When I wrote last week's post on Sir Ken Robinson's latest TED talk on why current US educational policy is doomed to failure, I was shocked to discover I hadn't included some of his earlier videos in my blog. So, better late than never....here are two of my favorites.
If I wanted to encapsulate this thinking into one presentation, I would choose the RSA Animate video entitled Changing Educational Paradigms:
But if you would like more detail on his theories about education and creativity, which is his particular expertise, I think the best source is his first TED talk, which has been seen by over 20 million people and has been translated into 58 languages:
They are insightful, funny, but most important, important videos to watch if you are concerned about the state of education....and, really, who isn't these days?
Showing posts with label TED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TED. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
In Latest TED Talk, Sir Ken Robinson Urges Returning School Control to Local Educators
Sir Ken Robinson, the educational reformer whose talks are on the top of the TED most popular video list, has just come out with another wonderful presentation entitled "How to Escape Education's Death Valley." In it, he explains why current educational "reforms," such as No Child Left Behind, run counter to fundamental human nature and thus are doomed to fail. He contrasts the current American system, which is increasingly narrow, centralized, and standardized, with systems that rank at the top of international achievement, such as Finland, which are broad in scope, controlled by local educators, and individualized to particular students. He is pithy and persuasive, and delivers his talk with his typical dry humor. (My favorite humorous line from this talk was when, in discussing the growing diagnosis of American students with ADHD, he said "Children are not, for the most point, suffering from a psychological condition...they are suffering from childhood.")
Watch the video below to learn more about why our current educational policy ends up with the US spending immense sums of money but achieving unacceptable results in terms of drop-outs and other human factors:
Watch the video below to learn more about why our current educational policy ends up with the US spending immense sums of money but achieving unacceptable results in terms of drop-outs and other human factors:
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Shakespeare and Hip-Hop
April is such a great month for us bibliophiles. First, we're celebrating the entire month as National Poetry Month, and then April 23 is generally accepted as the birthday of the most-acknowledged writer of the English language--William Shakespeare.
So in honor of Mr. Shakespeare birth on or around this date in 1564, here is a wonderful resource I found recently. It seems that in England there is an organization that is exploring the connections between Shakespeare's works and....hip-hop. Not necessarily the first connection that would leap to my mind, at least, but The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company founder Akala makes a good case for it.
For example, check out this video of his presentation before one of the TED gatherings. First, he challenges the audience to guess which lines are quotes from Shakespeare, and which are quotes from rapper songs (and believe me, it's not as easy to tell as you might think). Then, he gives two renditions of one of Shakespeare's most famous poems, Sonnet #18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"). Both fall into hip-hop rhythms perfectly, showing that Shakespeare's "outdated" iambic pentameter is actually current in today's music.
Anyway, don't take my word for it....check it out yourself in this TED video:
It is, after all, the sign of a masterpiece that it can be re-interpreted and re-imagined over the ages. The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company seems to be doing a great job of reaching at-risk youth and having them tap into the genius and wonder of the works of William Shakespeare.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Discover the History of Words with Mysteries of Venacular
Expanding your vocabulary is a great goal in itself, but it tends to take up more importance as students prepare to face such tests at End of Grade (EOG) exams and SAT/ACT, etc. But here is a resource that can make your vocabulary-building more fun.
Plus, some of the words have some additional content on the TED-Ed Lesson Plan site. The lesson plan for the word "noise" has some additional questions to make you think about the etymology, a place to discuss your thoughts about this word with other people, and other resources, such as the top five sounds scientists have discovered are the worst for the human ear. And just imagine--nails on a blackboard is only #5! To listen to the sound of the single worst assault on human hearing, check out the lesson plan.
Right now, there are only a few words, but new videos are being added periodically. So while it isn't a mainstay for vocabulary building, it is an intriguing resource for families like ours who are continually amazed at some of the way that English came to be as it is today.
The website, Mysteries of Venacular, is developing a series of fun videos on the twists and turns that English words have taken from their Greek, Latin, Old English, or other roots to their modern meanings and spellings. Mysteries of Venacular tend to focus on simple words, like clue or hearse, but which came from unique or memorable origins (Greek mythology for the former and a word for "wolf" for the latter). Once you've seen one of these videos, you'll never forget where the word came from.
For example, watch this video on the derivation of the word "noise":
Plus, some of the words have some additional content on the TED-Ed Lesson Plan site. The lesson plan for the word "noise" has some additional questions to make you think about the etymology, a place to discuss your thoughts about this word with other people, and other resources, such as the top five sounds scientists have discovered are the worst for the human ear. And just imagine--nails on a blackboard is only #5! To listen to the sound of the single worst assault on human hearing, check out the lesson plan.
Right now, there are only a few words, but new videos are being added periodically. So while it isn't a mainstay for vocabulary building, it is an intriguing resource for families like ours who are continually amazed at some of the way that English came to be as it is today.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Turning Coral Conservation into Child's Play
I haven't posted in over a week, which I think is the longest I've ever gone since I've started this blog without posting. I wish I could say it was due to Screen Free Week and my virtuous decision to eschew all things electronic, but it wasn't. It is because I've been so busy with the Cards, Coral & Kids campaign for my son's environmental awareness group, Healing Oceans Together (H2O).
The idea behind this project, which is to create a Pokemon-like card game that would teach people about coral reef life and ecosystems and actions they can take to help the corals survive, is explained here and here, so I won't go into that again in my blog. What I wanted to talk about here is some of the thinking behind the project.
You know, young teens are interesting creatures. They are old enough to realize some of the problems with the world, and most are hopeful and confident about being part of the solution. They tend to be really into Earth Day and recycling, Save the Planet, Stop Global Warming, Protect the Rain Forests, and the like.
And yet, on a daily basis, we are still telling them "Shut the Refridgerator Door!" "Turn Off the Lights when You Leave the Room!" "Don't Leave the Computer Running All Night!" or the frustrated but perhaps dangerous question of "Why Does it Take You 30 Minutes of Running Water to Take a Shower?"
Maybe it's different at your house. But for many of us, our children's grand rhetoric for saving the planet doesn't match up with their everyday life habits. Of course, that's really true for most of us adults as well...
In H2O, the students have been studying ocean science and math since September. We decided to hone in on coral conservation because coral reefs are really the marine equivalent of rain forests. Although coral reefs only make up about 0.1% of the oceans, they are home to approximately 25% of all marine life! Also, corals take a long time to grow, so our damage to reefs that may be hundreds or thousands of years old can not be replaced within many of our human generations.
But what to do that would make a difference? There are already tons of books and videos and ads and educational resources on this issue, but people continue doing what they've always done. As parents, we've trying nagging, threatening, bribing, begging, and everything short of bloodshed, and yet...we, too, are largely ineffectual. So we needed to come up with something else, something new.
And then we had a brainstorm. Instead of using guilt and threats and dire warnings of environmental catastrophes, what if we made saving the coral reefs fun? What if we made it....into a game?
In approaching it this way, we were influenced by the work of Jane McGonigal, whose work is summarized in a video I included in an earlier post. Her video on that page, a TED talk on how "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is a synopsis of her wonderful book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. In short, she argues that time people spend on video games actually helps them develop positive characteristics (such as working hard, cooperation, and optomism), and explores how to structure games so that we can channel all the time people spend playing games into social activism games that will help solve Earth's real-world problems. It is a fascinating and inspiring book, and I recommend it highly.
So, in short, that is what we are trying to do with this game. First, the game will teach students (and adults as well) the real science behind food chains and interlocking ecosystems in the coral reefs. We think this is important because we think if people knew more about all these fascinating creatures, they would love them, and we take care of the things we love (for more of our philosophy on that, read the Family Educators Commons article that Maria Droujkova and I co-wrote on the Shareable website). But secondly, we will build into the games a way for them to earn (or lose) points based on their actions in real life. You insist that I drive you to the library? You lose 5 points. You walk or ride your bike there yourself? You gain 5 points. You stand there with the refridgerator open as you drink your water/milk/juice? You lose 3 points. You close the door and drink it at the table? Well, I don't know that we'll give you points for that, since that should be normal behavior, but at least you won't lose points. You keep your showers under 10 minutes? You get 2 points. You keep your showers under 5 minutes? You get 5 points.
You get the idea.
Anyway, we think this game has the potential to give kids incentives for to change those behaviors that we parents have been nagging them about for years, but to no avail. If we all make those small changes, maybe they won't completely solve the problem, but they will make things better. And making things better is something that can make us all feel good.
If you would like to be a part of helping to make this game happen, then please visit our Cards, Coral & Kids campaign. For a small donation, you could get a deck of the cards before they are released to the public, participate in our pilot trials and research project, or even give input into the cards themselves! Also, please spread the word about this idea to all your social media networks, email loops, and friends and family. Getting the funding we need to develop the game requires reaching lots of people, so anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated!
The idea behind this project, which is to create a Pokemon-like card game that would teach people about coral reef life and ecosystems and actions they can take to help the corals survive, is explained here and here, so I won't go into that again in my blog. What I wanted to talk about here is some of the thinking behind the project.
You know, young teens are interesting creatures. They are old enough to realize some of the problems with the world, and most are hopeful and confident about being part of the solution. They tend to be really into Earth Day and recycling, Save the Planet, Stop Global Warming, Protect the Rain Forests, and the like.
And yet, on a daily basis, we are still telling them "Shut the Refridgerator Door!" "Turn Off the Lights when You Leave the Room!" "Don't Leave the Computer Running All Night!" or the frustrated but perhaps dangerous question of "Why Does it Take You 30 Minutes of Running Water to Take a Shower?"
Maybe it's different at your house. But for many of us, our children's grand rhetoric for saving the planet doesn't match up with their everyday life habits. Of course, that's really true for most of us adults as well...
In H2O, the students have been studying ocean science and math since September. We decided to hone in on coral conservation because coral reefs are really the marine equivalent of rain forests. Although coral reefs only make up about 0.1% of the oceans, they are home to approximately 25% of all marine life! Also, corals take a long time to grow, so our damage to reefs that may be hundreds or thousands of years old can not be replaced within many of our human generations.
But what to do that would make a difference? There are already tons of books and videos and ads and educational resources on this issue, but people continue doing what they've always done. As parents, we've trying nagging, threatening, bribing, begging, and everything short of bloodshed, and yet...we, too, are largely ineffectual. So we needed to come up with something else, something new.
And then we had a brainstorm. Instead of using guilt and threats and dire warnings of environmental catastrophes, what if we made saving the coral reefs fun? What if we made it....into a game?
In approaching it this way, we were influenced by the work of Jane McGonigal, whose work is summarized in a video I included in an earlier post. Her video on that page, a TED talk on how "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is a synopsis of her wonderful book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. In short, she argues that time people spend on video games actually helps them develop positive characteristics (such as working hard, cooperation, and optomism), and explores how to structure games so that we can channel all the time people spend playing games into social activism games that will help solve Earth's real-world problems. It is a fascinating and inspiring book, and I recommend it highly.
So, in short, that is what we are trying to do with this game. First, the game will teach students (and adults as well) the real science behind food chains and interlocking ecosystems in the coral reefs. We think this is important because we think if people knew more about all these fascinating creatures, they would love them, and we take care of the things we love (for more of our philosophy on that, read the Family Educators Commons article that Maria Droujkova and I co-wrote on the Shareable website). But secondly, we will build into the games a way for them to earn (or lose) points based on their actions in real life. You insist that I drive you to the library? You lose 5 points. You walk or ride your bike there yourself? You gain 5 points. You stand there with the refridgerator open as you drink your water/milk/juice? You lose 3 points. You close the door and drink it at the table? Well, I don't know that we'll give you points for that, since that should be normal behavior, but at least you won't lose points. You keep your showers under 10 minutes? You get 2 points. You keep your showers under 5 minutes? You get 5 points.
You get the idea.
Anyway, we think this game has the potential to give kids incentives for to change those behaviors that we parents have been nagging them about for years, but to no avail. If we all make those small changes, maybe they won't completely solve the problem, but they will make things better. And making things better is something that can make us all feel good.
If you would like to be a part of helping to make this game happen, then please visit our Cards, Coral & Kids campaign. For a small donation, you could get a deck of the cards before they are released to the public, participate in our pilot trials and research project, or even give input into the cards themselves! Also, please spread the word about this idea to all your social media networks, email loops, and friends and family. Getting the funding we need to develop the game requires reaching lots of people, so anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Spring and Gratitude
Today is Easter in North Carolina, so Happy Easter for those who celebrate this day! Of course, the Jewish holiday of Passover has just occurred, so a belated Happy Passover to those readers. And it wasn't too long ago that the Pagan holiday of Ostara took place, so good thoughts towards any of you who might be Wiccan or other variations of Paganism. And there are probably some Spring celebrations in Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism that I just don't know about; if so, happy thoughts in your direction as well.
