Why are you here?

Around 180 days ago I asked you a question. I hope by now you have a better idea of how to answer that question. Here's some fun facts: 

• Odds of bowling a 300 game: 1 in 11,500 
• Odds of being hit by lightning: 1 in 576,000 
• Odds of getting a royal flush on your first five cards: 1 in 649,740 
• Odds of becoming U.S. President: 1 in 10,000,000 
• Odds of winning $340 million jackpot in MegaMillions lottery: about 1 in 175,000,000 
• Odds of your being born in this particular time, place and circumstance: about 1 in 400,000,000,000 

"You are not here by mistake. Around the world and down through the ages there has never been another you. The miracle of your existence is now in your hands. You are here for a purpose. You have something that only you can give to the world." http://www.live-inspired.com/the1book/pdf/ONE_2.pdf

You've made it! Congratulations. Take a moment and reflect on the past 180 days and share some of your favorite memories of  your Freshman year here at St. Saviour.

Mr. T

Pictures are a thousand words?

Pictures are said to be worth a thousand words. Artists and Cartoonists use images to convey meaning in powerful ways. Check out the following. Pick the one that moves you most, describe the one you've chosen and then tell us what it means to you in your own words.

Your turn.

In the last post we discussed how a community of readers gives new life to a blog. The great thing about blogs is that they can be about anything and it is a fresh perspective from outside the mainstream. Do you love to travel? Start a travel blog and it becomes your unique view on the topic. For this post I want you to pretend this is your blog.  Write a post about a recent experience you had with something you have a strong opinion about. It can be negative or positive. Your post should be 6-10 sentences at a minimum. Compare and contrast what you are writing about with other things similar to your topic. For example: If you are writing about a record from a particular artist, compare it to similar artists or the artists earlier work. Same for restaurants, etc. See examples for ideas. The key is to be passionate.

Ideas: 

1. Movie review
2. Music review
3. Travel experience
4. Restaurant review
5. Fashion review
6. Technology 

Examples: 

Travel blog: http://roam-magazine.co

Food blog: http://culinarybackstreets.com

More travel blogs: http://petitepassport.com,  http://ourwildabandon.com

Fashion: http://whatiwore.tumblr.com

Tech: https://techcrunch.com

The Power of a Blog

What makes a blog more powerful is the contribution of the community of readers. For the past year you've commented from your own perspective on a wide array of topics. For our first post of Q4 I want you to revisit the Ted Talks II blog post and watch one of the videos your fellow classmates watched. Then respond to their post by offering a short paragraph with your own insight. Do you see the video differently? Please watch the video and REPLY to your classmates post here: https://freshteckblog4.blogspot.com/2017/03/ted-talks-ii.html

About me...

How we define ourselves is an important part of our identity. As we saw in our previous post, during Middle Adolescence teenagers develop an independence as part of distancing yourself from your parents. As Simon Sinek said in the video we watched, this independence allows us to "acculturate (assimilate to a different culture) outside of our immediate family and into the broader tribe" of the society around us.

So for this post list three things that you feel you identify with or define you and a brief description of what it is about it that you enjoy.

Example:
Rock music: I like it because to me it is rebellious.

Why no cell phone's in school policy?

Let's start a discussion with why from a professional's point of view.

Simon Sinek is a marketing expert and motivational speaker. In this recent talk he discussed the issues about mobile technologies and their impact on generations of people having grown up on them.

https://youtu.be/YrT8lJNa9Z8?t=3m13s

For our conversation let's consider what happens during the stages of adolescence...

So for our blog post using the above chart, pick one or two elements of development under Early or Middle Adolescence and make an argument for or against using a phone in school. For example: During Early Adolescence as my intellectual interests expand I need a phone to engage more with what I'm interested in studying...discuss your opinion in a few coherent sentences. Do not copy my example.

Ted Talks II

For our 2nd blog post of Q3, you are the driver. Please visit TED and pick a topic, watch one of the many experts give their insight and share your findings with our class.

Please include a link to the talk in your post and describe in detail (atleast 5 sentances) describing what it was about and include why you chose to watch it and why you believe your classmates should check it out. Please include a link to the video you watch.

https://www.ted.com/talks

How to give a killer presentation.

Giving presentations is hard. Many of us are extremely uncomfortable speaking in front of an audience. It takes practice and skill. Here are some helpful tips. Excerpts from: https://hbr.org/2013/06/how-to-give-a-killer-presentation

Frame your story

We all know that humans are wired to listen to stories, and metaphors abound for the narrative structures that work best to engage people. When I think about compelling presentations, I think about taking an audience on a journey. A successful talk is a little miracle—people see the world differently afterward.

Plan Your Delivery

There are three main ways to deliver a talk. You can read it directly off a script or a teleprompter. You can develop a set of bullet points that map out what you’re going to say in each section rather than scripting the whole thing word for word. Or you can memorize your talk, which entails rehearsing it to the point where you internalize every word—verbatim.

Develop Stage Presence

The biggest mistake we see in early rehearsals is that people move their bodies too much. They sway from side to side, or shift their weight from one leg to the other. People do this naturally when they’re nervous, but it’s distracting and makes the speaker seem weak. Simply getting a person to keep his or her lower body motionless can dramatically improve stage presence.

Plan the Multimedia

Keep it simple; don’t use a slide deck as a substitute for notes (by, say, listing the bullet points you’ll discuss—those are best put on note cards); and don’t repeat out loud words that are on the slide. Not only is reciting slides a variation of the teleprompter problem—“Oh, no, she’s reading to us, too!”—but information is interesting only once, and hearing and seeing the same words feels repetitive.

Watch the following video and write a short paragraph (3-5 sentences) opinion about Richard's story. What about it moved you in particular. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_turere_a_peace_treaty_with_the_lions?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tedspread

Digital Literacy Continued

This is a continuation of our previous post regarding information literacy. Websites and news organizations make money from advertising when we view their content. There are three important distinctions for you to know:

1. Native Advertising - advertising that tries to sell or promote a product disguised as a news story
2. Traditional Advertising - most common advertising that sells or promotes a product 
3. News story - real content containing factual information about a subject and independent of bias and should answer, who, what, when and how

For this post take a look at the following two website banners and answer this question:

Which are these an example of: native advertising, traditional advertising or a news story and why? 

Credit: Stamford University Study: https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf

Digital Literacy 101

There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about the abundance of fake news. Fake news is information deliberately posted to confuse people, drive traffic to websites and influence discussions or policy. We know from class that anyone can create a website. It is now our job to become detectives of what is real vs. what is fake.

Websites and news organizations make money from advertising when we view their content. There are three important distinctions for you to know:

1. Native Advertising - advertising that tries to sell or promote a product disguised as a news story
2. Traditional Advertising - most common advertising that sells or promotes a product 
3. News story - real content containing factual information about a subject and independent of bias and should answer, who, what, when and how

For this post take a look at the following website banner and answer this question: 

Is this native advertising, traditional advertising or a news story and why? 

Credit: Stamford University Study: https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf