Phyliss Rodriguez and Aisha El-Wafi: 911 Mother’s healing

1.       From this video I take away that human emotions, love, and forgiveness can triumph over any other thing. The truth behind this is the empathy Phyliss can have for Aisha even after everything Phyliss has been through because she knows Aisha, loves her son just as much as any other mother. And that just because Aisha’s son made decisions doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve love and a support system like any other person on the Earth.

2.       These women have a very strong technique of captivating the audience by telling their story with emotion and strength. They ensure with every word they put the heart wrenching pain and sorrow of what they had to go through.

3.       Their presentation style was simple. It is easy to tell that these ladies worked very hard at making sure their story was homely. Like sitting with your grandmother and having her tell you what she’s learned throughout life and how you need to take those mistakes and change them, because we are the future of the world.

4.       This video is important because it shows how you can forgive people and along with their help, things can be achieved to work with the forgiveness to fix the problem, which would have been un-resolvable alone. To me I think that these ladies are amazing, it’s inspirational to see what they have been through and how they will never stop working to improve the reproductions of 9/11. To education, it could bring people to a entirely new playing field if we never had to be so wrapped up in long time grudges. To the world, it’s like a refreshing light that has come out to show, that you don’t always have to be upset. It allows people to see how selfish the simplest acts of not giving someone sympathy can be. After all, we are all only human.

Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman “Let’s Talk Parenting Taboos”

1. From this video I am taking away, that parenting isn’t perfect. In the world today, everyone seems to feel that parenting is perfect and will give anyone the ultimate happiness from spreading life. The truth of the matter is that’s not always true. In order to have a successful family, there will always be problems and bumps in the road. The problem is, nobody will ask for help or advice when these moments are upon us. The reality is, people need to be able to accept the truth of what happens thorough the world on a daily basis, not try and cover it up and make it pretty. We need to embrace the world of parenting and change it for the better.

2. The effective techniques in Alisa and Rufus’ TED Talk are their immense use of storytelling. They use many broad points that could have been very hard to understand. Yet, the points were very clear due to the very personal stories that are detailed in each portion of the presentation. The way each of them tell stories that are relatable to every average person, the stories from the inside world that most people don’t like to talk about, are the perfect relief. It’s always reassuring to know that ‘you are not the only one’ that has experienced something, especially embarrassing or so called ‘shameful’ experiences that are common among parenting.

3. Alisa and Rufus seem to have a very Pecha Kucha style talk. They use a great array of slides that are perfectly incorporated into their talk. With all of their ‘Taboos’ they make sure to have pictures of the truth and the fakes. It gives such a good visual that perfectly captivates the audience’s attention right of the height of Alisa and Rufus’ important points.

4. This video matters in regards to the human need for an external support system. As humans, we all have such intense emotions, it is always important to make sure we have a way to vent to someone else and get valid advice, it keeps us sane. For me this video is very relevant to my TED topic, it helped me narrow down my topic on domestic relations. To education, such complete honesty and the ability to vocalize problems would eliminate ‘the elephant in the room’ form many important situations. As to the world; parenting is one part of life that is much farther behind all other things in the modern world. It would be absolutely amazing if even the littlest aspects of parenting could be improved.

Important Links From Their Talk...

 http://www.babble.com/about-babble/ 

Dave Eggers "Once Upon a School"

1. This video is showing the world a new idea. This idea is that children and adult can work together and benefit each other in so many ways. Giving the student the ability to work with a professional writer really enriches their overall education. By starting to combine education with professionals as the tutors, students get help with what they specifically need. It is giving them the best education available because it gives them education from the real world, not something written in a textbook. Students are more willing to work if it is for someone specifically rather than if it’s for a teacher that would give them a random letter grade.

2. Dave Eggers seems to be a very nervous speaker. He has a lot of trouble slowly going through his speech and focusing on the important parts. Dave talks extremely fast and often stumbles his own words. The problem with the way he talks about his ideas is that it really takes away from his points. His speech becomes increasingly hard to understand and in order to understand exactly what he is saying it is necessary to pay extra close attention and pause after certain snippets.

3. Dave Eggers has a very nice presentation style. The way he adds pictures of the places he is talking about are really good attention getters. The beneficial part of these pictures is when they take hold of the audience’s attention, and talk about his complex ideas. Also, the faster he talks, he more he can fit into the overall presentation

4. This video matters in the aspect that adding professionals at an early age enhances the amount we can teach to a person throughout their life. For me personally I know if I had the ability to get a local writer to tutor me, I would probably have a better grip on my work and feel more comfortable about everything I turn in and publish. For education it would bring in a new era of learning. Bringing in A new youth with more creativity started from their roots. For the world it perfectly blends with Daniel Pink’s ideas that we are changing to a creative society by teaching our youth in such a way.  

