Check out my all new blog and teaching portfolio at:
http://tweakyourslides.wordpress.com
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Saturday, April 9, 2011
New tweaks next week, but now, a poem in progress
I am working on Tweak Your Slides, the student version. I am not really happy with the end product, so I am going to work on reorganizing and rearranging information before next month. I did fall into some kind of hole of endless nostalgia this week, though, and the result is below. It's only a first draft, and I feel the word terribly makes the whole thing seem rather juvenile. I do like the final lines though. What do you think?
(Image: Per Orla Wiberg via Flickr)
Amazon
Tonight I miss you terribly.
The flesh of your fingers
stained in script and guns
entwined with my flesh,
brown and warm and terrified
that this would be the last time
you held my hand and heart in yours.
I miss your contention,
rebelde spirit that showed me
for only a moment what
life is with a roman candle for a heart.
A moment, a mere glimpse of foam kissing shore
in an expansive ocean of time that
inevitably sweeps the foam away,
A reconstituted nothing—fish food.
Forgive these moments, love. You see,
you took the part of me
that I most wanted you to have.
The girl who, unafraid, wraps
Fairness and Justice like a sash,
cuts off one breast and takes up the bow.
Amazon
Tonight I miss you terribly.
The flesh of your fingers
stained in script and guns
entwined with my flesh,
brown and warm and terrified
that this would be the last time
you held my hand and heart in yours.
I miss your contention,
rebelde spirit that showed me
for only a moment what
life is with a roman candle for a heart.
A moment, a mere glimpse of foam kissing shore
in an expansive ocean of time that
inevitably sweeps the foam away,
A reconstituted nothing—fish food.
Forgive these moments, love. You see,
you took the part of me
that I most wanted you to have.
The girl who, unafraid, wraps
Fairness and Justice like a sash,
cuts off one breast and takes up the bow.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
What I did at work today....
While I showed Holly, Jaclyn, and Catherine how to mess around with iMovie and Garageband.
The Scariest Podcast EVER
The Scariest Podcast EVER
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Professional Communication and Presentation Surveys!
Hey! My students are working hard on their presentations this month. As always, I torture them with surveys. There are only 8 this month--yay! Take a few minutes to give these students some valuable information as they prepare their presentations.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y69FCJ7
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QX2MP6Q
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C5RWX9Z
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QYP3Q3Q
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JYCMBWZ
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C3HPBTL
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C3LKLYY
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y69FCJ7
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QX2MP6Q
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C5RWX9Z
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QYP3Q3Q
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JYCMBWZ
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C3HPBTL
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C3LKLYY
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tweak Your Slides, the workshop part deux
Alright! Here it is, version 2.0 of my upcoming workshop on visual design principles for educators. I LOVE these slides. I mean, I think I am seriously in love with just how beautiful they are. I am deeply enamored by the "tight" and clean look of Helvetica Neue Condensed Black all caps at 72 pt. and above.
Yes, I did just enthusiastically proclaim love for a font style and weight. I am off to Body Pump now, but feedback is deeply and greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Make it a Krispy Kreme Burger
So, no, I was not accepted to the University of Washington's doctoral teaching and curriculum program. Should I be more upset? Probably. Am I upset? Not really. Perhaps it's just getting to an age where I realize life is a constant ebb and flow of triumph and disappointment, and instead of frantically swimming against this certainty, I've decided to move and flow with it, releasing myself to the ecstasy of not really knowing where this current will take me.
Sometimes life is like this, a complex swirly of dirty laundry.
Or, maybe it's because I still have a decent paying job doing something I kick butt at (despite daily frustration and consternation), a healthy and happy family, fascinating and caring friends, and all of my appendages, organs, and body parts intact (oh, yeah, did I also mention I have a kick ass sense of style)? As my cousin heads off to help tsunami victims, leaving a wife and child behind, I can't help but realize that the reason I am not upset is both of the above but even more importantly, it is faith that all falls into a place and pattern in its own time.
But, the rest of the time it's a Krispy Kreme burger.
In honor of said release to aforementioned ebb and flow, I give you Neil Pasricha, of 1000 Awesome Things and his TED talk, The 3 A's of Awesome:
Look for another draft of the WIP Tweak Your Slides workshop this afternoon!
