TED Talk by Briana Cotten

 

Technology, Entertainment, Design

TED is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that overall spread meaningful ideas. It allows anyone to have a voice and express what they are feeling in short, powerful talks. Each talk is usually less than 18 minutes and covers a variety of topics from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. TED is a global community who accept everyone who wants to share their thoughts and feelings about anything at all. Their goal is to allow anyone, no matter what the age, gender, or religion, to share something that will can change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. People are what make the world go round, thus by having access to such a positive resource, information may be acquired. Great ideas are now accessible and TED sparks conversation all over the world, no matter where you are, on a daily basis. TED talks may even be used in your daily school life as teachers use them as resources to teach. There is an average of 17 new page views a second and TED talk has been alive now for 33 years.

Visit https://www.ted.com/playlists/168/the_first_6_ted_talks_ever to view the first 6 TED talks ever to be created. After watching those one can truly see the overall growth this web page has taken.

Chris Anderson shares his vision for the future of TED in the link as followed https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_shares_his_vision_for_ted. Chris Anderson established in 1996 he Sapling Foundation, which now runs and owns TED.

TED makes money through conference attendance fees, sponsorship, foundation support, licensing fees and book sales.  TED uses the money for The TED Prize as well as daily improvements. The TED prize is awarded after TED selects a great idea each year and seeks to achieve goals of global impact.

The Top 25 talks of all time are shown on https://www.ted.com/playlists/171/the_most_popular_talks_of_all

TED is coming to our high school. Ms. Mauriello and Mr. Johnson. Also Ms. Pollison is help co-running this club for her knowledge in the biology topic. The overall course is going to be a 13 week process meeting in room 419 every Day 1. “So come be a part of the global community that believes there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea”.

To Join the classroom code is: uepkm38

In this club you can create your own TED talk or become a…

·         club photographer 

·         social media expert

·         or finally a media production coordinator

JOIN NOW:) 

The Poem of Hate: Phil Christodoulou

It starts off with a sound,
A look, or even a feel.
You start getting attached,
But not the way to be appealed.

It grows inside of you,
it cant be stopped.
Its the one that evidently
turns the clock.
As time passes by,
you continue to think,
of the more passionate ways,
 To drive your hate.

The strongest of them all,
causes a quake,
neither love nor happiness,
Cant seem to stop the shake.

You do all in your power,
to stop every hour.
Yet the power of hate
Drives on evidently to your wake.

Old World (another photo narrative) //Mikayla Bivona

I walk. 

Taking slow steps. Taking it all in. 

I loved nature. I loved watching things grow and I loved witnessing peace. It seems to me that peace is only achieved in this pond. Humans cause problems. humans hate... humans fight... humans create things that replace the things we already have and make them "easier" to obtain.  Humans have ruined this wonderful beautiful earth we live on. 

I find peace here. 

It's calm. The birds are singing and they look absolutely beautiful when they fly in harmony with one another. I look into the lake that would be freezing over soon, and I see small fish swimming in their schools. I look up to see the trees surrounding me. I listen to them creaking as they sway back and forth with ease. I see two squirrels jumping from branch to branch happily and with ease. 

I take a deep breath. I smell the scent of an upcoming winter. It smells different from summer, spring, or fall... it smells... minty? I breathe in and feel my lungs being opened. It's a refreshing smell that makes me feel... clean. 

I shiver. A slight breeze blows, making the fragile, dying, plants sway. 

I sit, waiting for the feeling of the snow to soak through my pants. It doesn't come. 

A bird flies toward me. I hold my hand out and it lands. I stare at it. I feel the tears coming, "It can't be over yet," I whisper to the bird, "I've been here for five minutes... I need more time. Please." 

The bird stares at me, cocking it's head to the side, "Mr. Kalhoun.. it's time. You have to leave. Your wife is waiting for you." 

I feel a hot tear fall down my cheek, "I just need one more minute,"my voice breaks, "please..."

I watch as the bird glitches along with every virtualized animal around me,"You need to leave." 

I feel my throat tightening. The bird flies away and I stand slowly. I walk towards the clearing in the trees, holding my hands out in front of me, waiting for my hand to hit the wall, and secretly hoping that it won't. But my hopes are diminished when my hand comes in contact with the camouflaged portal into the world today. The world I don't want to go back to. 