I'm sure that it is no coincidence that so many of these religious celebrations take place in Spring. You don't have to follow any religious practice at all to be uplifted and inspired by the rebirth that takes place in Nature at this time of the year. I'm noting that even though our past winter was so mild that it seems like turning into Spring wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the flowers and such seem even more intense this year, as if knowing they had to put on an extra special show in order to show off the contrast between the seasons in a year of temperate temperatures.
There are two non-religious Spring-related occasions that we particularly celebrate in our household, or at least we have for the past few years. One is the opening of our local Farmers' Market in Cary. While we do have access to fresh vegetables all year round at other Farmers' Markets in the area, the Cary market is shut down from December through March. So by the time the first Saturday in April rolls around, I can't wait to see all my farmer friends and start buying fresh, local produce again directly from the producers. And this year was extra special because, after a hiatus of a couple of years, the Cary Farmers' Market has once again move to downtown Cary, and is in even closer walking distance from my house than it was previously! That means a lot to me in my ongoing efforts to reduce our family's carbon footprint.
Another event of great note in our home is the first fresh local strawberries of the year. Every since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (yes, that book AGAIN, for my regular readers....what can I say, it changed my life), I no longer buy fresh strawberries except locally during our relatively short growing season in North Carolina (read the book to find out why). But I seriously love strawberries, so it is a big deal when they return to our diet, albiet for only a few, short, precious weeks. So only buying local strawberries in season has really raised my appreciation for this wonderful fruit that is gone all too soon.
But this year, for the first time since I've been shopping at the Farmers' Market, Market Opening Day and First Strawberry Day coincided! Apparently the mild winter has coaxed the local strawberries into blooming early. So, joy of joy, I bought a mess of them, and they will be part of our Easter celebration at our spiritual center (we are having an egg hunt for the children, but the eggs will contain fruit instead of candy) and our Easter dinner table. But I have already welcomed the strawberries by opening a bottle of champagne with a friend and drinking the sparkling wine with our first strawberries in the glass as well.
So pick what inspires you--your religious or spiritual tradition, Nature's beauty, the longer days, the warmer weather, or the return of the seasonal crops. Spring is great time to be thankful for all the wonderful things that this planet continues to provide us, despite our often not-too-great stewardship of its resources.
I'll end with a lovely video on Nature and gratitude that my friend Lorna shared with me. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did.
Enjoy!
I'm sure that it is no coincidence that so many of these religious celebrations take place in Spring. You don't have to follow any religious practice at all to be uplifted and inspired by the rebirth that takes place in Nature at this time of the year. I'm noting that even though our past winter was so mild that it seems like turning into Spring wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the flowers and such seem even more intense this year, as if knowing they had to put on an extra special show in order to show off the contrast between the seasons in a year of temperate temperatures.
There are two non-religious Spring-related occasions that we particularly celebrate in our household, or at least we have for the past few years. One is the opening of our local Farmers' Market in Cary. While we do have access to fresh vegetables all year round at other Farmers' Markets in the area, the Cary market is shut down from December through March. So by the time the first Saturday in April rolls around, I can't wait to see all my farmer friends and start buying fresh, local produce again directly from the producers. And this year was extra special because, after a hiatus of a couple of years, the Cary Farmers' Market has once again move to downtown Cary, and is in even closer walking distance from my house than it was previously! That means a lot to me in my ongoing efforts to reduce our family's carbon footprint.
Another event of great note in our home is the first fresh local strawberries of the year. Every since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (yes, that book AGAIN, for my regular readers....what can I say, it changed my life), I no longer buy fresh strawberries except locally during our relatively short growing season in North Carolina (read the book to find out why). But I seriously love strawberries, so it is a big deal when they return to our diet, albiet for only a few, short, precious weeks. So only buying local strawberries in season has really raised my appreciation for this wonderful fruit that is gone all too soon.
But this year, for the first time since I've been shopping at the Farmers' Market, Market Opening Day and First Strawberry Day coincided! Apparently the mild winter has coaxed the local strawberries into blooming early. So, joy of joy, I bought a mess of them, and they will be part of our Easter celebration at our spiritual center (we are having an egg hunt for the children, but the eggs will contain fruit instead of candy) and our Easter dinner table. But I have already welcomed the strawberries by opening a bottle of champagne with a friend and drinking the sparkling wine with our first strawberries in the glass as well.
So pick what inspires you--your religious or spiritual tradition, Nature's beauty, the longer days, the warmer weather, or the return of the seasonal crops. Spring is great time to be thankful for all the wonderful things that this planet continues to provide us, despite our often not-too-great stewardship of its resources.
