I used to think I couldn’t get out of hell: Chicago public school students react to TEDxYouth@Midwest
Earlier this month, 450 Chicago public school sophomores and juniors, plus 120 of their teachers, crowded into the city’s Harris Theater for TEDxYouth@Midwest, an event all about inspiring, motivating and empowering the young people of a city known for youth gun violence, but full of so much more — culture, history, educators and students dedicated to helping their city thrive.
Chicago’s public schools have been a fixture in the news lately. 54 schools in the city are slated to close in 2013, and according to reports in The Chicago Tribune, the 2011-12 school year brought the highest number of public school students affected by gunfire since 2008. Twenty-four students were killed; 319 students shot.
At TEDxYouth@Midwest, organizers strove to turn the focus from problems, and keep it focused on the potential. 17 speakers addressed the audience, including people like guerrilla gardener Ron Finley, who is planting gardens in South Central LA; Dr. Benjamin Harrison, a researcher working on growing replacement tissue for patients who have lost their own; and Chicago native Zoe Damacela, who started her own apparel line as a high school student in the city.
This year, TEDxYouth@Midwest launched their TEDxMidwest Youth Connections Program, a project pairing TEDxYouth@Midwest students with career experiences designed to open the doors to potential careers — from job shadowing to summer internships to discussions with local entrepreneurs. Through the program, 35 TEDxYouth@Midwest student attendees found summer internships and, next year, the team at TEDxYouth@Midwest hopes to raise that number to 100.
“The event was levels better because of the students’ infectious energy, and its potential to really have a life-changing effect on hundreds of kids and teachers,” said organizer Mike Hettwer. “The speakers were so motivated to speak there.”
The immediate effects of the event shone in students’ responses to comment cards asking how their thinking changed throughout the event. Some of their responses are truly incredible. A sampling:
I used to think… “That once you made a bad decision, that was it for you. People say you write your life’s story in ink — if you make a mistake there is no way to erase it. You are done!”
Now I think… “That I should no longer aim for perfection, but rather strive for success. Success is not measured by how many times you fall, but actually choosing to get up once more then you fall.”I used to think…”That you have to use violence in order to make peace.”
Now I think… “But I realize that I can use peace to make peace.”I used to think… “That because I am considered a minority, I would not be able to do amazing things I really want to do.”
Now I think… “That I can do anything I set my mind to if I do not let anything hold me back. Only I can prevent myself from achieving my goals and my passion.”I used to think… “I couldn’t get out of Hell.”
Now I think… “I can with Mellody Hobson’s speech.”I used to think… “I was one of the few teenagers passionate about science.”
Now I think… “TED is all about diversity of ideas and other people are as passionate about science as I am.”I used to think… “If you come from a broken home, would live in a broken future.”
Now I think… “You can shape your own future and get away from the brokeness.”I used to think… “This was going to be a long boring program with weird snacks.”
Now I think… “This experience has been the best experience in my whole entire life.”
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week: 5 talks on education
May 6-10 is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States (and education week at TED — with TED’s first-ever television special, TED Talks Education premiering on PBS this week.) However, the TEDx program, with its global reach, is privileged to have a unique perspective on education across the world — and we’d like to celebrate teachers and schools the world over. Below, 5 TEDx Talks that explore some of the social, economic and political implications of guaranteeing good schools.
The impact desegregation had on schools: Rucker Johnson at TEDxMiamiUniversity
As schools were desegregated in the 1950s and 1960s, opponents feared that embracing students from low-performing, all-black schools would lower standards and unfairly disrupt white students’ performances. It’s been 60 years — were they right? No. As Rucker Johnson shows with his extensive research, desegregation had virtually no effect on white students, but propelled minority students to unprecedented levels of success.
No more easy answers: Adrián Paenza at TEDxJoven@RiodelaPlata
All too often, school lessons set concrete problems with clean answers. Which, suggests Adrián Paenza, can limit students’ creative problem-solving abilities. But perhaps more importantly, it can engender arrogance — setting classist expectations for the answers everyone ought to know. With humor and a few touching stories, he looks at some of the effects that unequal educational opportunities have on society. (In Spanish with English subtitles.)