I turn, and take one last look at the world that I miss every day. I put pressure on the invisible wall and it gives way, revealing the "clean" hallway in front of me. I walk down the hall to my wife's designated room, and I see that she is just as distraught as I am. I hold her hand as we walk down the perfectly cleaned white halls.

We stop at the end at a desk. The nurse gives us our "happy medication" that does a real crappy job of making us "happy." ... We walk out the doors and into the already waiting car, with our designated robot driver, Ted. 

"Hello! How was your remembrance today?" He asks.

I squeeze my wives hand, "It was wonderful, Ted. Thank you for asking." 

"You are welcome, sir." And he drives. 

I look out the window to see the world we live in now, listening to the whir of the car. I see buildings. Buildings as far as the eye can see, and further. There isn't a single tree in sight, only the oxygen producers blowing off of the tallest buildings in the city. The blue sky is artificially created, and the clouds look like they've been painted with a sponge. I can now tell what's real and what's fake. 

I want our old world back. I want it now. 

Connections in Literature By Grace Becker

As we continue to read different novels throughout this class, I am constantly realizing how many of these books relate. For example, in Beowulf and in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the two creatures in these novels both have different point of views. Grendel, the evil, monstrous demon in Beowulf, has a different point of view than that of what others see him as. In the novel Grendel, by John Gardner, the reader sees a different point of view from Grendel that shows a much softer side to him that changes how you interpret his character. This also relates to Frankenstein's monster. When the point of view changes to his, we learn how his up bringing caused him to become an evil monster and that he was not created this way. It is very interesting how these two novels relate and that the little details in them allow for readers to connect the stories to each other. These two monsters coincide because they both represent the real stories of the monsters that many do not understand. This can also lead to the idea that both monsters are looked at as more evil than they truly were set out to be.

Superbowl Halftime Show Critics

 Lady Gaga Body Shamers by Hannah T

This year's halftime show for the Superbowl LI, Lady Gaga succeeded in entertaining everyone by singing many of her most popular songs (including one of her new songs), singing the national anthem, dancing non-stop, flying from the ceiling, and catching a football thrown to her while jumping off the stage. It was extremely fun to watch, but of course there are still people out there who feel the need to criticize everything about everyone.

In this case, those hateful people decided to body shame Lady Gaga, even though in my opinion there is absolutely nothing to shame her for because she is very fit. They were criticizing the fact that she wore an outfit that revealed her stomach.But most of those people probably don't know that she actually suffered (but luckily recovered) from very serious eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia, beginning when she was 15.

When Lady Gaga was informed of this body shaming directed towards her, she posted this online for her fans (and the people criticizing her) to see-
"I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That's the stuff of champions. thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, gaga "

So instead of trying to fight back, she showed all the body shamers that she isn't concerned with what they think of her body because she is completely and totally happy with it, and encouraged others to be happy with theirs too. This is very important because she is a survivor of eating disorders, so she is a very big inspiration to those still suffering, and is showing them that they will be okay if they accept themselves and don't let other people's opinions bother them. 

The Real Life Noble Savages- Josh Williams

The Real Life Noble Savages

In class, we have been reading the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.  Shelley tells the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates in his search for the secrets of life.  At the outset of his miserable life, the monster represents the idea of a noble savage.  Society had yet to leave its mark on him.  The monster therefore embodied all the inherently good qualities of man.  However, he soon became corrupted due to the societal rejection that he faced.  This concept of a noble savage is explained by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an enlightened philosopher, in The Social Contract.  Rousseau begins his book by proclaiming that “man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains” (Rousseau 1).  A noble savage is someone who is considered innocent because of their removal from society.  Often, authors show the deterioration of the morals of such characters as they become immersed in civilization.

This idea can be found not only in literature, but also throughout history.  Native Americans are an example of historical noble savages.  Indians inhabited in Americas for thousands of years before Europeans crossed the Atlantic.  During this time, they prospered and were peaceful except for minor conflicts among themselves.  They also had their own concepts of religion and the workings of the natural world.  They were therefore basically good and had yet to be corrupted.  This soon changed when Europeans began to settle the Americas.  Native Americans became riddled with diseases and involved in European conflicts, including the Seven Years War (the French and Indian War).

