TED Talk #8: Scott Kim

Scott Kims's TED Talk is about how he designs puzzles. He designs puzzles for big companies like Discovery, kids' puzzles, and computer game puzzles. He says he first got hooked on puzzles in the sixth grade when his teacher asked him to make a puzzls. Here's what it was:

He says that he got hooked on puzzles because he felt awesome because he had invented something new and unique. Kim also says he likes puzzles because they had a definite answer, no options. And he said he enjoys finding and creating those answers.

Kim, later in life, invented the game  called Traffic Jam. In this game there are many cars all blocking the red car's way of getting out. The task is to move the cars to get the red one out. He said that his was difficult to make because you have to make the puzzle hard enough that it will take some time to solve, but also not too hard that it actually becomes unsolvable.

Kim also explains how puzzles are extremely helpful for the brain. He says that cross word puzzles and sudokus are some of the best things that you can do to help your brain stay in shape over the years. These games can help stimulate your brain and prevent alzhiemer's disease. This information is very valuable to the world and will incourage people to do a puzzle a day to keep their brain in top shape.

The information in Scott Kim's TED Talk matters to education everythwere. Whether it's teachers giving their students puzzles to do to start off the day, or a parent at home looking for a chance to do some learning of their own.

Throughout his TED Talk, Kim uses the power point a lot to interact and show the audience many different types off puzzles. He even uses his laptop connected to the screen to move things around and show people how to solve the puzzles.

After watching this TED Talk, I have a new found respect for puzzles and puzzle makers because their job certainly is not easy but they make puzzles fun and educational so I take my hat off to them.

TED Talk #7: Aimee Mullins

Mullins's talk is one that I won't soon forget. She starts it off by talking about legs. And behind her, there are pairs of prosthetic legs just there on the stage. She tells the audience a story about how she brought in the same legs to a group of elementary school kids and let them all poke and prod at them without their teachers there. Then she asked them what kind of legs would be best to have if she wanted to jump over a house. The kids responded with kangaroo and frog. Then, one kid said "Wouldn't you rather fly than jump?" She said that those kids changed the way she looked at life. She thought that kids no longer had to be disabled, but maybe even super-abled.

Mullins tells the audience how she was at a TED Talk 11 years ago and the legs she presented then were amazing at the time, but she wanted them to be even more. Her request for creators to come and help her create a new generation of prosthetic legs was fulfilled and now her legs are even better.

Aimee, being disabled herself, then tells how people always tell her how pretty she is and that she doesn't look at all disabled. Mullins takes that statement and challenges, "What is beauty? And for that matter, what makes someone disabled?" I personally think that these are two very important points. Beauty can mean many different things to many different people and beautiful to one person might not be to another. She also talks about what makes someone disabled. I think that you're only disabled if you let that take over your entire life and you stop trying.

Her TED Talk then flows into her ideas about how prosthetic legs don't only have to be functional, they can also be a work of art. Mullins shows pictures of a few pairs of legs that stand out among everything. For example:

Some of these may be weird looking but Mullins says that people can now combine the new technology of prosthetic legs with age old poetry to make truly unique legs for the disabled.

Mullins says that she is now very excited that people with disabilities can now design their own bodies by combining new technology with age old poetry to make their legs truly their own.

During her TED Talk, Mullins used hand motions and walked around the stage for the whole time. By the way she walked you would have no idea that her legs are prosthetic.

Aimee Mullins's TED Talk was amazing and empowering. Her ideas about prosthetic legs will change the way people look at disabled people around the world forever, for the better.

TED Talk #6: Dave Eggers

Eggers's TED Talk is about a tutoring business that he opened called 826 Valencia. His main purpose for this tutoring business is to give children the one-on-one time they need to really learn all that they can in reading and writing.

When it was first opened, the space they bought had to be open for retail so they decided to open a pirate supply store. The pirate store front took away from the customers because people at first thought that the tutoring center couldn't be very good if they sold pirate supplies. That changed over time of course and the pirate supply store ended up bringing tons of money for their tutoring center and paying for rent.

The store and tutoring center also became a hub for young people who want to publish books. The writers would work side-by-side next to the kids in the tutoring center in harmony and be a great influence on the kids.

Their on on one approach to tutoring was very effective. 826 Valencia even had camera in the tutoring room so that parents could see how well their kids were doing on their homework. Eggers talks about how the kids getting done with their homework helps build a strong community. He says that happy kids make happy families which make a happy community. That strive to make a happy community is amazing and inspiring.

But, since kids would only be at the tutoring center after school, Eggers wanted to have kids their during the day. They started having kids come with their class for a field trip and write a little book that everyone would have fun participating in. Here's a picture of a class with their own book they made at 826 Valencia:

This video matters to education because his one-on-one technique helps kids learn better and get their homework done without distractions and get it done better which will make the education system much better in the long run. This video matters to the world because it can change the education aspect for children around the world.




Eggers is nervous during his TED Talk and he shows it by playing with his hands at first. This is something that I should not do during my TED Talk. His talk is very funny though. He has a lot of jokes about Valencia and he just uses humor in general. He has a power point running behind him with many pictures about Valencia and all that goes on there. Eggers also uses tons of had gestures to express a point.

Eggers's TED Talk is truly inspiring to education and teachers everywhere.