Or, maybe it's because I still have a decent paying job doing something I kick butt at (despite daily frustration and consternation), a healthy and happy family, fascinating and caring friends, and all of my appendages, organs, and body parts intact (oh, yeah, did I also mention I have a kick ass sense of style)? As my cousin heads off to help tsunami victims, leaving a wife and child behind, I can't help but realize that the reason I am not upset is both of the above but even more importantly, it is faith that all falls into a place and pattern in its own time.
In honor of said release to aforementioned ebb and flow, I give you Neil Pasricha, of 1000 Awesome Things and his TED talk, The 3 A's of Awesome:
Look for another draft of the WIP Tweak Your Slides workshop this afternoon!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tweak Your Slides, the workshop
Well, after a productive morning of grading, coffee seeking, and lake walking, I hunkered down and got back to work on the slides for my upcoming short presentation on visual design. I chose to use examples of my old slides as the representations of what NOT to do. I of course had an incredible bounty of amazingly BAD slide shows to choose from. It's a miracle my students didn't show up one day with pitchforks and torches clamoring for my head as a response to the crime of mass murder--I LOVED bullets. Sweet, sweet bullets, so easy to add to a slide, so completely irresistible in their "professional necessity". It's no wonder my first rule is do not use bullets.
Kill the Beast!
Some feedback on this would be super duper duper appreciated. Anyone who does respond gets some of these:
Tweak Your Slides, the workshop:
Some feedback on this would be super duper duper appreciated. Anyone who does respond gets some of these:
Tweak Your Slides, the workshop:
Tweakyourslides
View more presentations from Chiara Ojeda.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Jury Duty!
This post could also be titled, "What I am doing to avoid recognizing that I am sitting in a stark room full of strangers for eight hours." I had a mild heart attack the first time I receive a jury summons at the age of 22. It was not the thought of fulfilling my civic duty that created apprehension as much as it was the idea of being forced to decide the fate of someone who may or may not be guilty of a heinous crime. I believe I was also equally apprehensive about the thought of missing days of school and work, as I have always been quite the workaholic.
So, instead of subjecting myself to these various scenarios, I wrote a strongly worded letter explaining that missing even one class in a graduate program could significantly diminish my ability to successfully complete a course of study. Whoever read that was either deeply moved by my eloquence or just didn't really care much about who got out of jury duty. As long as he or she had made the effort to write a letter in the first place, why not let the concerned citizen (me in this case) get out of serving at this time. The second time I received a summons, I threw it away, believing that just feigning ignorance or claiming I'd moved would be enough to fend off possible repercussions....as far as I can tell, I was right.
When I received my third summons a month ago, I resisted for a moment, recalling previous fears, then just said, what the heck, might as well see what this whole civic duty thing is all about. After a mild panic session upon hearing a rumor that I could NOT bring my laptop, I did a bit of research and found out that while I am not allowed to bring a perfume bottle over 4 oz (that is a butt load btw...), I am allowed to indeed bring a laptop. And, so I sit and write this from a sterile room full of strangers, some sleeping, some working, a few playing Scrabble... one gentleman sternly told a repeated wrong number to please stop calling, then called his provider to block the number and would not tell the operator his social security number because he was, "in a very public place....the jury room actually..."
(What I secretly hope happens....)
I have been using my morning to work on the upcoming 20 minute slide design boot camp/overview I am presenting to the English department in a few weeks. After running a few ideas by friends, faculty, and students, I decided to structure the presentation around 10 dos and don'ts of slide design, focusing on the areas audiences often have the most complaints about and that educators can apply easily, without advanced knowledge or experience in Keynote or Power Point. Here is what I have come up with so far as a rough outline. Look for a first draft by the end of the day....that is, unless I get called up to serve on the trial of the century.
