Blog 8

Out of all of the Ted Talks I have watched, this is the one that has had the most profound effect on me.  It made me realize that having an amazing story to tell is what really helps drives the point across.  When he was talking about the things he was thinking about before he thought he was going to die, the point he made about not postponing anything in his life really had a profound meaning to me.  After my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and then was successfully treated, she decided that even though it had always been the truth, any day could be her last.  Instead of complaining about her circumstance, she managed to learn a lesson she wouldn't otherwise have been able to learn.  Secondly, I could really relate to what he said about everything changing in an instant.  I lost nearly half of my blood volume in 20 minutes and if it hadn't been for emergency medical care, I could have lost my life in a matter of minutes.

Although he didn't use a powerpoint, I thought his presentation style was very effective.  He kept his talk extremely well organized and even incorporated humor into a story that is definitely not humorous.  If I had watched this talk before I planned my Ted Talk, I would try to incorporate a personal story like he because it made such a difference in driving his point again.

Also, I thought it was excellent in his talk when he challenged everyone to try to simulate what happened to him in order to value the same things that he learned to value.

Blog 7-Smile!

Ron Gutman did an excellent job of organizing and delivering his presentation.  His topic was very basic but he used good scientific evidence for support.  I was impressed that he was able to use facts and studies and still keep his presentation light and interesting.  Also, he made some points about smiling that could really be helpful in our negative and pessimistic world.  I learned that smiling can actually reduce stress and suppress stress related hormones in your body.  The most interesting thing that he mentioned was the fact that biologically we are wired to smile when we see others smiling.  This seemed fascinating to me and reminded me of the social yawn; when we see others yawning, we yawn.  I also thought it was interesting when he explained the studies about how the frequency of smiling relates to longevity.  The bigger and more frequent, the longer the life, and the more success.  I found this Ted Talk very inspirational because if I could learn to smile more and spread a little happiness, the world might just be a happier place.  If everyone in the world could do this, the world would be exponentially happier.

This talk, like Aimee Mullins deals with the value of happiness and how far it can take you.  As we were talking about in history, as we have become more sophisticated with science and technology, we have lost sight of the little things that make a big difference, like smiling.  Full of conflict and fear, the world's problems would be solved if as Ron Gutman said we all just smiled!

Blog 6

Once upon a school

I thought that this Ted Talk was excellent but one that I couldn't connect with.  He was passionate about his topic yet he was not a natural speaker.  Being a student, the idea of a tutoring place with competent people helping you get school work done is very appealing.  I was inspired by his passion for helping others.

It gave me ideas for my Ted Talk because I concluded after watching his presentation that being passionate about the subject matter is key to creating a good Ted Talk.  Also, some of the flaws of his presentation made me appreciate what parts of presentation style are key to communicating a message to an audience.

I believe this related to AWNM because of how Dave Eggers was able to connect two seemingly unrelated things to make something brilliant!  He recognized that students in city school weren't receiving enough one on one time with their instructors and found a solution.  It was interesting to hear him walk through his progression of thoughts from the problem to the solution.  I have often thought that increasing the amount of one on one time I spend with teachers would help my learning.  Because I was partially home-schooled in middle school, I completely understand how hugely helpful one on one time is.

Blog 4

Clay Shirky
1. What are your take-aways from this video?
Technology and the internet in particular are changing the way information is gathered and distributed.  It can be helpful, silly, even evil, but it's changing the world we live in.2. What are the speaker's effective speaking techniques?
He did an effective job of telling a story and then relating to people.  He weaved together an interesting tale and then made it relevant to all the members of his audience.3. What is his/her presentation style?
He  used visual aids to help visually support his topic.  Also, when he was referring to a study conducted, he displayed a graph that allowed the study to have a far more profound impact on the audience.4. What matters from this video? How does it connect to you personally? To education? To the world?
When we said that free societies get what they celebrate it made me think about what we are celebrating in today's society.  If we have trillions of hours of free time what if all of us took up a cause?  Where would the world be if that happened?  Because of the internet, all of us in the younger generation are already part of a network.  It's just about what we are going to do in our network to be generous and make change like the founders of Ushahidi.