Don’t mistake a dialect for a disorder: Sade Wilson at TEDxEMU
African American Vernacular English is a common dialect in the US. It’s not bad English, yet kids who grow up speaking it at home are too often misdiagnosed with speech and learning disabilities by teachers who either don’t recognize the dialect or give tests in their own dialect of English. At TEDxEMU, speech pathologist Sade Wilson sheds light on the issue and makes six recommendations to improve how teachers work with students who speak a dialect.
Where’s the R&D for better schools? Jim Shelton at TEDxMidAtlantic
If education is an essential social good, shouldn’t we make a bigger effort to figure out what’s worth investing in and what’s not? Governments invest in education, and governments invest in research, but according to Jim Shelton, many countries don’t invest much in education research. In this talk from TEDxMidAtlantic, he calls for expanding public investment into the research and development of new education practices and platforms.
A girl who demanded school: Kakenya Ntaiya at TEDxMidAtlantic
Kakenya Ntaiya made an unusual deal with her father in order to go to high school – something unheard-of for girls in her Maasai village. After continuing on to college in the US., Ntaiya returned to her village and set up a school for girls. In this talk, she shows how the school is changing the local culture by creating an alternative path for girls uninterested in marriage in their early teens.
Where can you watch TEDGlobal live in a 4-story former print shop (whose first book was printed in 1585!) with TEDsters, TEDx’ers, and other people just crazy enough to think good ideas can change the world? TEDxVilniusLive!
What is TEDxVilniusLive? Well…
1. It’s a chance for you to hang out, watch an official TED conference (live!), explore a bright and vibrant young city (Vilnius, Lithuania), and party, brainstorm, collaborate, and discuss (maybe even argue) with some of the coolest, smartest, most interesting folks you could hope to meet — all in one place.
2. It’s an experiment between the team at TEDxVilnius and TEDx: the very first 4-day TEDxLive event, which promises to be an epic, historic and extremely fun journey.
In short, it’s probably like the dinner party you’ve always wanted to have, the summer camp every geek hoped to dream into existence, and a great way to watch TED Talks.
This June 10-14, 300 adventurous and passionate folks from around the world will gather in Lithuania for 4 days of immersive workshops, engaging activities, city-exploration, and — of course — the live webstream of TEDGlobal, featuring talks from people like women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif, risk economist Didier Sornette, and novelist Abha Dawesar.
And something even cooler — you could be one of those 300.
Read more about the TEDxVilniusLive program at their website, or register now and plan your trip to Vilnius.
See you in Vilnius!
(Photos: Views of Vilnius, Lithuania via TEDxVilniusLive)
6 talks on the wonder of words
Language is a strange thing. We use it every day, but we often forget it’s there; it’s easy to learn as a child, but fiendishly difficult as an adult; and, for reasons that are hard to define, certain words can evoke strong emotions or even downright offend.
Below, 5 TEDx Talks (and one TED Talk!) on the wonders of language and linguistics, from the secret life of pronouns to why we’re so offended by curse words.
John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!
Since its invention, many people have railed against the rise of “txt spk,” believing its use will eventually lead to the demise of English. John McWhorter begs to differ. At TED2013, he explains that texting is merely a new dialect of English and that we should rest assured that the language we speak isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The Secret Life of Pronouns: James Pennebaker at TEDxAustin
The words you use most say a lot more about you than you may intend. At TEDxAustin, James Pennebaker introduces you to the secret life of pronouns and demonstrates what your speech, emails and tweets say about you.
How Does The Brain Interpret Language?: Steve Nikolidakis at TEDxCooperUnion
In this short and sweet talk, Steve Nikolidakis explains the basics of neurolinguistics and its insight into how the brain processes language at TEDxCooperUnion.
Euphemisms: Kate Burridge at TEDxSydney
What is it about a word that makes it taboo? At TEDxSydney, Kate Burridge explains the mysterious phenomenon of some words being ruder than others.
Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive: Phuc Tran at TEDxDirigo
At TEDxDirigo, Phuc Tran takes you on a fun romp through grammatical mood, debunking the often misunderstood subjunctive, with some interesting examples using Darth Vader thrown in for good measure.
Walk the Talk: Simon Denoth at TEDxZug
At TEDxZug, polyglot Simon Denoth expands on the importance of plurilingualism and the benefits it can bring to society — besides just being a good party trick.