Title: Tweak your Slides! Ten Zen Design Principles for Educators
Do Not
Use bullets
Do Use Text Purposely
Do Not
Use templates
Do create your own
Do not
Use clip art
Do use images that are emphasize realism
Do not
Crowd your slides
Do provide visual breathing room
Do not
Confuse your viewer
Do use contrast to increase understanding
Do not
Use animations without purpose
Do use animation for a reason
Do not
Forget an extra slide costs nothing
Do use the medium to its best advantage
Do not
Confuse your audience
Do create a unified theme
Do not
Make your slides the focus
Do detach by reducing, recording, repeating
Do not
Use a visual medium to convey a textual idea
Do apply the picture superiority effect
So, instead of subjecting myself to these various scenarios, I wrote a strongly worded letter explaining that missing even one class in a graduate program could significantly diminish my ability to successfully complete a course of study. Whoever read that was either deeply moved by my eloquence or just didn't really care much about who got out of jury duty. As long as he or she had made the effort to write a letter in the first place, why not let the concerned citizen (me in this case) get out of serving at this time. The second time I received a summons, I threw it away, believing that just feigning ignorance or claiming I'd moved would be enough to fend off possible repercussions....as far as I can tell, I was right.
When I received my third summons a month ago, I resisted for a moment, recalling previous fears, then just said, what the heck, might as well see what this whole civic duty thing is all about. After a mild panic session upon hearing a rumor that I could NOT bring my laptop, I did a bit of research and found out that while I am not allowed to bring a perfume bottle over 4 oz (that is a butt load btw...), I am allowed to indeed bring a laptop. And, so I sit and write this from a sterile room full of strangers, some sleeping, some working, a few playing Scrabble... one gentleman sternly told a repeated wrong number to please stop calling, then called his provider to block the number and would not tell the operator his social security number because he was, "in a very public place....the jury room actually..."
I have been using my morning to work on the upcoming 20 minute slide design boot camp/overview I am presenting to the English department in a few weeks. After running a few ideas by friends, faculty, and students, I decided to structure the presentation around 10 dos and don'ts of slide design, focusing on the areas audiences often have the most complaints about and that educators can apply easily, without advanced knowledge or experience in Keynote or Power Point. Here is what I have come up with so far as a rough outline. Look for a first draft by the end of the day....that is, unless I get called up to serve on the trial of the century.
Title: Tweak your Slides! Ten Zen Design Principles for Educators
Do Not
Use bullets
Do Use Text Purposely
Do Not
Use templates
Do create your own
Do not
Use clip art
Do use images that are emphasize realism
Do not
Crowd your slides
Do provide visual breathing room
Do not
Confuse your viewer
Do use contrast to increase understanding
Do not
Use animations without purpose
Do use animation for a reason
Do not
Forget an extra slide costs nothing
Do use the medium to its best advantage
Do not
Confuse your audience
Do create a unified theme
Do not
Make your slides the focus
Do detach by reducing, recording, repeating
Do not
Use a visual medium to convey a textual idea
Do apply the picture superiority effect
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Yeah, but when I say constraint, I don't mean myself....
Boss: Hey, so can you briefly talk to the department about Duarte's principles of visual design.
Me: Oooohh... Excited, how, what, yayy!! I just talked to someone in student development about presentations and students and yay and fun...
Boss: we need something very brief; just cover the major points...if you can do that.
Me: it 's not my fault; I've been conditioned to speak for at least 4 hours at a time :)
Boss: Just talk about why visuals are so important and choosing the right visual to accompany your thoughts. If you go over, I will play instrumental music.
Me: Sure, like for an hour? (I teach at Full Sail, an hour is nothing to me. NOTHING!!!)
Boss: I was thinking 20 minutes
Me: hahahaha.....haaaa...lol. Okay, let me breathe for a second.
Boss: I was going to ask if you were breathing. Think of it as a pecha kucha.
Me: Let's do this!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
I am not a writer....weird!
Becoming a "slide tweaker" has been an interesting development in my journey as a student and educator. Interesting in the sense that 1. this was not something I ever thought I'd care about, 2. I have no formal training in the instruction of speech and communications, yet am more convinced than ever that teaching is a natural talent and gift that when cultivated can enable one individual to enable learning beyond their formal education, and 3. interesting in that I am not sure I WANT to teach composition again for a good, long while. I have become obsessed with the transformative power of speech. Watching a visualization, Reading and laying down Lincoln's meaning in The Gettysburg Address in class today gave me goosebumps.
