http://www.ted.com/talks/einstein_the_parrot_talks_and_squawks.html
Einstein the African Grey parrot was the wrap up presentation at TED 2006. It's amazing how this parrot had the audience (and me) hanging on her every word!
A little bit of humour and a reminder about taking care of our animal friends all rolled into one. If you need a smile over your coffee this morning here's a great place to start!
Have a super Sunday!
John
http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_laufenberg_3_ways_to_teach.html
Diana Laufenberg teaches eleventh grade American History at the Science Academy Leadership in Philadelphia. She rocks the house with her presentation at the TEDx MidAtlantic event just a few weeks ago.
She makes many great points in her talk which you'll note as you watch/listen but the one(s) that stood out for me were these as she was describing the discussion of an assignment she had given her students (emphasis is mine):
And then we went to another one -- it didn't have great visuals, but it had great information -- and spent an hour talking about the learning process, because it wasn't about whether or not it was perfect, or whether or not it was what I could create; it asked them to create for themselves. And it allowed them to fail, process, learn from. And when we do another round of this in my class this year, they will do better this time. Because learning has to include an amount of failure, because failure is instructional in the process.
Create: the highest level on Bloom's Taxonomy. I'm certain we don't do enough of this in most classrooms. I tried to when I taught in the classroom but even then time constraints, space, etc. etc. made it easier to not give my students this type of assignment.
There are a million pictures that I could click through here, and had to choose carefully -- this is one of my favorites -- of students learning, of what learning can look like in a landscape where we let go of the idea that kids have to come to school to get the information, but instead, ask them what they can do with it. Ask them really interesting questions. They will not disappoint. Ask them to go to places, to see things for themselves, to actually experience the learning, to play, to inquire. This is one of my favorite photos, because this was taken on Tuesday, when I asked the students to go to the polls. This is Robbie, and this was his first day of voting, and he wanted to share that with everybody and do that. But this is learning too, because we asked them to go out into real spaces.
Learning. In the immortal words of Donald S. Cherry, "Ya gotta love it!" I wish I could be a student in a classroom with a teacher like Diana Fantastic!
Image Credits: Bloom's Revised Taxonomy http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkuropatwa/2098689878/sizes/o/in/photostream/
Have a super Saturday!
PS Today marks my one month anniversary of blogging at The Continuous Learner after a long abscence from the bloggin world. 29 posts and over 3400 site views later, I think I'm hooked. Thanks for reading as I explore my own continuous learning adventure.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/matthew_childs_9_rules_of_rock_climbing.html
Matthew Childs relates the 9 life rules that he's learned from over 35 years of rock climbing. I found these to be very intriguing and drew numerous analogies to my life in the classroom, as a school leader and loads of other situations in life.
I'm going to touch on just a few below
Number one: Don't let go -- very sure success(ful) method. But really, truly -- often you think about letting go way before your body does. So hang in there, and you come up with some pretty peculiar solutions.
He's right on here. Too often we think about letting go of whatever it is we're working on at the moment - this is too hard, I don't have the energy to do this, is not really worth my time and effort or I'm not making a difference here. Think of that lesson in the classroom, learning how to infuse that piece of technology, the difficult student or co-worker. It's become pretty easy to just say "whatever" and maneouver around or "let go" of a situation we're faced with. Don't let go.
Rule number three: Have a plan.... You have to plan ahead to get to the top.
This one seems to simplistic yet so important. Having a plan of action for climbing could mean life or death. Yet how often to we have a plan for things. My day always went better when I knew ahead of time how it was supposed to play out. I was more productive. Yet even the US military who plans to the "N"th degree for things knows that no plan survives contact with the "enemy". During my teaching days the "enemy" seemed to be the constant interruptions that are a part of the daily happenings in a school. In the office it was that phone call or "crisis" situation that could change the course of the day in a heartbeat. In family life it's the sudden change in schedule of a partner or a child that we have to deal with or more currently the trip to the mall for the elusive gift hunt. The original plan(s) may have changed but the overall plan was able to be held intact because of the adaptations I could make to it. The beauty in life is sometimes the turns it takes.
Rule number five: Know how to rest.
Rest. Knowing how to rest could be the life-saver for many of us. I used to work with school staff on the principles of personal welleness. It wasn't unusual to have people who were really going to catch up on their rest or take better care of themselves on their upcoming break yet it was only the second week in October. I'll really rest up on summer holidays - yet months away. We need to plan that "rest" into our daily lives as educators, office workers, parents, etc. What can you do for yourself in a healthy way that's going to help restore your energies and spirit which in turn will make you better able to cope? Exercise is great, a date with your significant other, laughing with a friend or co-worker are great ways to get the "rest" you need in your daily life. I used to love going out and playing with the kids at recesses. They loved it and it built relationships too.