Another example of historical noble savages are Africans who were forced into slavery by nations in Europe and the Americas throughout much of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.  These Africans often lived isolated lives in the inland regions of Africa.  They were betrayed by their counterparts along the African coast who were financially rewarded for capturing and enslaving them by Europeans.  They were then carefully transported to the nations where they were to be enslaved.  Africans were further exploited by European nations that claimed territory in Africa to be under their rule in the late nineteenth century, including Belgium.  

It is significant to be able to understand how realistic the idea of a noble savage really is.  This concept provides insight for philosophers who have studied the ways of man.  It also confirms the works of many who have claimed that society corrupts, such as Rousseau.

  

  A Native American portrayed in The

 Death of General Wolfe; painted by

                 Benjamin West

Works Cited:

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Immanuel Kant, and Voltaire. The social contract. Chicago: Great

Foundation, 1966. Print.

Shelley, Mary, Walter James Miller, and Harold Bloom. Frankenstein. New York: Signet Classics,       

2000. Print.

Home by Claire Riley

Home.

Home has walls, a roof and a bed.

Home has such comfort, to leave is to dread.

Home is the white picket fence in your yard,

that stands sturdy for years to protect and to guard.

Home is the place where children can grow.

Home is the house that you certainly know.

Home is the place where you flee to each day.

Home is the place that can wipe tears away.

Home will always be where your family lives.

Home will always be the place you find friends.

Home will always be the place you yearn,

It's where you belong; It's where you'll return.

"A Recipe for Good Books" by Liz Ukstins

A Recipe for Good Books
By Liz Ukstins

My Grandma, Joyce, finds joy(ce) in reading. It is her favorite pass time, and she never leaves home without a book in hand. When she makes her weekly trip to the library, she brings her worn-leather notebook that has the title and author of every single book that she has ever read so that she does not re-read anything. But, why does she continue to read? After reading for a long time, don't things get repetitive and cliche?

Well, I asked her these questions once. She told me, 

"Elizabeth, all good books begin with the same recipe...

...1 cup of character development

3 cups of plot

 1/2 teaspoon of protagonists

1 1/2 teaspoon of theme

a sprinkle of setting

a dash of antagonists

a heaping cup of action

point-of-view, to personal preference

1/2 cup of conflict

6 fluid ounces of resolution"

She continued, "Authors, just like cooks, can add seasonings that make their masterpiece special. Though all books' bases may be similar, the details are what make them new and unfamiliar. Yes, the love stories get cliche sometimes, but how many Allies and Noahs can you really have without some sort of change? That is why I read. I read for the change. I read to be transported to other universes. I hope that you soon find something that gives you as much joy as reading brings me. Refer back to this recipe when you start reading a new book, and take note of the seasonings and details. Perhaps you can use the recipe to create a masterpiece of your own. Believe me, Elizabeth, reading will change your life."

Pros of Debate

Harvard Debate team

On February 27 our class begins our debates. We were collected into groups of six to debate against another team of six on controversial topics. This is very beneficial to us students. By doing this, we are going to get introduced into how debates work which in the long run, will help us understand important debates such as Presidential Election debates. This debate will also teach the more shy students in the class to learn to speak up and realize that they are welcome and do not need to hide. According to communicationacademy.com, " in written and oral communication, and greatly improve their reading comprehension (sometimes 25% more than their peers,"(Academic skills). Along with just adding increased communication and comprehension debate can increase the ability of many other things and can also give some peers a new gain of confidence

Debates start when there is the first affirmative speech which will talk about the topic and give the stance of the team while also trying to convince the judges why their argument is valid. It is followed by a cross examination of the negative team which is attempts to call out the other team to make their information look invalid. Once finished the negative team will make their first negative speech which is followed by an affirmative cross examination. This back and forth will continue until the affirmative team begins their rebuttal which is a summary of the argument presented and finish off the argument with a concluding statement that will hopefully sway the judges. The negative side will then be allowed to make their rebuttal. To win a debate the facts presented must have a clear origin and be truthful. If not, the other team could question the fact and hurt the teams credibility. Also, being polite goes a long way in debating and a judge is more willing to listen to someone who is polite and insightful then someone who is belligerent. So, the powers of debate can be very influential in a students developmental status and will help then much later on in life.

By Luke Romano