More than that though, tweaking slides, clean design, and impacting, powerful speech have infused every part of my life beyond the classroom. I find myself considering design in other facets of my life, and sorely need to simplify and clean out my personal clutter, both physical and otherwise. I see design everywhere I go now, and I think about why things are and how things are much more now. In another respect, I have learned countless lessons from hours of TED talks, and have discovered a talent and love for public speech that, as that shy kid in every class, and that woman who is still too shy to talk to strangers, fascinates me. I realized on the way to the gym this evening after an eight hour mega-double that I have never really been a writer; I've never associated with that term, nor has that role ever been a part of my identity. Now, this may seem odd, considering that I am an English and writing teacher. I majored in English, and spent seven years instructing others on the skill of composing a piece of writing. How am I not a writer? Well, maybe the answer to that lies in the fact that I have always seen my role as that of thinker. I don't teach others to write; I teach them to unlock their own potential as thinkers and use writing and the analysis of literature as a means to helping them understand some aspect of the world they did not previously understand. Even in school, I was the thinker, the analyzer, the synthesizer of information. Writing was just my way of proving or illustrating this synthesis. More on this later...for now, it's back to grading!
More than that though, tweaking slides, clean design, and impacting, powerful speech have infused every part of my life beyond the classroom. I find myself considering design in other facets of my life, and sorely need to simplify and clean out my personal clutter, both physical and otherwise. I see design everywhere I go now, and I think about why things are and how things are much more now. In another respect, I have learned countless lessons from hours of TED talks, and have discovered a talent and love for public speech that, as that shy kid in every class, and that woman who is still too shy to talk to strangers, fascinates me. I realized on the way to the gym this evening after an eight hour mega-double that I have never really been a writer; I've never associated with that term, nor has that role ever been a part of my identity. Now, this may seem odd, considering that I am an English and writing teacher. I majored in English, and spent seven years instructing others on the skill of composing a piece of writing. How am I not a writer? Well, maybe the answer to that lies in the fact that I have always seen my role as that of thinker. I don't teach others to write; I teach them to unlock their own potential as thinkers and use writing and the analysis of literature as a means to helping them understand some aspect of the world they did not previously understand. Even in school, I was the thinker, the analyzer, the synthesizer of information. Writing was just my way of proving or illustrating this synthesis. More on this later...for now, it's back to grading!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
As if I needed proof coffee loves me as much as I love it...
I love coffee. A hot cup of really strong coffee is at the top of my daily to do list, and that first sip of the first cup of coffee is pure, steamy, brown joy. I thought my love of coffee was strictly one sided; I mean, what do I really have to offer coffee that it can't just get from one of its millions of supplicants and adorers? I am just one gullet, one container for the roasted goodness. Well, a few days ago, coffee surprised me by showing me that yes, indeed, it loves me drinking it as much as I do:
(Pictured above: the grounds from my Keurig coffee maker trying to get fresh with me)
(Pictured above: the grounds from my Keurig coffee maker trying to get fresh with me)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I've been busy, part deux
Visual Resume
Slideshare VersionView more presentations from Chiara Ojeda.
YouTube Version
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations
So, I've been pretty busy the past nine months or so teaching an overload section of my course, Professional Communication and Presentation. This has left me very little time to work on some much needed tweaks and revisions to my online class.
The first empty/taskless moment I found during this my first month with only two sections (one of which has six students), I started working on a series of podcast/videos on informative speaking using Cicero's Five Canons of Rhetoric: Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery.
This series was mostly prompted by an on going and recent frustration of mine. This frustration is with what appears to be a lack of clarity between what it means to inform objectively and persuade. I ask my students during their first week in the online class to develop a plan for an informative podcast of at most four minutes. The plan is a chance for them to ask me direct questions and to answer some important questions about their purpose, audience, subject, and selves. What I have realized after receiving topics ranging from informing the audience of how wrong this is, or how this other thing needs to stop, or how the audience needs to start doing blank about blank problem, I realized that people really didn't understand the difference between informing and persuading. I know everything is an argument, and that even an informative speech is still persuading the audience to view information in a particular way, I never expected topics like these. I expected how to tune a guitar, who invented the telephone, how to record a song using GarageBand, the history of cheese....is there really no difference between these terms? I developed these videos in part to help me figure out that question.
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part One
This first video covers Preparation and Invention. After reading Garr Reynolds' first few chapters of The Naked Presenter, I plan on amending the audio to include his ideas, which are super awesome!