I hope you can find the 5 minutes it will take to watch this TED Talk sometime in the next few days. I'd love to know what analogies you draw from it.
Have a terrific Thursday!
John
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html
Richard St. John packs a 2 hour presentation into 3 minutes in this TED Talk. He shares his wisdom on the Secrets of Success gleaned from 7 years and 500 interviews of TEDsters.
I wish I knew these 8 things when I was in high school. Each one is so vital but the one I that caught me this morning was Work, plain hard work. Closely tied to passion I love his statement:
Work! Rupert Murdoch said to me, "It's all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun." Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes! TED-sters do have fun working. And they work hard. I figured, they're not workaholics. They're workafrolics.
How about you? I'd like to be thought of as a "workafrolic" - someone who has fun (a lot of fun) doing what they do!
This is another TED Talk that ROCKS in under 4 minutes. I hope you can make it part of your day! Enjoy!
Hope your Tuesday is a great one!
John
Continuing on in the short and funny theme of TED Talk selections comes this under 4 minute talk by Renny Gleeson.
My take-away from his talk is his focus on the rise of a culture of availability brought about by the proliferation of our mobile devices, which then leads to an expectation of availability and ultimately to an obligation to that availability. If you've got a mobile device yourself, or live with anyone from 8 - 50+ who has one you've lived through the moments he brings up in his presentation. That time when during dinner, a movie, a walk, a conversation or more alarmingly behind the wheel where you or someone else responds to their mobile device. It once was called the BlackBerry prayer when you dipped down at a meeting or dinner to check the last email or text. I've seen it, I've done it, I've been seduced by the flashing light, the vibration or even recently the phantom vibration that makes me disconnect from what I'm doing to check my mobile device.
And when you're standing with someone, and you're on your mobile device, effectively what you're saying to them is, "You are not as important as, literally, almost anything that could come to me through this device."
So their is a paradox - the devices we love to connect with cause us to disconnect. He ends his talk with a legitimate request:
And so that's the request I have for everybody in this room. We are creating the technology that is going to create the new shared experience, which will create the new world. And so my request is, please, let's make technologies that make people more human, and not less.
There's a lot of good points packed into 4 minutes. Great food for thought!
Have a totally, terrific Tuesday!
John
http://www.ted.com/talks/allison_hunt_gets_a_new_hip.html
It's Friday and it's been a long week so today I'm highlighting a brief and humourous TED Talk by fellow Canadian Allison Hunt.
Allison uses her pain and her ingenuity to get to the front of the line in our Canadian health care system.
Now, word on the street was that it was actually my volunteering that got me to the front of the line. And you know, I'm not even ashamed of that. Two reasons. First of all, I am going to take such good care of this new hip. But also, I intend to stick with the volunteering, which actually leads me to the biggest epiphany of them all. Even when a Canadian cheats the system, they do it in a way that benefits society.
Humourous yet sad and true.
Hope your having a fantastic Friday!
John
http://www.ted.com/talks/lies_damned_lies_and_statistics_about_tedtalks.html
Sebastian Wernicke uses statistical analysis to determine how to make the ultimate (or worst) TED Talk. This is hilarious and you will need to do yourself a favour and spend 6 minutes listening/watching this talk.
Now, while -- While you're pushing the clock, there's a few rules to obey. I found these rules out by comparing the statistics of four-word phrases that appear more often in the most favorite TED Talks, as opposed to the least favorite TED Talks. I'll give you three examples. First of all, I must, as a speaker, provide a service to the audience and talk about what I will give you, instead of saying what I can't have. Secondly, it's imperative that you do not cite the New York Times. (Laughter) And finally, it's okay for the speaker -- that's the good news -- to fake intellectual capacity. If I don't understand something, I can just say, "et cetera, et cetera." You'll all stay with me. It's perfectly fine.
He makes some interesting and hilarious points regarding other key factors like background colours, length of your talk, et cetera, et cetera about the best TED Talks but you'll have to listen/watch this one to catch them all.
Enjoy and have a terrific Thursday!
John
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http://www.ted.com/talks/kim_gorgens_protecting_the_brain_against_concussion....
Kim Gorgens is a neuropsychologist with strong desire to spread her message about protecting what matters, in this case, you brain. Her talk is engaging and she gives 3 things everyone can do to help stop the increasing numbers of concussions that are occuring each year.
The first, study up. You have to be familiar with the issues we're talking about today. There are some great resources out there.
