Enhanced English Teacher

I am a big fan of TEDTalks, and recently showed two episodes in the classroom.

In Read the Net, an online literacy English elective, my students are studying and blogging about third world countries.  We created a class spreadsheet of statistics comparing third world countries with the United States and the rest of the world.   Students then wrote about their assigned country and discussed why it was labeled as a third world country.  After reading several posts, not all students have posted yet due to EOC testing this week, I was dismayed to read dry retellings listing statistics.  I wanted to hear my students’ voices in their posts, and I needed an example.  Fortunately, TEDTalks had the perfect episode for my class: Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world Myths with best stats you have ever seen. Hans Rosling’s presentation is not just informative, but entertaining.  This video provides an excellent example of how to turn dry statistics into an interesting presentation that captivates the audience.  I wrote about my lesson on the Teaching With Ted Wiki that encourages teachers to share real world lessons using TEDTalks.

In my 9th grade English class, we are currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  The young protagonist in the novel, Scout, criticizes the education she is receiving from the state of Alabama.  My students closely read the beginning text of chapter 4 to analyze Scout’s feelings about her education.  We then began to explore 21st Century education practices and the relevance of the education students are receiving in today’s world.  We watched the TEDTalks presentation  Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? Students took notes which they later shared on a Google Doc.  We had a lively class conversation after the video, and students are currently synthesizing the class discussions with other videos and text we have added to our relevant education topic.  You can read the writing prompt on the class Ning.

I would like to encourage all teachers to contribute to the TEDTalks wiki lesson plans so that we can actively share the best of TED in the classroom.