Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation

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If we want people to perform better, we must give them an incentive. Rewards are given to people for a simple set of rules. Rewards concentrate the mind and people are motivated to do things because they’re interesting and important. Autonomy, mastery and purpose are the building blocks for motivation. This can definitely be applied to students in schools all over. Motivation is a huge problem is schools with children of all ages. A lot of children don’t have motivation to learn and to do well in school, especially students from tough backgrounds. Some students just are bored or don’t care about learning. Teachers need to motivate these students and make learning fun. If students want to be in school, and enjoy learning they will be motivated.

Arthur Benjamin's formula for changing math education

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Arthur Benjamin discusses the problem with the Math Curriculum in this country. I also think it is a problem, and the information students are learning is not sticking with them, because it is not useful and not interesting. I can truthfully say that I don’t remember half of the math that I learned in high school. Teachers taught what you needed to know for the test and then moved on to the next subject, making it easy to forget material. Arthur thinks that schools should aim more towards probability and statistics, because very little people use calculus on a day-to-day basis, and it is no help to people. Statistics is all about understanding data, and if more people knew more about statistics and probability, Arthur said this country might not be in as big as an economic mess that it is right now. He also states that teaching match can be fun with probability and statistics by using games, gambling and predicting. Math curriculum needs to change to become more modern, just like clocks changed from analog to digital.

Aimee Mullins and her 12 pairs of legs

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I think that this TED talk was a very good one and everyone should watch this. It was very interesting and Aimee Mullins is a great public speaker. She is definitely very inspirational. I think it would be a great thing for my school to see her, and to talk with people with disabilities. Children would be very curious and interested in her legs, and I don’t think they would be judgmental; I think they would think it was very interesting and have a lot of questions for her. Aimee is right about the fact that adults try to have so much influence over  children, and try to protect them from disabilities and differences in people, when it’s so important to embrace those differences.