Dave Eggers: Once Upon a School

Once Upon a School by Dave Eggers shows us how school can become more important in any kids life if the tools are put in front of them. In the beginning I didn't really believe in his speech, but once he got into it and put his whole heart into I was on board. He started off by talking about opening his own tutoring center for kids and the funny was that it was a pirate supplies shop. It's crazy to think that his widely known company started out as a pirate supplies shop. School is not just for the smart ones, it's for everyone and everyone can enjoy and that's what Dave Eggers was really trying to say. He talked about one student who couldn't concentrate on school at all and would usually just play video games. Once he started going to Dave Eggers tutoring center he started to always do his homework before playing video games and even started writing many stories. I think this is amazing because it clearly shows that any student can learn to enjoy school. At first Dave Eggers seemed very nervous, but he used those nerves to bring humor to the audience. He also used these nerves to persuade the audience to believe that school can be enjoyable for everyone. His presentation didn't use many pictures, and I don't think he needed to use many but the ones he did use helped his audience relate to his topic. The overall presentation seemed to flow very nicely. From start to finish all thoughts and ideas were organized and thought out. The most important thing from this video was that a tutoring center could turn into a world-wide phenomena that every kid would want to be apart of. I know his main message was about making school fun,  but I also think he wanted people to know that anything can turn into something greater. That's what I loved about this video, that you can turn a worn-out idea into something sensational. Just think kids in the United States, even Africa, could get this opportunity to enjoy school and maybe even get them a job. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, school can also be a pleasure and something you look forward to everyday. 

Link to Video

https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school

Other Videos

https://www.ted.com/playlists/re_imagining_school

Kids Can Teach Themselves by Sugata Mitra is about students in rural communities who don't have great teachers and limited school supplies but can teach themselves school. 

Quotes from Dave Eggers

"The best TED talks make sense of complicated ideas and trends, and have an elegant simplicity to them - that's why the talks only need to be 18 minutes long. It's plenty of time to get across a clear and bold idea."

Jonathan Klein: Photos that changed the world

Photos that Changed the World, by Jonathan Klein explains to the world why a picture is so meaningful and why they should never be taken for granted. During Jonathan Klein's speech he talked about pictures having an impact on people's daily lives which is funny because some people don't even care about pictures. People don't realize how many pictures they see on a daily basis and never even take the time to look at just one. Maybe seeing that one picture could have changed your life forever. He also talked about how there are usually iconic pictures that we know about and associate with other things, such as the picture of the twin towers getting bombed. You probably thought of 9/11 and that is his purpose to tell that world that pictures are more important than you think. Jonathan Klein seemed very relaxed and calm up on the stage. He wasn't really fidgeting or pacing back and forth uncontrollably; he just stood there with ease. I noticed he didn't have any personal stories in his speech, but the pictures he included made me connect to what he was saying. I really liked how Klein put in at least 15 pictures that added to his presentation, because  it helped him connect to the audience more. All the pictures he put into his presentation were meaningful, not just to him, but the entire world and that is what made his speech more real. The biggest thing I took away was that a picture really does convey a thousand words, and that everyone has a different interpretation to a picture. Whether it be passion or sadness, they all make someone feel. I like looking at pictures, because  I feel like I connect with it and I feel something about that one picture. Sometimes a picture can help a student learn better. Whether they are left or right-brained, a visual representation helps everyone. Now think about the students in Africa who have very little compared to what we have. A picture for them is something so special, and I think we can learn from them like they learn from us. In our daily lives there will be great big moments, but there will also be the small ones, like getting an A on a math test or having a really great laugh with your friends. In the end Jonathan Klein wasn't really talking about photos changing the world he, was talking about photos changing our lives.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_klein_photos_that_changed_the_world?language=en
Links to other videos
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_griffin_on_how_photography_connects
In this video by David Griffin photos are the main concept of his talk and in the beginning that is all you see for a good 2 or 3 minutes. Most of these pictures are in some controversial, but some are heart-felt and loving, which is what he is trying to say which is that pictures connect to everything and everyone.