Check out sites meantioned in Dave's talk...

http://onceuponaschool.org/

http://826valencia.org/

Noreena Hertz "How and When To Use Experts"

1. I took many things away from Noreena Hertz's video on the use of experts. One thing I am begininng to realize is though someone may have the title of an expert, it does not make them perfect. They may know a little more information then the 'Average Joe', but they will still make mistakes. As a world, we seem to be way to relient on wanted to get the best of the best when we really could get the exact same results elsewhere. In many cases experts are just more expensive versions of another person. Yet, there are still cases where experts should be used. Like in little researched areas of sciences and technology where the information is not as readily available to the commoner.

2. Noreena has a very simple speaking type. She likes to tie in personal stories with the facts. She keeps her ideas simple enough that anyone could understand, but complex enough to touch each of us in a different way. Overall, she her technique is to 'pull on the heart strings' and not over do anything so she constantly has the attention of her listeners.

3. In regards to presentation style, Noreena doesn't really have one. She does not use any types of technology. She got up on stage, she dressed nicely and presented her speech as a hard-working citizen to the hard-working citizens. Noreena's presentation worked well with her technnique because the coherantly showed that she was as normal as everyone else trying to preach her ideas on normalicy.

4. From this video, it matters that society is giving too much credit to areas that don't need it. As people, we love the idea that someone has the slightest more knowledge in a certain area, we think it will give us the all telling key and every answer to our problems, when in truth it will not. To me makes me rethink where I want to go in life. I have always dreamed of being an Endocrinologist; a doctor that is an expert on diabetes. Now that people like Noreena are question experts, I may work my whole life for a job not even needed in the future. This ties into the education piece as saying that if experts are no longer in demand, then what is the point of a specialized education? If we don't want experts then why are we sending students through a ridiculous amount of college and post-grad degrees? Things like this may become pointless to education in the future and college degrees may be seldom.

 Simplicity.
(http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/5146250862_6b190d34e0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/conferencebasics/5146250218/&usg=__mxJoYozMqLAHK17JDYNfb2c5RxM=&h=332&w=500&sz=114&hl=en&start=0&sig2=_m3h_MHIScSbP51tOMolVg&zoom=1&tbnid=jH0r_6jeBkAIHM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=192&ei=1uy6TbuZDsTY0QGpucC8Bg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DNoreena%2BHertz%2BTed%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D819%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=156&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&tx=113&ty=46)

Clay Shirky "Cognitive Thinking"

1.       I took away many important things from Clay’s video. Most prominently, Clay made it very clear that a huge problem in society is being able to have empathy for others in a business like situation. When he showed the statistics of the day care scenario and discussed the workings behind the human action in the situation, it showed the subconscious actions of all the parents involved. Like Clay said, the parents were feeling the extra $10 payment would cover the day care instructors for however long they needed and it was no big deal. In my opinion, the underlying point Clay was trying to make is that, situations like these lack empathy for the needs and wants of the others affected. I’m sure none of the parents even thought twice about the fact that the teachers had families and lives to go home and deal with, which is why the parents acted the way they did. This is so apparent because if the parents did think about it, a subconscious, humanly guilt would have built inside if they’d known the huge cause and effect they were starting. Basically, the human empathy needs to improve for the social system to be able to.

2.       Clay mostly had one, strong, straight-forward speaking technique; to back his points up with information. Every time he had a strong point to make, Clay would always through some kind of number or statistic out, to make his idea sound more believable/studied. I personally think facts always have a strong impact on the listeners; it helps captivate and convince them. I think Clay did a fabulous job of using facts to support his views. Yet, I found one of his statistics as a bit of a reach. At one point Clay stated that a person has over a trillion hours a year of free time. I highly disagree with this statement (as I may have mentioned in class). Due to my strong feelings on the subject I decided to research more. Here is what I found…..

The average person has 5.8 hours a day to do leisure activities (free time). I created a mathematical equation to compare this data to Clay’s…

Free Time per Year= Average Hours Free per Day x Days in a week x Weeks in a Year.

2,111.2= (5.8) x (7) x (52)

In other words, the average American only has 2,11.2 free hours per year, NOT, 1 trillion.

Well, enough said.

3.       Clay’s presentation was like most other TED Talks, he had his very clean-cut PowerPoint. The difference that makes Clay stand out is the inclusion of his graphs. For me personally it is much more effective to be able to look at data and see how the pattern changes over time. The way Clay included the visual and oral aspect of data sharing, everyone in his audience was reached.

4.       In this video, social/business interactions matter. People need to start thinking more as they act through their daily routines and every interaction they have. People need to work on their ability to think of how everything they do starts a chain reaction. For me, it means to have stronger relationships with everyone and causing less communication mistakes. For education, it means to use the time more effectively, to take into consideration who is teaching and those being taught. For the world, it would be a smooth running society with many less ‘operator errors’. Everyone would be able to sing ‘koom-bi-ahh’ because empathy would mean less emotional stress which means a happier society.

