies and how the had to give up much of their freedom for the protection England offered. Franklin thought that your freedom is more important than your security. Personally, I highly agree with this quote. If you have to give up your rights in order to live in peace and be safe, then the threat to your life just moves from what made you want to give up your rights, to the people who are supposed to be protecting you. The people who give up their freedom so they can go to bed every night in peace, are not thinking their decision through. If you give up your liberty, okay, now your safe. So what? You are now monitored almost constantly, you can be questioned at any time because you look suspicious, but at least your safe. You have to show up at the airport two or three hours early so security can check you and your six year old kid for bombs. The danger that you once were in, now is just converted to the reduction of your privacy and freedom. Often, the danger isn't as bad as it seems, people sometimes overreact, and you end up losing more rights than is necessary just to be safe from the dangers that society deemed life threatening. By giving up your freedom, you give up your right to be human, which includes protecting yourself.

PLN#2

Kony2012 was about the effort to stop a man named Joseph Kony in Uganda from kidnapping kids and forcing them to fight his wars and becoming sex slaves. The maker of the film, Jason Russell, started out describing how he had met Jacob, a former foot soldier for Kony. When Jacob and Jason had met in Uganda, Jacob had just escaped from Kony and was running with a few other kids. In the next few weeks, Jacob had told Jason how he would rather die than keep living because he couldn’t go to school, his brother had been killed, and he saw no happy future in his life at which point he broke down and started sobbing. Jason told him that he would do everything in his power to stop Kony from abducting children and from killing their families. When Jason got back to the U.S., he decided to meet with government officials to discuss what measures could be taken to start the effort to find Kony. However, he was rejected, and told that the government would never get involved in anything that didn’t threaten national security or the nation’s financial benefits. Turned away, he didn’t give up and went around telling as many people as he could about Kony and Jacob, and slowly a program called Invisible Children was formed. Invisible Children’s goal is to stop the LRA permanently from killing, abducting, raping and displacing Ugandan children and their parents. Slowly Invisible Children (IC) began to grow, organize and spread information about Kony to other people. Then in October of 2011, the IC went to the government again to talk about Kony, and got Obama to sign an agreement to send about one hundred soldiers into Uganda to aid in the capture of Joseph Kony. However, Jason elaborated on how the soldiers could be called back at any time, and that people need to make as many people as they can aware that Kony is committing these crimes and that he needs to be stopped.

After the video, I immediately started chiding myself for not wanting to watch this video on the excuse that I didn’t have enough time. It was touching, heartbreaking, and it’s good to see that we can still get the government to do something if we put our mind to it. I often noticed how Jason used aspects from his own life in the video, such as involving his son, and that made me feel that it was actually him that wanted to make a change to a world that he didn’t like and not just a group of people who are trying to get money. The short clip of Jacob crying because he saw no future in his life amplified and legitimized that feeling and made even more people want to help. Another thing that struck me was how often he used numbers to back up his argument. How many children had been kidnapped, how long Kony had been abducting and killing, how long we have left to catch him...it gave me and others a perspective on a lot of the things that Jason talked about and made it easier to understand. Also, he compared the children’s lives who had been abducted to our lives through his son Gavin. That showed people how drastically different the way we live and the view that we have on life than that of the people living in Uganda. We go to bed worrying if we finished all our homework if you're in school or how much a new television might cost. The people in Uganda go to bed worrying if they’ll live another day or be shot within the next twenty four hours. This radical difference between cultures makes a lot of people want to change the way Ugandans live for the better to close the gap.