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.