Category Archives: youth
Are you a Facebook hater?
Are you a facebook hater? Do you look down your nose at fb users?
Here are quotes from a few (of many, many,many!) people who enjoy skewering facebook. Maybe you are like one or more of them?
:
“I want to make a Facebook account and the name will be Nobody so when I see stupid crap people post, I can Like it. And it will say Nobody Likes This.” ― Jason Hendeles
:
“Friendship is something to be achieved over years of deep and intimate connection, not by clicking on a small picture and requesting it.” ― Ivo Quartiroli, Facebook Logout – Experiences and Reasons to Leave It
:
“Can we go back to using Facebook for what it was originally for – looking up exes to see how fat they got?” ― Bill Maher
:
“Of course you’re not egotistical. I checked, and you look very humble in all 900 of the selfies you posted on facebook.” ― Sienna McQuillen
:
“It amazes me that we are all on Twitter and Facebook. By “we” I mean adults. We’re adults, right? But emotionally we’re a culture of seven-year-olds. Have you ever had that moment when are you updating your status and you realize that every status update is just a variation on a single request: “Would someone please acknowledge me?” ― Marc Maron, Attempting Normal
:
“Facebook gives people an illusory sense of being LIKED.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
:
I, on the other hand, am an active fb user and aficionado. Perhaps not as active as I used to be, but still there checking fb a couple of times every day (I lie, it’s more).
Mark Zuckerberg does not need my help nor any more users…but I thought I would lay out why I’m a fan.
Ah, what the heck. Let me give Mark Z some more friends even though he doesn’t really need my help with any of this.
It all boils down to this: I feel amazingly connected. Correction. I am connected.
To who, you say?
- To my old school friends (and teachers!) who I had not heard from or about for years and years (I won’t date myself and say for how long)
- To long lost friends and colleagues that I should not have lost touch with…but life took over
- To my cousins and other family friends who are spread out around the country and world…how else would I hear about all the wonderful stories of Satya’s little ones who I have yet to meet?!
- To my current pals who I still see every week
- To my old pals who have moved away from town
- To my family members including my mom who lives 10,000 miles away
- To my kids (but I see only what they choose to show me)
And what’s it all worth to me?
As MasterCard says so well, in these days where time and life seem to be zipping along at an ever increasing pace, those connections (and especially the ease of them) are simply priceless.
“My generation was secretive, brooding, ambitious, show-offy, and this generation is congenial. Totally. I imagine them walking around with GPS chips that notify them when a friend is in the vicinity, and their GPSes guide them to each other in clipped electronic lady voices and they sit down side by side in a coffee shop and text-message each other while checking their e-mail and hopping and skipping around Facebook to see who has posted pictures of their weekend.” ― Garrison Keillor
:
:
On A Mission To Transform Education
Do you know Sir Ken Robinson?
Doesn’t matter. [But you might want to get to know who he is].
Included here is his latest TED talk on education (that’s mostly what he talks about).
It’s called:
“How to Escape Education’s Death Valley”.
Why I highly recommend that you watch is twofold.
One, its content is superb and is on a crucial topic – Education. More on this later.
Two, the delivery is fantastic. Whether you are on the hook to deliver a TED talk, or whether you have any kind of public speaking assignment, there’s a lot you can learn from Sir Ken.
It easily made my list of favorite TED talks.
So, first on content, here are a few of the things he talks about and I quote –
“Kids prosper best with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents, not just a small range of them. And by the way, the arts aren’t just important because they improve math scores. They’re important because they speak to parts of children’s being which are otherwise untouched.
The second principle that drives human life flourishing is curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child, they will learn without any further assistance, very often. Children are natural learners. It’s a real achievement to put that particular ability out, or to stifle it.Curiosity is the engine of achievement.
Now the reason I say this is because one of the effects of the current culture here, if I can say so, has been to de-professionalize teachers.There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers.Teachers are the lifeblood of the success of schools.
But teaching is a creative profession.Teaching, properly conceived, is not a delivery system. You know, you’re not there just to pass on received information. Great teachers do that, but what great teachers also do is mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage. You see, in the end, education is about learning. If there’s no learning going on, there’s no education going on. And people can spend an awful lot of time discussing education without ever discussing learning. The whole point of education is to get people to learn”.
:
And, now on delivery –
This talk combines wit and intellect in one fantastic package; it is one of the most engaging talks I have ever heard with dry British humor at its very best. The delivery kept me just as enthralled as its content.
Clearly, Sir Ken is talking about a topic that he is passionate about but he makes his case so very well!
I would strongly urge anyone out to do a talk, teach or present any material to take a few pointers from watching him speak. I learnt a lot and I hope to put at least some of it to use.
And it’s not just about public speaking either. It’s about any speaking, and how you can be engaging, authentic, factual and convincing when you are interacting with anyone, including an audience of one. What’s great is how he has taken that skill to a whole new level by using it to communicate – really communicate – with a much larger audience.
Here is his TED talk again for anyone interested enough to watch and learn:
“How to Escape Education’s Death Valley”
:
:
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 