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Two
This is the one I want my students to really pay the most attention to. I include examples of informative vs. persuasive topics using chopsticks, The Beatles, termites, dolphins, and ocean dumping.
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Three
Here's my two cents on arranging the intro, body, and conclusion of a presentation. Don't forget a strong hook and a S.T.A.R. moment!
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Four
I had to break up Style and Memory into two shorter videos because style is such an expansive topic, and I wanted to get both into concrete language and metaphors.
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Five
Finally, part five breaks down metaphors and concrete language. It includes a shout out to one of my faves, aphorist James Geary.
The first empty/taskless moment I found during this my first month with only two sections (one of which has six students), I started working on a series of podcast/videos on informative speaking using Cicero's Five Canons of Rhetoric: Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery.
This series was mostly prompted by an on going and recent frustration of mine. This frustration is with what appears to be a lack of clarity between what it means to inform objectively and persuade. I ask my students during their first week in the online class to develop a plan for an informative podcast of at most four minutes. The plan is a chance for them to ask me direct questions and to answer some important questions about their purpose, audience, subject, and selves. What I have realized after receiving topics ranging from informing the audience of how wrong this is, or how this other thing needs to stop, or how the audience needs to start doing blank about blank problem, I realized that people really didn't understand the difference between informing and persuading. I know everything is an argument, and that even an informative speech is still persuading the audience to view information in a particular way, I never expected topics like these. I expected how to tune a guitar, who invented the telephone, how to record a song using GarageBand, the history of cheese....is there really no difference between these terms? I developed these videos in part to help me figure out that question.
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part One
This first video covers Preparation and Invention. After reading Garr Reynolds' first few chapters of The Naked Presenter, I plan on amending the audio to include his ideas, which are super awesome!
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Two
This is the one I want my students to really pay the most attention to. I include examples of informative vs. persuasive topics using chopsticks, The Beatles, termites, dolphins, and ocean dumping.
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Three
Here's my two cents on arranging the intro, body, and conclusion of a presentation. Don't forget a strong hook and a S.T.A.R. moment!
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Four
I had to break up Style and Memory into two shorter videos because style is such an expansive topic, and I wanted to get both into concrete language and metaphors.
Fundamentals of Informative Presentations, Part Five
Finally, part five breaks down metaphors and concrete language. It includes a shout out to one of my faves, aphorist James Geary.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
A small reflection
Because I am not of many words, this will be short. I have worked at Full Sail for two years now, and while much of that time has been exhausting and frustrating, I realize that all of that time has also been humbling, incredibly creative, possibly life-altering, and has garnered some incredible friendships (I know that last part is not parallel dammit!). I write this during a reluctant break from what has literally become my favorite thing to do, something I am really freaking great at, and something that fuels a passion for eradicating crap I thought I lost years ago. I speak of course of the tweak, the slide tweak. What started out as honestly just a way to NOT grade has become something of an art, obsession, and calling for me.
I love callings! Yay calling!
I do this all of the time...I take what someone might think are perfectly excellent slides and I tweak them...(at first I took really terrible, awful, mind-exploding in the bad way slides and tweaked them). To me, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing what others are doing (I spend way too much time at the following: Information is Beautiful, Slideshare, speaking.alltop.com, and Stumble Upon's design section) and being inspired by this to create something myself. Sometimes it is seeing what my fellow revolutionaries Alex Rister and Christin Upshaw are up to or hearing that someone is "working on slides." Anything (especially being preoccupied over yet another heart-based run around) sparks the need to tweak (not on meth) in me, and I couldn't be happier.
I always thought being a teacher of writing would be my calling, but then I started teaching Humanities, and now I've taught public speaking for two years. Maybe my calling is just to be fortunate enough to find something I completely love, that I am also completely awesome at, and follow that bliss where it leads me, even if that is Seattle, Wa and a cold, cold, everyday. I bitch and moan about many things that I should just not worry so much about, just thought I'd take a sec and praise the one thing that has brought me complete fulfillment at least in that one little part of me...
Check out my tweaks! Working on a few more!
I love callings! Yay calling!