Daniel Pink: The surprising truth about what motivates us

The surprising truth about what motivates us, a speech by Daniel Pink explains to us that we as people don't need to be motivated to something well.  Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind, gives us the perception that motivation does not affect how we perform something unless it is easy and mindless work. Now that might seem crazy to you and I that people don't need motivation to perform a task well because that is how we were taught, but science is showing more and more that this accusation is false. One of my take-aways was when he said people will do work for free on their own time and they don't need to be paid. In my opinion it makes sense in a way because studies show that doing hard work that requires thought doesn't need motivation and that you will do something worse if you do get a reward. I also thought it was interesting how a software company in Australia lets people do whatever they want and work with whoever they want for one day of the year. From this the company got many new software ideas and many products were created, just from letting their imaginations run wild. During his speech Pink seemed pretty relaxed and comfortable to be speaking about his topic, but the part that made me listen was that he was passionate about what he was saying. I like it when speakers get passionate about their work because it means that they really want the world to feel what they're feeling. Unlike a usual speech where you see the speaker up on stage this was an animated speech, where the Daniel Pink was speaking in the background while an artist was drawing what he was saying. In my opinion I thought at times it was a little bit distracting, but I thought it was interesting to literally see his speech come alive. I think it helped further his cause and made people believe in what he was trying to get across. This speech really made me think about my own life and what motivates me and if I need motivation to get something done. To be honest I'm like the people in the speech, if it's easy mindless work I would like a reward, but if I'm doing schoolwork then I don't need a reward because I'm just used to that. One part in the video that was crazy was that people in rural India who are in poverty work better if they don't have a reward. This really proves the science that anyone in this world will work better without a reward or motivation. You may think that Daniel Pink is crazy and that is too far-fetched, but if you look inside yourself you may find out that he is right.
Link to the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
Other links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y
This video by Daniel Pink goes even further into the idea of motivation and what it is so puzzling. He starts off with an experiment where one group of students is paid to do a task and the other group, and the group who didn't get paid worked faster just like his other video. When you see him on stage he seems more uptight, but once he gets started you really understand why this video is so important.

If I Had a Daughter Response

In the If I Had a Daughter Ted Talk, Sarah the speaker, pulls the audience in to her captivating talk on standing up for yourself and believing that you as person matters to the world. Her motivation for this talk was her experience in slam poetry, but she goes beyond that with interesting stories that add to her own story. I loved the part in her talk when she says that everyone has a story worth sharing, I think that is really important for everybody to know, because it tells people that they matter as individuals. But my main take away was how all of these little stories and ideas all relate back to her topic. I noticed during Sarah's presentation she would make sure the audience was awake by accentuating important points. It was almost like she was persuading the audience to listen to her. I liked that at points during her talk she would tell the audience she was nervous speaking in front of them, and that made her more relatable to the audience. Throughout the entire speech I saw Sarah try to connect through the audience and she always seemed confident in her words, which is important for any speech. I think what really made her speech relatable was telling the audience she was nervous, because saying that makes you that much more confident. Sarah also used a lot of hand gestures on the stage which is good because it seemed to make her more comfortable on the stage. What really mattered to me in the Ted Talk was that everyone has a story that matters. This it makes me feel like my stories are worth spreading no matter how ridiculous they might be. This connects to the education because it makes students feel more comfortable in their own skins and increases confidence as well. This connects to the world because her words tell society that they do matter. Sarah is obviously a very good speaker, but she also knows how to connect to the people around her and how to make a difference on their lives.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity
Other links related to this
https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_how_many_lives_can_you_live
During this Ted Talk called how many lives can you live is about how little kids think they can be anything in this world all at the same time, and that they want to live through everything. Sarah would always tell people that she was going to be a princess ballerina astronaut, not as a super profession but as a master of all of these jobs.

Sir Ken Robinson

Creativity has also been undermined by left-brained thinking, but were moving to an age where this has to change. Sir Ken Robinson is a remarkable man. You may not know who he is, but you should know why he is so remarkable. His Ted Talk tells the world about how education and schools are ruining creativity and the arts. During his presentation he quoted Picasso by saying "Everyone is born an artist." Now just think about that for a moment and the importance of him saying everyone is born an artist, well why is that not true in today's world? I think mainly because back when those people where in school, left-brained thinking was valued more than right-brained, and that is still happening today. This also relates to one of my other take-aways when Ken Robinson said he went to a school and asked the students if they thought they were an artist and the number of artists went down rapidly as the age got older. I think that's sad that many people think just because they aren't great at drawing means they are not an artist. During his talk Robinson related to the audience with humor and funny comments to make sure they were listening which definitely helped me listen. Like most speakers he almost shouted out his important points, and he would always end with something for the audience to think about. I was amazed by how relaxed on stage he was and how easy it was for him to connect to the audience, but don't forget that he is older than most. He also felt very passionate and confident about what he was telling the audience and that made it even more believable. The part that mattered to me most in the Ted Talk was how he said education is ruining the arts and creativity, because it's true and we need to do something about it. I believe in having well-rounded schools across the United States because if you go only to a STEM school or you only go to an art school, you could be missing out on something you're really good at and enjoy. His message was not to tell people we need more right-brained thinkers than left, but to inform us of the growing problem of the arts slipping right out of our fingertips.
  http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity
Other links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc
This one by Sir Ken Robinson is about how students and teachers lives revolve around standardized testing and how this is ruining education. Basically his whole speech is on education and the problems we are facing with it.