Blog 5

Aimee Mullins: The opportunity of adversity

1. What are your take-aways from this video?

Adversity is something to be celebrated, not avoided.  Everyone has adversity in their life no matter their situation, therefore, it is how I deal with it that distinguishes who I am.  Although Aimee Mullins is not trying to diminish others' struggles, she is making the point that there can always be positives that come from adversity, the real test is finding them.  What made her Ted Talk so profound is that she is someone who has been forced to face adversity her whole life, and yet she has found a way to be more influential and successful with her adversity than she would be able to without her struggles.2. What are the speaker's effective speaking techniques?

She was very organized in the way she presented the data.  Also, she used wonderful example to support her point and many of the examples were what really drove her point through.  3. What is his/her presentation style?

Unlike other presenters like Dan Pink, she allowed time for people to process what was being said.  Also, it was obvious by the tone of her voice that she was speaking about something that she was passionate about.  It made her message so much more powerful.4. What matters from this video? How does it connect to you personally? To education? To the world?

I was really able to connect to this personally because I have often thought of what positives can come out of any kind of adversity.  Earlier this year,  I wrote a paper about how everyone has their "cross to bear."  This Ted Talk made that same point that because everyone will run into adversity, it's all about how you deal with it.  Also, this made me think of Bethany Hamilton, the author of Soul Surfer.  She had her arm bitten off by a shark and despite that major obstacle, she, like Aimee Mullins has found a way to do more good with adversity than she might otherwise be able to without adversity.  

Also, when she spoke about the power of how much confidence other people can give you by just taking away discouraging labels, it reminded me of my sentence that I wrote for English; she challenged others to have confidence in their ability.  The study she mentioned about the A students who were told they were D students and the D students who were told they were A students directly related to my sentence.  Often times performance can be affected just based on how others view your potential.

Blog 3

Dan Pink Ted Talk:
1. What are your take-aways from this video?
Traditional ways of motivating people don't always work.  Monetary rewards which are usually effective motivators often have no effect on the quality or volume of work produced in our information based society.  2. What are the speaker's effective speaking techniques?
One of the extremely effective techniques he used was his organization.  He previewed the main points of his argument and then did a great job of concluding.  It was an organized, thoughtful, and logical presentation of the material.3. What is his/her presentation style?
His presentation style was rapid fire in terms of the information given, with reference but not citation to research that he generalized about.  If I were the devil's advocate, there are many examples in the world of situations where monetary rewards are the primary driver in highly complex and intellectually challenging endeavors. 
4. What matters from this video? How does it connect to you personally? To education? To the world?
Different people are motivated by different things in different ways.  Sometimes, grades aren't always a good motivator for students because some feel they don't control their own study, they aren't given the chance to master a subject, and they don't see a connection between abstract study and their life.  

Ted Talk Blog 2

Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in action
1. What are your take-aways from this video?
I find this Ted Talk absolutely fascinating because it gives proof that because we live in a brilliant world and that we have been able to mimic nature's most effect structures, yet, despite our masterful attempts to recreate these works of art, nothing is as good as the original product of nature. 2. What are the speaker's effective speaking techniques?
The speaker did an excellent job of speaking slowly in order to allow the audience to process what she was saying.  Also, she made a point of making eye contact with as many people as she could in the room.  Her message was clear and concise and she was obviously very prepared to deliver her speech.  Because her audience wasn't as familiar with the subject as she, she modified her language in such a way that people could understand what she was talking about.3. What is his/her presentation style?
Janine Benyus did a wonderful job of keeping her audience engaged during her presentation.  She displayed remarkable images on each slide.  Each image allowed the audience to keep more focused because they could study them and relate them to what she was talking about.  Also, she did an excellent job of making eye contact with as many people as she could in the room.   
4. What matters from this video? How does it connect to you personally? To education? To the world?
This video is important to me because I am always amazed by the order, intelligence, and instinct possessed by animals living in nature, and nature itself.  Also, it's an important video to me because it helps me to recognize that although we are very sophisticated as a culture and we are astute enough to realize the efficacy of things in nature our attempts to replicate them are never quite as good.  It made me think of an attempt in the medical world to try and replicate joints and even bones.  Although these recreations are often surprisingly successful, they don't last nearly as long as our original body parts and aren't able to do certain functions.  This topic is also astonishing because it draws a group of people in like designers, architects, and engineers into a field in which they would otherwise have very little involvement in.  I believe that the greater the interaction between people in different careers, the more discovery will happen.