I do this all of the time...I take what someone might think are perfectly excellent slides and I tweak them...(at first I took really terrible, awful, mind-exploding in the bad way slides and tweaked them). To me, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing what others are doing (I spend way too much time at the following: Information is Beautiful, Slideshare, speaking.alltop.com, and Stumble Upon's design section) and being inspired by this to create something myself. Sometimes it is seeing what my fellow revolutionaries Alex Rister and Christin Upshaw are up to or hearing that someone is "working on slides." Anything (especially being preoccupied over yet another heart-based run around) sparks the need to tweak (not on meth) in me, and I couldn't be happier.
I always thought being a teacher of writing would be my calling, but then I started teaching Humanities, and now I've taught public speaking for two years. Maybe my calling is just to be fortunate enough to find something I completely love, that I am also completely awesome at, and follow that bliss where it leads me, even if that is Seattle, Wa and a cold, cold, everyday. I bitch and moan about many things that I should just not worry so much about, just thought I'd take a sec and praise the one thing that has brought me complete fulfillment at least in that one little part of me...
Check out my tweaks! Working on a few more!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Today's TED Roundup: Aaron Huey, Birke Baehr, and Zainab Salbi
Now that I am done grading discussion posts, I get to watch TED!
I watched this talk by Aaron Huey a few weeks ago, and it left me in tears. Huey discusses the modern state of Native Americans as prisoners of war. Huey displays raw emotion, applying the Be though Vulnerable TED Commandment expertly. His use of imagery forces the audience to come to terms with their own complacency in a 200 year old war. The visuals completely reinforce his point and paint a picture of a people worn thin by time and circumstance. Truly powerful!
I didn't think I could love TED more, but here comes TEDxAshevilleNextGeneration. This amazing event gathered young people who are passionate and concerned about the world's problems together in a super awesome city for an amazing conference. One of the speakers was 11-year-old Birke Baehr, who aspired to be a football player, but after learning about the conventional farming system decided to become an organic farmer. You know, people gripe a lot about homeschooled kids, but Birke, Adora Svitak, and my three amazing younger siblings (my 15 year old sister, Karen, is a writer, has started her own writer's group, sets writing goals of 50k words per month for herself, and is a budding visual artist) have made me a believer in this personalized form of education. Birke breaks down what is wrong with our food system, what kids can and are doing about it, and how we can proceed in the future, all in five minutes! I am not a huge fan of his slides, but he is 11, so he gets a pass.
Today's final talk comes from Zainab Salbi, who will become my example for storytelling, vivid language, and figurative language from now on. She paints a harrowing, haunting picture of a woman's experience in war, from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Congo and the Sudan. Through her work with Women for Women International, she "learned that the colors and the sounds of war are the same, but the fears of war [are] the same." In particular, it is "The fear of losing the I in me" that haunts the many women she shares this experience with.Open and honest about her fears and experiences Salbi makes the case for bringing women into the post-war reconstruction process. Incredible!
I watched this talk by Aaron Huey a few weeks ago, and it left me in tears. Huey discusses the modern state of Native Americans as prisoners of war. Huey displays raw emotion, applying the Be though Vulnerable TED Commandment expertly. His use of imagery forces the audience to come to terms with their own complacency in a 200 year old war. The visuals completely reinforce his point and paint a picture of a people worn thin by time and circumstance. Truly powerful!
I didn't think I could love TED more, but here comes TEDxAshevilleNextGeneration. This amazing event gathered young people who are passionate and concerned about the world's problems together in a super awesome city for an amazing conference. One of the speakers was 11-year-old Birke Baehr, who aspired to be a football player, but after learning about the conventional farming system decided to become an organic farmer. You know, people gripe a lot about homeschooled kids, but Birke, Adora Svitak, and my three amazing younger siblings (my 15 year old sister, Karen, is a writer, has started her own writer's group, sets writing goals of 50k words per month for herself, and is a budding visual artist) have made me a believer in this personalized form of education. Birke breaks down what is wrong with our food system, what kids can and are doing about it, and how we can proceed in the future, all in five minutes! I am not a huge fan of his slides, but he is 11, so he gets a pass.