I'll end with a lovely video on Nature and gratitude that my friend Lorna shared with me. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did.
Enjoy!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Curriculum Resource: TED-Ed
Regular readers of this blog know that I am a great fan of TED, which shares "Ideas Worth Spreading" by posting FREE videos of some of the leading thinkers and doers across the world as they give presentations on important topics--all in 10 minutes or less.
Today, TED launched a new initiative called TED-Ed that will bring the TED philosophy to education (although I've used plenty of TED videos in my lessons already). TED-ED is a TED You Tube video channel dedicated specifically to "Lessons Worth Spreading." That is, TED-Ed posts more FREE videos of some exemplary lessons that TED has enhanced by adding appropriate animations or other features (when necessary--some talks are fine on their own). Right now, TED-Ed has just a handfull of videos, but by next month, they plan to add lesson plans and tools that allow teachers to customized the videos to their own classes (such as embedding questions or comments, etc.). They are also accepting nominations for outstanding educators or animators to use in the project, as well as suggestions for desired lessons.
TED-Ed is geared to the high school level and above, but I think the videos I watched would be appropriate for mature middle school students as well. But check them out and judge for yourself. For example, in honor of my middle schooler who has been enthralled with the deep sea since he was 2 years old, watch the TED-Ed video below on "Deep Ocean Mysteries and Wonders:"
Today, TED launched a new initiative called TED-Ed that will bring the TED philosophy to education (although I've used plenty of TED videos in my lessons already). TED-ED is a TED You Tube video channel dedicated specifically to "Lessons Worth Spreading." That is, TED-Ed posts more FREE videos of some exemplary lessons that TED has enhanced by adding appropriate animations or other features (when necessary--some talks are fine on their own). Right now, TED-Ed has just a handfull of videos, but by next month, they plan to add lesson plans and tools that allow teachers to customized the videos to their own classes (such as embedding questions or comments, etc.). They are also accepting nominations for outstanding educators or animators to use in the project, as well as suggestions for desired lessons.
TED-Ed is geared to the high school level and above, but I think the videos I watched would be appropriate for mature middle school students as well. But check them out and judge for yourself. For example, in honor of my middle schooler who has been enthralled with the deep sea since he was 2 years old, watch the TED-Ed video below on "Deep Ocean Mysteries and Wonders:"
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Should Our Children Be Spending MORE Time on Video Games?
Yesterday's post was learning via MTV; today's is learning through World of Warcraft.
I capitalized it in the title so people wouldn't think it was a typo, but the TED talk embedded below argues not that our society wastes too much time playing video games, but that it doesn't spend ENOUGH time. Game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal has written a book entitled Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Save the World, which I have been eyeing on my library's new nonfiction shelf but have not yet brought home due to my inability to spend any time reading while I'm doing NaNoWriMo. But I went searching for the short version, and found it in the TED video below.
McGonigal has an intriguing notion. She has studied people's behavior in video games (in this video, at least, she seems to be talking primarily about heroic/adventure collaborative online role playing games), and found that people tend to be more empowered, more connected, more helpful, more optimistic, more creative, and just all-around better people in these game environments than they are in real life. Her quest is to find ways to take all those qualities developed by gaming and unleash them to solve huge problems in the real world.
I could say more, but she will say it better, so it's probably best if I just let you watch the 20-minute video below. At the very least, it will make those of us whose children spend a lot of time playing these sorts of games feel like there is more benefit to that time than we might have thought.
I capitalized it in the title so people wouldn't think it was a typo, but the TED talk embedded below argues not that our society wastes too much time playing video games, but that it doesn't spend ENOUGH time. Game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal has written a book entitled Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Save the World, which I have been eyeing on my library's new nonfiction shelf but have not yet brought home due to my inability to spend any time reading while I'm doing NaNoWriMo. But I went searching for the short version, and found it in the TED video below.
McGonigal has an intriguing notion. She has studied people's behavior in video games (in this video, at least, she seems to be talking primarily about heroic/adventure collaborative online role playing games), and found that people tend to be more empowered, more connected, more helpful, more optimistic, more creative, and just all-around better people in these game environments than they are in real life. Her quest is to find ways to take all those qualities developed by gaming and unleash them to solve huge problems in the real world.
