Reflection

You did it! You are infinitely smarter now than when we first met 180+ days ago. You persevered through a rigorous trial but you still have challenges ahead. Hopefully now you can answer the question we asked at the beginning of the year (Why are you here?). For our final blog post I want you to consider each of the following and write a few sentences about each.

1. reflect back on your first year and share a moment or two that you remember most fondly
2. what was your most difficult challenge
3. and finally, share with us what your plans are for the summer

It was a pleasure working with you all and I will miss you. Good luck on your finals!

Mr. T

The Power of Blogs

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

Zoltan vs Zerzan

http://bigthink.com/articles/10-human-body-modifications-you-can-expect-in-the-next-decade

"Transformative technologies have always been accompanied by optimistic and pessimistic visions of how they will change humanity and society. Socrates worried that the invention of writing would have a deletrious effect on the memories of young Greeks who, he predicted, would become : the hearers of many things and will have learned nothing."

"But it is clear that we are heading in a direction that has no broader comparison in terms of it's impact on humanity as a species itself. For instance take Zoltan Istvan. He wants to live forever. Not in the metaphysical sense (books or memories) but in a very real, practical sense. And he believes technology will soon make it possible. Zoltan is planning to upload his brian and all its billions of unique synaptic pathways to a computer server. He's part of a growing community of people who believe technology can make us physically, intellectually, even morally better. They call themselves transhumanists. Transhumanists seek the continued evolution of humans beyond its current form."

Now meet John Zerzan. "He's one of the world's most famous anarcho-primitivist who believe that technology is at the root of many, if not all, of today's social problems. He wants to jettison Facebook, computers, telephones, electricity, steam-powered engines and more. He believes technology tends to distract us from our natural state, pushing us further away from what it really is to be free humans."

For this post I want you to research Transhumanist and Anarcho-Primitivism and inform yourself on the debate. Then write about which side of the debate do you find yourself. Provide a link to one of your sources that you found convincing.

Credit: The Dark Net, Inside the Digital Underworld. By Jamie Barlett

What makes a good presentation II

We've been discussing what makes a good presentation in class and now it's your turn to explore it further. For our final blog post of Q3 I want you to re-visit TED and choose a video on a topic you are interested in. There are thousands of fascinating presentations that are designed to inspire and motivate. For this post you must:

1. Summarize the talk in 4-5 sentences. Who, what, and why did you choose it.
2. What about it made for a good presentation. Discuss which of the four aspects of giving a good presentation stuck out most to you. (good story, good delivery, stage presence, multimedia)
3. Include a link to the presentation in the post. 

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) critique about Richard's presentation. How did he follow the strategies identified above?  

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

School Shootings

Welcome back!!!  Not exactly a fun nor easy topic but one I think must be discussed. On February 14 a 19 year old former student walked into Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students and teachers. He also injured 14 people. Without any weapons training he was legally able to purchase a Ar-15 semi automatic rifle. A weapon capable of firing 20 shots in 9 seconds.  Here's some more facts:

Discuss both of the following in your post: 

1. What is your initial reaction when you hear about an event like this?  
2. What do you think should be done to help ensure things like this can be avoided? 

The Environment

There is a lot of talk about the environment in the news. Melting ice polar ice caps, too much carbon in the atmosphere, and so much more. It is easy to feel horrible about it and that there is very little impact one person can have. But knowledge is power and collective knowledge can have an enormous impact.

Check out this site:
https://www.ewg.org/

It is a highly respected site that rates the quality of the products we commonly use for healh and environmental safety.

For this post I want you to research THREE common products you use or find at home and report what you finding. Is the product good/bad and did it change your opinion of it. 

For example: Search here for common skin care or cosmetic products: https://www.ewg.org/skindeep#.WoGyc7ynGUk and report what you use and what you found out.

Or search here for common household cleaning products and report what you use and what you found out:
https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners#.WoGy77ynGUk

Or search the food you eat and report the findings: https://www.ewg.org/foodscores#.WoG1cLynHRY

Sample post: 

I like to use L'Oreal Paris Brow Stylist Designer Eyebrow Pencil, Brunette. After researching the product I found it contains some ingredients that cause me concern. For example: The product uses Castor Oil for enhanced skin absorption with can lead to developmental or reproductive toxicity.