Today's final talk comes from Zainab Salbi, who will become my example for storytelling, vivid language, and figurative language from now on. She paints a harrowing, haunting picture of a woman's experience in war, from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Congo and the Sudan. Through her work with Women for Women International, she "learned that the colors and the sounds of war are the same, but the fears of war [are] the same." In particular, it is "The fear of losing the I in me" that haunts the many women she shares this experience with.Open and honest about her fears and experiences Salbi makes the case for bringing women into the post-war reconstruction process. Incredible!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
TEDxOrlando
Just so you know, I am giving up Eastbound and Down for this. I am also listening to Iron and Wine, so excuse the melancholia, if it surfaces. FYI, best Iron and Wine song ever:
I am a TEDaholic. Speak to me for more than five minutes, and I will likely bring up the awesomeness that is Benjamin Zander's shining eyes talk, the completely sobering hilarity of Ken Robinson's "Why Schools Kill Creativity," the unabashed fervor of J.J. Abram's "Mystery Box" or the immersive beauty of Andrew Bird's "One man orchestra of the imagination." I love TED. I think I might love TED more than I love cheese, though, a TED-shaped cheese log might beat out both of those. I spend so much time as a teacher helping others learn new ways of looking at the world that I feel a real sense of loss at the thought that I do not get the same opportunities to discover something new, to learn, to engage in what I loved so much about being in school for sooo long: the aha moment, the moment of internalization of new knowledge.
My orgasm aha! moment.
When I discovered TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design), it felt like Keats' "On First Looking on Chapman's Homer," which is somewhat like discovering that Blue Bell makes banana pudding ice cream or like seeing the entire Star Trek: The Original Series on my post-TED date's living room shelf. Basically, it was like having an awesome parfait.
I had the pleasure of attending the first annual TEDxOrlando conference this past Saturday, November 13. I attended the conference determined to break out of my extreme communication apprehension in situations where I know no one and am outside of the classroom. Yes, I am shy around new people--I am that girl on her phone, pretending to tweet about something really important.
Nope, no, I don't want to socialize.
So, does it make sense for a public speaking teacher to be shy? Only if aforementioned teacher never had any inclination to light up a stage or hear applause or be the center of anyone's attention. But, after seven years of teaching, there is something so wonderful about standing in front of a classroom. I believe this is because I am a control freak and fancy myself being the mistress of said classroom. I suppose knowing I am also teaching an activity most people dread as I dread speaking to strangers helps in the empathy department. Thankfully, my social anxiety was alleviated by the presence of super student Roxie Richardson, whose love of TED prompted her to apply for a scholarship to attend the conference for free. Once I accosted Roxie and forced her to hang out with me, I felt much better.
I was a bit worried about the turnout, considering that so many people I'd talked to had no idea the conference was going on (despite my screaming it from several rooftops, classrooms, offices, Facebook pages, people's homes), but the healthy number of folks I saw formed an eclectic group of energetic and enthusiastic thinkers. Thinkers like Nathaniel, who effusively discussed his idea for implants that could work out your abs for you (as someone who curses abdominal exercises like Frodo in one of his fits, this made me perk up), that could enable you to massage yourself, even help regenerate the body and extend life, helped set the tone for the knowledge ass kicking about to begin. So, on to the presenters. Note: I am an idiot, and actually thought a date was more important than the third set and only made it through sets one and two. Please forgive me TED...it was a great date, though, as most dates go lately, resulted in no second date.
Marc Sardy
The man earns awesome points right away for using a Prezi instead of a Keynote or Power Point. Sardy spoke from the heart, bringing who he is into what he does. His stories kept me engaged, even if I felt a bit unsure as to purpose. The message was right on point with TED--educating for peace, working to move beyond the desire for peace to a student-run film festival whose goal is to create immediate resonance with an audience.
Sharon Butler
An artist in the blogosphere, Butler works to turn the pyramid of the art world into an equal playing field, where artists do not feel like peons or slaves to a top down system. She was very funny and I now love her blog, Two Coats of Paint.
James Neihouse
Talk about someone who embodies the TED commandments. Engaging and impacting storytelling from a man who is unafraid to be vulnerable and shares his curiosity and passion for the sadly forgotten NASA. His talk did not come with a set of typical slides, instead, images of his work played in the background as he spoke of what NASA has done for us and what it has yet to do. The S.T.A.R moment in his talk: Neihouse spoke of the friends lost as a result of two shuttle disasters. Unafraid to show the impact of this loss on him, Neihouse spoke of their bravery, their resolute belief in the mission of NASA.
