Mike Falick's Blog

TED Video of the Week: (TEDxTC) Peter Benson - Sparks: How Youth Thrive

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Peter Benson, the founder and CEO of the Search Institute.  It was delivered recently at the TEDxTC (Twin Cities) Conference.  The talk is described as follows:

Peter L. Benson, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, is one of the world's leading authorities on positive human development. Dr. Benson is the author or editor of more than a dozen books on child and adolescent development and social change, including, most recently, Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers Dr. Benson's international reputation in human development emerged in the 1990s through his innovative, research-based framework of Developmental Assets, the most widely recognized approach to positive youth development in the United States and, increasingly, around the world. Before joining Search Institute in 1978, Dr. Benson was chair of the psychology department and chair of the program in human development and social relations at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

TED Video of the Week: Bill Gates: How State Budgets are Breaking US Schools

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Bill Gates.  It was delivered last week at the TED 2011 Conference.  The talk is described on the TED website as follows:

America's school systems are funded by the 50 states. In this fiery talk, Bill Gates says that state budgets are riddled with accounting tricks that disguise the true cost of health care and pensions and weighted with worsening deficits -- with the financing of education at the losing end.

TED Video of the Week: Tony Porter: A Call to Men

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Tony Porter, whose talk is described on the TED website as follows:

At TEDWomen, Tony Porter makes a call to men everywhere: Don't "act like a man." Telling powerful stories from his own life, he shows how this mentality, drummed into so many men and boys, can lead men to disrespect, mistreat and abuse women and each other. His solution: Break free of the "man box."

TED Video of the Week: TEDxHouston - Stephen Klineberg

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Stephen Klineberg's TEDxHouston talk which was held in October 2010.  From the YouTube posting for the video:

A graduate of Haverford College, with an M.A. from the University of Paris and a Ph.D. from Harvard, Stephen Klineberg joined Rice University's Sociology Department in 1972, after teaching at Princeton. In 1982, he and his students initiated the annual "Houston Area Survey," now in its 29th year of tracking the remarkable changes in the demographic patterns, experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of Harris County residents. The recipient of ten major teaching awards at Rice, including the Lifetime Award for Excellence in Teaching, Klineberg is writing a book on the Houston surveys and serving as co-Director of Rice University's new "Institute for Urban Research." The mission of Institute is to provide a permanent home for the annual surveys, to stimulate other metropolitan research, to sponsor educational programs, and to engage in public outreach that advances understanding of pressing urban issues and fosters the development of more humane and sustainable cities.

 

TED Video of the Week: Adora Svitak: What Adults Can Learn from Kids

This week's TED Video of the Week is from 12 year old Adora Svitak, whose talk discusses what adults can learn from kids.  From the TED website:

Child prodigy Adora Svitak says the world needs "childish" thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids' big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups' willingness to learn from children as much as to teach.

TED Video of the Week

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Chef Jamie Oliver, whose talk details his efforts to change the way people, and especially children, view food.  The talk is truly eye-opening.  From the TED website:

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

TED Video of the Week: Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge (This is Very Inspirational!)

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Kiran Bir Sethi, whose talk details her efforts to teach her students to take charge.  From the TED website:

Kiran Bir Sethi shows how her groundbreaking Riverside School in India teaches kids life's most valuable lesson: "I can." Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.

TED Video of the Week: Ian Goldin: Navigating Our Global Future

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Ian Goldin, whose talk is entitled the "Navigating Our Global Future." From the TED website:

As globalization and technological advances bring us hurtling towards a new integrated future, Ian Goldin warns that not all people may benefit equally. But, he says, if we can recognize this danger, we might yet realize the possibility of improved life for everyone.

TED Video of the Week: Arthur Benjamin's Formula for Changing Math Education

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Arthur Benjamin, whose talk is entitled the "Arthur Benjamin's formula for changing math education." From the TED website:

Someone always asks the math teacher, "Am I going to use calculus in real life?" And for most of us, says Arthur Benjamin, the answer is no. He offers a bold proposal on how to make math education relevant in the digital age.

TED Video of the Week: Ray Kurzweil: A university for the coming singularity

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Ray Kurzweil, whose talk is entitled the "A University for the Coming Singularity."  From the TED website:

Ray Kurzweil's latest graphs show that technology's breakneck advances will only accelerate -- recession or not. He unveils his new project, Singularity University, to study oncoming tech and guide it to benefit humanity.