Under Pressure

Blog #6

I really enjoyed Dave Egger's TED talk. His presentation was great and he showed many pictures of the difference he and the people helping him could make. I found it intriguing. I absolutely agree with the statement that students will do better and thrive in education when the spotlight in shown on them or attention is drawn to them. I think his project to change public schools is a great idea. His pirate store was a great idea because I think it is extremely important to connect education to something whimsical. School can change everything, but many students don't realize that because it hasn't been exposed to them in a way that will inspire them.

When I was younger I fell in love with writing. The fact that absolutely anything could happen by the means of writing it down captivated me. I was inspired by the endless possibilities  and the simple joys writing brought to me. I wanted to be an author for the longest time, but that all changed as school progressed. I was forced to change my attention from writing to other areas in school to be successful in the future. I feel as if education today broadens everything that needs to be learned in schools to the point where it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on your passions as a student. I don't think parents and elders respect the passion and drive behind younger students because it seems as if they couldn't possibly know what they want to do in the future rationally. Yes, that might be the case for some, but not for every single child. I feel as though school and the increasingly difficult standards of modern education, especially the expectations of colleges, have slowly decreased my passion and time I could really focus into writing or other passions. Yes, students need to be aware of a certain amount of information, but when does it become harmful to his or her possible future? I still have a love for creative writing and I think I always will, but it is not as beautifully creative and capable as it could have been had I focused on it when I was younger.

The thing that scares me is the fact that schools, as I see them, partially enforce the idea that a job is something that earns you money, not something you do because you love it. That schools enforce the ideal of perfection and knowing everything is the best thing for a student to have as an asset for college. Think about what that could do to kids. It could change their future for the worse. The increasing stress and expectations of the education system eat at my heart because I don't want the simplicity of the passion for learning to fade away like mine did. I want to sit at the computer like a did as a child, and type up my dreams into a little story. I can't do that anymore; maybe because of the pressure of the education system and my desire to do well, or maybe because of the reality of life, but either way I think that Egger's movement in education could help fix some of these situations. His simple movement to inspire students could just change the world.

Works Cited:

"Dave Eggers' Wish: Once Upon a School | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html>.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.talkingfingers.com/educational-reading-software/wp-content/uploads/child_writing.jpg>.

This is Your Brain on Optimism

Blog #5

"It's extraordinary how far beliefs can take you." Caroline Casey's TED talk really truly inspired me. She is legally blind and was completely unaware until her 17th birthday. Well, how in the world could that possibly work? Well it was just how it was to her, thats how the world was. She didn't know any different. She fought and fought against her blindness and pushed through that difficulty, but she didn't realize that she was fighting herself. Casey talked about how her optimism and the acceptance of her true self  including her blindness made her see clearly and give her the final push to be happy.

I agree with Casey that self belief can push a human being so far. She did so much with her set back that even people without anything holding them back could do. I think it is absolutely astonishing what the human emotions can accomplish. In fact in an article about health and its relation to optimism and pessimism it stated, "A body of research has linked optimism to better health" ("This"). The human emotions are a complex and difficult aspect of life to fully understand, but they can prove to thrive when it comes to motivation. Casey's blindness originally was a negative in her life, something she wanted to push away. Once she gained a new and clearer perspective of her life she used it to go beyond her expectations of her limits. She helped people like her be able to see because of her passion. She turned that negative into a positive and I think that is an important lesson for anyone to learn in their lives.

Personally, I have had to go through multiple situations like that which eventually I learned to learn from rather than pessimistically go about it for the rest of my life. When I was around eight years old my mom was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Being an impressionable and sensitive eight year old I thought I was going to lose my mom. She had been sick with many other illnesses, but I thought cancer was the worst of all things imaginable. I was even scared to be away from her so I didn't go to sleepovers. Eventually, her thyroid was removed and she is happy and healthy today, but I took that negative situation and turned it into a lesson over the years. One needs to value the mortality of oneself; they need to live life to the fullest because it is not something you can just throw away or give up on, it is something you need to push through in the hardest of times. Another true tragedy was the death of my friend Sammy. In the summer before seventh grade I remember driving home and my mom telling me that she has some bad news. A plane had crashed on my classmates' Oregon vacation home and Sammy and his little sister Grace had passed away. I honestly had no idea what to feel, I was absolutely stunned. I went through a rough spot after that because I couldn't believe that someone my age was gone. My class of 42 kids pulled together and supported each other through the truly tragic event, but as I got older I still couldn't believe that someone so young and kind wasn't here. Being here is a gift that not everyone is granted, every gift taken away is a tragedy but all gifts should be embraced.