Break time and the end of set one! I met a young man who is a forest ranger! Ocala is apparently not as beautiful as he imagined it would be.
More from TEDxOrlando tomorrow!
I am a TEDaholic. Speak to me for more than five minutes, and I will likely bring up the awesomeness that is Benjamin Zander's shining eyes talk, the completely sobering hilarity of Ken Robinson's "Why Schools Kill Creativity," the unabashed fervor of J.J. Abram's "Mystery Box" or the immersive beauty of Andrew Bird's "One man orchestra of the imagination." I love TED. I think I might love TED more than I love cheese, though, a TED-shaped cheese log might beat out both of those. I spend so much time as a teacher helping others learn new ways of looking at the world that I feel a real sense of loss at the thought that I do not get the same opportunities to discover something new, to learn, to engage in what I loved so much about being in school for sooo long: the aha moment, the moment of internalization of new knowledge.
My orgasm aha! moment.
When I discovered TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design), it felt like Keats' "On First Looking on Chapman's Homer," which is somewhat like discovering that Blue Bell makes banana pudding ice cream or like seeing the entire Star Trek: The Original Series on my post-TED date's living room shelf. Basically, it was like having an awesome parfait.
I had the pleasure of attending the first annual TEDxOrlando conference this past Saturday, November 13. I attended the conference determined to break out of my extreme communication apprehension in situations where I know no one and am outside of the classroom. Yes, I am shy around new people--I am that girl on her phone, pretending to tweet about something really important.
Nope, no, I don't want to socialize.
So, does it make sense for a public speaking teacher to be shy? Only if aforementioned teacher never had any inclination to light up a stage or hear applause or be the center of anyone's attention. But, after seven years of teaching, there is something so wonderful about standing in front of a classroom. I believe this is because I am a control freak and fancy myself being the mistress of said classroom. I suppose knowing I am also teaching an activity most people dread as I dread speaking to strangers helps in the empathy department. Thankfully, my social anxiety was alleviated by the presence of super student Roxie Richardson, whose love of TED prompted her to apply for a scholarship to attend the conference for free. Once I accosted Roxie and forced her to hang out with me, I felt much better.
I was a bit worried about the turnout, considering that so many people I'd talked to had no idea the conference was going on (despite my screaming it from several rooftops, classrooms, offices, Facebook pages, people's homes), but the healthy number of folks I saw formed an eclectic group of energetic and enthusiastic thinkers. Thinkers like Nathaniel, who effusively discussed his idea for implants that could work out your abs for you (as someone who curses abdominal exercises like Frodo in one of his fits, this made me perk up), that could enable you to massage yourself, even help regenerate the body and extend life, helped set the tone for the knowledge ass kicking about to begin. So, on to the presenters. Note: I am an idiot, and actually thought a date was more important than the third set and only made it through sets one and two. Please forgive me TED...it was a great date, though, as most dates go lately, resulted in no second date.
Marc Sardy
The man earns awesome points right away for using a Prezi instead of a Keynote or Power Point. Sardy spoke from the heart, bringing who he is into what he does. His stories kept me engaged, even if I felt a bit unsure as to purpose. The message was right on point with TED--educating for peace, working to move beyond the desire for peace to a student-run film festival whose goal is to create immediate resonance with an audience.
Sharon Butler
An artist in the blogosphere, Butler works to turn the pyramid of the art world into an equal playing field, where artists do not feel like peons or slaves to a top down system. She was very funny and I now love her blog, Two Coats of Paint.
James Neihouse
Talk about someone who embodies the TED commandments. Engaging and impacting storytelling from a man who is unafraid to be vulnerable and shares his curiosity and passion for the sadly forgotten NASA. His talk did not come with a set of typical slides, instead, images of his work played in the background as he spoke of what NASA has done for us and what it has yet to do. The S.T.A.R moment in his talk: Neihouse spoke of the friends lost as a result of two shuttle disasters. Unafraid to show the impact of this loss on him, Neihouse spoke of their bravery, their resolute belief in the mission of NASA.
Break time and the end of set one! I met a young man who is a forest ranger! Ocala is apparently not as beautiful as he imagined it would be.
More from TEDxOrlando tomorrow!
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