1. Study Up - We need to be more aware of the issues around concussions. She mentions several sites to find good information on: brain injury
Speak up also with coaching staff. Ask what kind of protective equipment is available. What's the budget for protective equipment? How old it is? Maybe offer to spearhead a fundraiser to buy new gear. Which brings us to suit up; wear a helmet. The only way to prevent a bad outcome is to prevent that first injury from happening.
2. Speak Up - Being aware of the issues around brain injury is one thing but speaking up when there are concerns that can be infulenced is something everyone can do. Is there a helmet by-law in your area? Some provinces and cities have these for those under 18. How about the equipment that your child wears for football or hockey? Is it supplied by the team/school? If so how old is it and could it be do for replacement? Does someone you know play hockey? Do you or they know that hockey helmets have an expiration date? I didn't and had been wearing mine for years past the due date.
Which brings us to suit up; wear a helmet. The only way to prevent a bad outcome is to prevent that first injury from happening.
3. Suit Up - Wear a Helmet. Pretty simple concept that wearing a helmet while participating in a sport such as cycling, skating, or skateboarding where falls are inevitable is a good preventative measure. Kids in our schools can't participate in skating programs without helmets. An inconvenience some say, but so much better than living with a preventable accident.
Coincidence or not, just yesterday morning as I sat in my doctor's office the copy of Sports Illustrated laying on the table in front of me had a story about brain injuries and football. While this is not the exact article, here's is a column from SI.com on the topic : Concussions and football: Is the game too dangerous for our kids?. The Globe and Mail also released an article: Sports concussions more serious than previously reported coincidently on the same day as Sports Illustrated released their report. Fascinating and alarming reading.
Hope your having a wonderful Wednesday.
Looking for a TED Talk:
I've been a TED Talk fan since a colleague first showed them to me about 5 years agao. However, it wasn't until this morning when the TED.com homepage loaded differently that I discovered that one could sort and search for TED Talks in a myriad of ways.
Extremely Cool! Check it out at http://www.ted.com/talks
Up later today on The Contiuous Learner series of a TED Talk-a-Day: Kim Gorgens: Protecting the brain against concussion
http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html
As described in the About this talk section "Jason Fried has a radical theory of working: that the office isn't a good place to do it." That point alone had me hooked from the start.
This is a very engaging TED Talk and Fried has some interesting ideas around making the workplace a place to work. Some interating comments:
If you ask people the question: where do you really need to go when you need to get something done? Typically you get three different kinds of answers. One is kind of a place or a location or a room. Another one is a moving object. And a third is a time.
This is SO TRUE for me! I'm most productive in the very early morning, in my home and I get alot of my "study time" done in my car on route to work or other locales - courtesy of TED Talks and audiobooks I might add. I also arrive at work early to get things done before the masses arrive. While I was teaching and then the principal of the school it was not unusual to find me on site before 7 ... getting things done before the interruptions began.
And what you find is that, especially with creative people -- designers, programmers, writers, engineers, thinkers -- that people really need long stretches of uninterrupted time to get something done. You cannot ask somebody to be creative in 15 minutes and really think about a problem. You might have a quick idea, but to be in deep thought about a problem and really consider a problem carefully, you need long stretches of uninterrupted time. And even though the work day is typically eight hours, how many people here have ever had eight hours to themselves at the office? How about seven hours? Six? Five? Four? When's the last time you had three hours to yourself at the office? Two hours? One, maybe. Very, very few people actually have long stretches of uninterrupted time at an office. And this is why people chose to do work at home, or they might go to the office, but they might go to the office really early in the day, or late at night when no one's around, or they stick around after everyone's left, or they go in on the weekends, or they get work done on the plane, or they get work done in the car or in the train because there are no distractions.
I used to be able to close my office door when I was principal to catch a few uninterrupted minutes of time but not on a regular basis. I know teachers appreciated the opportunity to close their doors and work with their students and/or during a prep with out interuptions from the office or for whole school events. It just made sense as they were actually accomplishing somethings with their students without the interruptions. It also made the day seem far less stressful for everyone involved.
And this sort of whole phenomenon of having short bursts of time to get things done reminds me of another thing that doesn't work when you're interrupted, and that is sleep. I think sleep and work are very closely related.
He makes an interesting comparison here: uninterrupted sleep and work. Is it a "dream" or could it be a reality.
And today's Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, these things are just modern-day smoke breaks. No one cared about letting people take a smoke break for 15 minutes 10 years ago, so why does everyone care about someone going to Facebook here and there, or Twitter here and there, or Youtube here and there? Those aren't the real problems in the office.
I've never heard this analogy before regarding Twitter and Facebook but it does kind of ring true.
There's lots more in Jason Fried mentions in his TED Talk. It's very much worth a listen!
Have a great Monday!
John