Casey's talk reminded me of the strength of the human soul and how far beliefs can help a person along their journey in life. I truly respect her story and the emotion she put into her TED talk . It was inspiring. It showed how the hard parts in life make a better person of everyone. Perseverance and pulling through difficult situations is something that I truly respect in everybody. 

Works Cited

"This Is Your Brain on Optimism - Newsweek." Newsweek - National News, World News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and More - Newsweek. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/23/this-is-your-brain-on-optimism.html>.

Changing the World

Blog #4

Clay Shirky's TED talk was all about cognitive surplus. Cognitive surplus is the ability of the population of the world to volunteer and to contribute and to collaborate on large global project. Therefore Mr. Shirky is saying that when it comes to technology the world as a whole needs to come together on an emotional level and collaborate on global projects. When the world needs to come together economically it does not do so well. This reminded me of probably the most important piece of technology to me: YouTube.


YouTube is a website that enables anybody to upload and watch videos. Not only is YouTube a website, it is a community, one that comes together emotionally. YouTube fits into Shirky's idea of cognitive surplus like a pea in a pod. YouTube is important to me because it allows any person of any age to show and share new perspectives. This is incredibly important because it allows this virtual community to connect emotionally. People create videos because of their passion and because they want to, not because of economic reasons. Although there is such a thing as a YouTube partnership, which provides money, the YouTuber needs to create videos because of a passion and emotion they have before they earn the very difficult to receive partnership. Shirky talks about collaborating and YouTube is a great example of that. YouTube pulls together the world because of the emotion it brings to all different types of people. YouTubers from all over the world can collaborate on videos. The most important thing about YouTube is that it can truly make a difference in the world. Whether the situation involves helping others, protesting against governments, or just making people happy, YouTube can always push and support these situations to really change the world. YouTube really shows the effectiveness of Clay Shirky's idea of cognitive surplus. It is not economically based and thrives on passion and emotion shared by the people of the world in their "free" time. Heres a video that sums up the greatness YouTube has brought to all societies:

Presentation: Shirky mainly just used talking as his entire presentation, but gave some examples of websites or other things he was talking about in a slideshow. I think this was an effective way of presenting his idea because it inspired people and showed them what he was talking about. 

Works Cited:

Clay Shirky: How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html>.

YouTube - YouTube's Channel. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/user/youtube?blend=1>.

YouTube - This Is YouTube. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojqWclLQOxk>.

Room for Self Expression

Blog #3

In Dan Pink's TED talk he spoke about the motivation behind people's work. He gave evidence that if given a high incentive and a creative task, participants will do worse. Which is almost completely opposite from what you would expect considering how businesses run presently. Although Pink says simple tasks are done better with higher rewards, I find it very interesting that the creative jobs with higher incentives do worse. I can relate to this in the way that whenever I feel pressured into creating a drawing or anything with creativity involved I feel stressed and do not do as well as I would naturally do if I had just drawn something on my own. I find this study interestingly true. Here is a video which also talks about Pink's mindset about motivation and other things from his novel Drive:

When relating this to education, I immediately think of the arts program. Today, in public high schools students in art based classes are graded upon very strict rubrics. I don't think this should be how students should be graded; in fact I think students should be graded directly the opposite of that position. Yes, they should teach the students about the arts, but everything is art and is beautiful in its own way because of its individuality. I think public schools should have a broader acceptance for art in its varying forms. In a mindset of Daniel Pink, to create better work they should be more creative and right brained and given less pressure to create said piece of artwork. If creativity becomes a major staple of succeeding in the future's society as Pink predicts, shouldn't schools create a healthy and supportive environment of self expression instead of limiting it with rubrics and tedious expectations?

I was in private school for all my life until this year and I have found that a major difference in the systems is the limited expression in the arts. I love public school, my high school is an exceptional school in all areas. All I'm saying is that I wish that society as a whole would entrust upon its students to take learning into their own hands especially when it comes to the arts. Creativity comes from space and freedom, but with strict rubrics and highly specified expectations that creativity will not be able to flow as capably as it could according to Pink's aspects as well. Any type of art class should try to widen the boundaries, the space and freedom so this highly individual creativity can shine and flourish through students today.

