TEK TALK TOPIC

TEK TALK TOPIC
As I watched various TED presentations, three universal themes of passion, humor, and absolute conviction were the common themes of many of the TED presentations. We've all watched the Mr. Zander's TED talk on classical music and Mr. Robinson's TED talk on creativity in schools, and the common theme of these two talks were the passion, humor, and absolute conviction with which the speakers spoke about their subject. Over the course of the last few weeks, I've watched numerous TED talks and the universal themes of passion, humor, and absolute conviction are proven time and time again. I would like to speak to you about teaching the passion, humor, and absolute conviction to your students because I know these themes will connect you to your students.
Passion is a powerful tool that educators can use to connect with their students. We've all had teachers that were our favorites, and we've all had teachers that seemed to mail it in from home. We won't be talking about the latter group. It is by looking at our favorite teachers that we see how they were able to connect with us. Most of my favorite teachers displayed a real passion for their subject even though their subjects did not share a common theme. My favorite teachers' subjects were various subjects from math to art to french but, the passion was the common theme in their teaching, and that is what they used to connect with their students.
Humor is universal. I believe this could be the most powerful tool that is also the most under-utilized by teachers. A great sense of humor can bond a teacher with their students faster than any other tool. As we watched the various TED talks, the subject matter took time to understand but, the humor was able to draw you in and bond you with the speaker. The humor seemed to buy the speaker more time to explain their subject because they instantly became someone that we could relate to on a personal level. In our first TED talk, Mr. Zander could have easily lost us with the subject of classical music but, the humorous manner in which he delivered his message bought him some time and actually had me interested in classical music for the first time in my life.
Absolute conviction is the last of the common themes that I took from our TED talks. The speakers spoke about their subject with so much conviction that they had you believing everything that they said was absolute, and they left no question in your mind that you loved classical music in Mr. Zander's TED talk or in cultivating creativity in your students from Mr. Robinson. As a future Social Studies teacher, I think about the explorer Cortez that upon landing in the New World burned his ships to display his absolute conviction about his quest. He left no doubt in the minds of his followers about retreating back home to Spain. His message may have been a bit extreme but, his absolute conviction could never be questioned by his followers.
My talk will focus on these three tools and how teachers can utilize them in their classrooms on a daily basis. I come from a sports background and I relate alot of my teaching to coach-player relationships. This is where I've found my passion at an early age. I want to display this passion in my talk along with my sense of humor and absolute conviction to relate to my classmates as well as my future students.