Citation:

           "American Time Use Survey Summary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 22 June 2010. Web. Apr. 2011. <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm>.

Daniel Pink "Carrot and Stick/ The Candle Problem"

1.       From this video I am learning that the American reward/punishment system is very outdated and does not work very well.  Though sometimes the external motivators are extremely effective, it has to be a more simplistic straight-forward task. In cases where a person is required to use their creativity incentives actually make productivity worse. From this video I take away that the world as a whole needs to create a new system for the responsibility of work and completion.

2.       Daniel Pink’s effective speaking technique is mostly to make the audience ponder. By giving the audience thinking exercises like ‘The Candle Problem’ Daniel Pink intrigues viewers and naturally makes the brain interested in solving it. By first introducing the brain to a problem, then explaining it and telling why the brain does such a thing is a very effective part of Pink’s presentation. Also, captivating the audience with new ideas such as the conceptual era is a great way to keep interest, as they will continually want to know more. When the brain is interested, so is the person.

3.       Daniel Pink has a very well put together presentation style. Not only does he have a nicely done, tech savvy PowerPoint presentation, but he brings in ideas and portions from his book DRIVE. By incorporating a PowerPoint, Daniel Pink can easily show images to the audience to enhance his positions and points. It flows perfectly, especially since he is talking of a new creative world. Also, by adding in sections that are discussed in his book DRIVE it gives listeners the opportunity to further educate themselves in his topic, through the book. He also looked very nice and made it through his speech without hesitation or messing up. He kept successfully on track and delivered a flawless speech.

4.       This video matters because it exposes the flaws in the sticks/carrots system that is so commonly used in American economy. Not only that, but I shows how the human mind can so easily conform to being something different. It connects to me personally because I never thought of the stick/carrot system being a bad thing, I always thought of it working really well and increasing productivity. To see it in a new light really puts everything thorough that society is based upon. For education it could completely change teaching styles and philosophy if a new system was implemented. For the world, it would become a revelation, the true beginning to a new era; of free thinking and creativity, not textbooks and SAT scores.

This video is perfect for the situation, it was made specifically in reaction to Daniel Pink's Ted Talk and his book Drive. Enjoy!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=absn9XDL9XY)

Becky Blanton "The Year I was Homeless"

(http://dignityadvocate.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/homeless-sidewalk.jpg)



1.       This video has shown me that ‘hope always finds a way’.  In her video, Becky tells a story of how she was a *working homeless woman for an entire year. She was a natural born writer but her spiraling depression led her to be suicidal and living out of her car. Becky talks of how she went from being a homeless worker to a speaker on ‘TED’ and how hope can get you through that, if you give it the chance. Overall I took away from this video that if you put mind over matter, life can take you just about anywhere.

2.       Becky’s most effective speaking technique was probably how personally touched Becky sounded when she talked of the craziness she had to go through when living in her van. Not only did she have to worry about herself but she had to worry about a dog and a cat as well. The best way to connect with an audience is to tell the hear-wrenching truth so everyone’s heart aches just a little when it’s over.

3.       The speaker’s presentation style was a little bit weak. She clearly had a plan and obviously knew the exact point she wanted to make and how she would have like to get to that point in her presentation.  Yet, she was a little bit under-rehearsed. Ever once and a while Becky would have to stop and shuffle through her notes to find where she was at and what part was coming next. Though her presentation was very powerful and good even with those little interruptions, it would have flowed much better without those.

4.       To Becky there were two main points in her video; the reality that everyone needs some sort of stable building to call home and that hope will prevail through anything. She talked of how living out of a van was extremely difficult due to all the risks and extra measure it took just to have a semi-normal life. Also, she talked of how it was not fair to generalize people because of a category they seem to fit into. To me personally Becky’s speech shows how judgmental people can be. The population seems to be absolutely opposed to anyone who doesn’t fit into the ‘perfect norm’. Likewise, it shows the failure in society when Becky explains the medication she was given for her depression actually enhanced the depression and turned it into suicidal thoughts. When someone needs help they need to be sure it will and absolutely not to make it worse. In respect to education the subject shows that students should be told from an earlier age to accept everyone and help those in need. To the world Becky shows that we need to fix the problems in society that are supposedly ‘taken care of’ yet are just being worsened.

**Clarifications:

Working Homeless- A person without a permanent or stable housing unit yet, has a job and enough money to live, take care of, and feed themselves.

Further Readings...

Articles on the Homeless:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/homeless_persons/index.html

(New York Times top picks)

http://www.homelessresourcenetwork.org/causes.html

(Causes people become homeless)