Presentation: Daniel Pink is a very good speaker and his presentation mostly consisted of him just talking like many other talks. Pink uses emotion and passion to relate to the crowd and get their minds going. He illustrated the candle problem on a slideshow as well as a few highly important sentences in his speech. Pink captivated his audience with great enthusiasm and passion.

A Point of View

Blog #2

Response:

“If we want to discover the full potential in our humanity we need to celebrate those heart breaking strengths and those glorious disabilities we all have,” Aimee Mullins an amputee describes where the beauty in humanity comes from. I was truly awed at her TED talk. She spoke of the prejudice of people when they become fearful and I think that is a very important message to spread. Instead of being afraid of the unknown, like amputees, why don’t we embrace it? Why doesn’t humanity, as Aimee exemplifies with children she spoke to, forget about these things altogether and remain unified? I think she shows a beautiful story about how every single human being has their own disabilities and one that is more obvious to the public is judged upon. Amputees are not necessarily negatively discriminated against, rather they are assumed as weak or awkward to stand by or given sympathy they don’t necessarily want when that assumption is not true is any way shape or form. They are just people, like you and me, that just so happens to be missing something physical. But aren’t we all missing something, whether it be physical or emotional?

 When I was younger I felt extremely horrible for amputees or handicapped people. I would stare like any other child would, not in a judgmental way, but more out of curiosity. Yes, it is different, but so is every other human being. One person in particular made me understand Aimee's thinking and the beauty of everyone's differences. His name is Josh Sundquist and he is one of my favorite YouTubers. He lost his left leg to cancer when he was younger and now he is a bestselling author, motivational speaker, and former Paralympic ski racer. He is absolutely hilarious and has opened my eyes to the discrimination amputees go through as well as how horrible and unnecessary discrimination of any sort is in the world. Here are a few videos to show you what I’m talking about:

Presentation: Aimee Mullins' talk was heartfelt, artistic, and relatable to all types of people. She used emotion to connect to the audience and pull them in. She also used a little bit of humor to connect to the people as well. She sophisticatedly and smoothly presented her ideas and feelings and made the audience and people watching feel as well.

Living in Wonderlands

Blog #1

        Response:

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk conveyed one main idea: education is sucking the creativity out of students. I agree with him because from a high school students’ perspective, I feel as though I have become less and less creative because of the type and amount of education I receive. Although I think that education is very crucial even as it stands today, I think Sir Ken Robinson has a valid point. I think education are something that will get you where you need to go in life, but if our society is going where Daniel Pink and others predict then education needs to change. (Conceptual Age)

 When I was in third grade I used to sit down at the computer and write little stories or poems I thought of. One instance I sat down and typed all the numbers out to 1,000 just because I wanted to learn. Sometimes I would draw something or paint something, but now all that time to think and process has gone to hours of classes and other high school activities such as sports. I’m a student who loves art and I think that it has changed my life, but now I figure it is more important to do well in classes than focus on art. Of course students have the opportunity to take art classes, sit down and read a book, but in my case my “creative” time has been swapped with stress and pressure to do well because of the competition posed in the education system.

His presentation makes me think of Alice and Wonderland and the boundless amounts of creativity and beauty in the mind of a child.Alice in Wonderland -Wikipedia

Education should not depress this art and beauty within the brain, it should enforce it. As Alice says, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" She exemplifies learning out  of curiosity and the greatness of thinking where no one has thought before. Robinson states, "They're not frightened of being wrong" because children are willing to take those risks and learn new things in that way. Maybe society and education needs to take a step back and adjust their willingness to take those risks of everyday life. Maybe then, everyone can find their wonderland of creativity. Will you find yours?

Presentation:  I specifically noticed the humor that Sir Ken Robinson used in his presentation. It was an effective and useful tool. Humor connected him to the audience and also made him seem less forcing but suggestive of his ideas. It is important that he not shove his ideas down the audiences throats and repeat his thesis like a maniac. He skewed from the main topic but stayed relative as well, keeping the audience engaged and listening. Robinson did a great job of enforcing his topic and well as satisfying the audience no matter what their opinions are.