I could say more, but she will say it better, so it's probably best if I just let you watch the 20-minute video below. At the very least, it will make those of us whose children spend a lot of time playing these sorts of games feel like there is more benefit to that time than we might have thought.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Music Video History Teachers Do TED
Earlier this week, I've been sharing lists of education-related videos from TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) conferences. While there are tons of good ones to choose from, I wanted to point out a recent video by some of my favorite educators--Hawaiian teachers Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona, the creators of the music videos based on historical topics that are shared on You Tube as History Teachers.
I have written before about how fun and creative I think these videos are. My son and his friends are living proof that they can watch some of these videos once, and never forget some of the historical content they contain. Sure, they only highlight a few facts and images, but that can be enough to ignite a deeper interest in a topic students might otherwise ignore, overlook, or forget.
I've always thought they seemed like super-cool people, but now that I've gotten to hear them through TED, I know it. They approach education the way I like--as a fun, creative, collaborative process, not merely a set of content to be mastered, or worse, a number on a test to be achieved. In the video, they talk about teachers as artists and storytellers, and say that their videos are not merely educational tools, but acts of human connection and compassion between them and their students.
So if you want to be inspired about how some teachers are still able to avoid the test mania that seems to be running education, watch the approximately 25 minute video below (some of which is devoted to seeing some of their best videos):
I have written before about how fun and creative I think these videos are. My son and his friends are living proof that they can watch some of these videos once, and never forget some of the historical content they contain. Sure, they only highlight a few facts and images, but that can be enough to ignite a deeper interest in a topic students might otherwise ignore, overlook, or forget.
I've always thought they seemed like super-cool people, but now that I've gotten to hear them through TED, I know it. They approach education the way I like--as a fun, creative, collaborative process, not merely a set of content to be mastered, or worse, a number on a test to be achieved. In the video, they talk about teachers as artists and storytellers, and say that their videos are not merely educational tools, but acts of human connection and compassion between them and their students.
So if you want to be inspired about how some teachers are still able to avoid the test mania that seems to be running education, watch the approximately 25 minute video below (some of which is devoted to seeing some of their best videos):
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Curriculum Resource: A Comprehensive List of TED Talks
Yesterday, I wrote a post about a kind history teacher who had gathered up and categorized a large number of TED talks that might be of use to other teachers. Since then, I found an ongoing list of uncategorized, but briefly described, TED talks. So if you are looking for something more than yesterday's list, you can see the full compilation of talks here.
So
So
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Curriculum Resource: TED Talks for Teachers
One of the great things about Thanksgiving is, that with the pressure off of preparing for classes for a few days, we have some spare time to look into resources we've bookmarked for reviewing sometime "when I have time." One of the big categories of such items for me are videos of TED talks that sound interesting, but not immediately relevant for this week's classes. So I'll probably be posting some of those in the next few days.
However, I also happened upon this list: a post entitled TED Talks Demystified for Teachers on a blog entitled The History Teacher's Attic. In it, a high school history teacher in Pennsylvania has taken a list of TED talks from 2009 (prepared by some other unknown source) and categorized them by discipline. He has over 100 talks in his list, ranging from American and World History to the Arts, Education, and the Sciences. It has shown me a whole bunch of tantalizing titles that have been added to my "when I have time" file. But it is also a good resource to check when you are developing a class in a particular discipline to see if there is some cutting-edge thinking you want to incorporate.
However, I also happened upon this list: a post entitled TED Talks Demystified for Teachers on a blog entitled The History Teacher's Attic. In it, a high school history teacher in Pennsylvania has taken a list of TED talks from 2009 (prepared by some other unknown source) and categorized them by discipline. He has over 100 talks in his list, ranging from American and World History to the Arts, Education, and the Sciences. It has shown me a whole bunch of tantalizing titles that have been added to my "when I have time" file. But it is also a good resource to check when you are developing a class in a particular discipline to see if there is some cutting-edge thinking you want to incorporate.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Explaining the Significance of a World Population of 7 Billion
While we in America were preoccupied with trick or treating, UN estimates said that we reached a new milestone: an estimated world population of 7 billion people. But what does that mean? I'm not sure that I can visualize 7,000,000,000 people, let alone my middle schooler being able to do so.
But below is a great video that can help. This video is a TED presentation by Hans Rosling, a Swedish doctor and researcher and one of the world's experts on global health issues. In this 10 minute video, Rosling does a great job presenting a visual representation of global population growth, explains where and why populations are booming, and what we can do to slow the increase.
But below is a great video that can help. This video is a TED presentation by Hans Rosling, a Swedish doctor and researcher and one of the world's experts on global health issues. In this 10 minute video, Rosling does a great job presenting a visual representation of global population growth, explains where and why populations are booming, and what we can do to slow the increase.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Entrepreneurship in Education
I have been thinking about entrepreneurship a lot lately. I think this is mainly due to three educational initiatives I'm currently working on: (1) a summer entrepreneurship camp targeting youth at risk; (2) a summer camp/potential franchise operation to create educational programs for students with attention deficit disorder/ADHD; and (3) an ambitious middle school coop for the next year that will require substantial fundraising and entrepreneurship to raise the money to create some significant community awareness of the topic of the coop (which happens to be preserving our ocean resources).
It turns out that Chris Lehmann has been thinking a lot about this topic as well. Lehmann is doing so because he is the principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA. The Science Leadership Academy is a partnership high school between the public schools in Philly and the Franklin Institute. Between what I know about the museum, which I did visit once, and what I read on the school website and on Lehmann's often-thoughtful blog....well, if you have to go to school, this looks like a pretty cool school to go to.
In the opening paragraph to his blog post on Entrepreneurship, I think the way Lehmann defines entrepreneurship is brilliant, especially as it relates to education:
So crystalizing that idea for me is a great gift from Mr. Lehmann's post (which you can read in its entirety here). But another gift was a TED video suggested by one of his commenters on the topic of teaching students to be entrepreneur. This was PERFECT for me, not only because it deals directly with what I'm doing in the entrepreneur camp and the ocean project, but because it makes the link between entrepreneurs and ADHD, which the presenter calls "the CEO's disease." Plus, at the end, there is a 2 minute animation that was so inspiring that it had me in tears. Here is that TED talk by Cameron Herold:
I'm just so grateful for the insight provided by Mr. Lehmann and Mr. Herold that I wanted to pass it on to all my readers. I think it is a critically important concept that we need to nurture more in our educational endeavors, both inside and outside of school.
UPDATE: I decided to add the entrepreneurship video on its own, because I think it can be a useful educational resource by itself.
It turns out that Chris Lehmann has been thinking a lot about this topic as well. Lehmann is doing so because he is the principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA. The Science Leadership Academy is a partnership high school between the public schools in Philly and the Franklin Institute. Between what I know about the museum, which I did visit once, and what I read on the school website and on Lehmann's often-thoughtful blog....well, if you have to go to school, this looks like a pretty cool school to go to.
In the opening paragraph to his blog post on Entrepreneurship, I think the way Lehmann defines entrepreneurship is brilliant, especially as it relates to education:
I've been thinking a lot lately about entrepreneurship. People tend to immediately assume that means business, but I don't. Entrepreneurship is part of SLA's mission statement. But it's the part that oftentimes is - I think - hardest to see if you don't know what you're looking for. In the end, its about owning your ideas and doing interesting things with them. And I don't mean "owning" in some sort of proprietary non-sharing sort of way because collaboration is a huge piece of entrepreneurship. I mean owning your ideas in such a way that conveys that your ideas have power and have meaning and have use. Ken Robinson in one of his talks defines creativity as, "having original ideas of value." That's not a bad place to start. Entrepreneurship suggests that when you do something with those ideas.Having important ideas and doing something interesting with them--that is certainly the basis of all three projects I mentioned above. But, really, shouldn't that be what all of our educational endeavors should be leading students to do? To think great thoughts and then to take action on those thoughts in a meaningful way--what a great way to think about the ultimate goal of our interactions with students.
So crystalizing that idea for me is a great gift from Mr. Lehmann's post (which you can read in its entirety here). But another gift was a TED video suggested by one of his commenters on the topic of teaching students to be entrepreneur. This was PERFECT for me, not only because it deals directly with what I'm doing in the entrepreneur camp and the ocean project, but because it makes the link between entrepreneurs and ADHD, which the presenter calls "the CEO's disease." Plus, at the end, there is a 2 minute animation that was so inspiring that it had me in tears. Here is that TED talk by Cameron Herold:
I'm just so grateful for the insight provided by Mr. Lehmann and Mr. Herold that I wanted to pass it on to all my readers. I think it is a critically important concept that we need to nurture more in our educational endeavors, both inside and outside of school.
UPDATE: I decided to add the entrepreneurship video on its own, because I think it can be a useful educational resource by itself.
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