Ideas Worth Sharing

We had a TED-Ed Club meeting today and talked about what makes a great idea great. The students did a wonderful job of sharing their thoughts and engaging is some rich discussion. We them took what we learned from each other about what makes a great idea great and then talked about what "Ideas Worth Spreading" means to them.

After some more discussion about the chart we created, they started to talk about their fears with respect to sharing their ideas and passions. Our club is made up of students from Grade 4-8, a range that is quite large in elementary school. I was in awe of how honest they were being and how supportive they were of each other. It is uplifting to see junior and intermediate students interacting in such a supportive fashion - respecting each others ideas and encouraging each other to speak what is on their minds. In that moment, I felt the magic and powerful impact that a TED-Ed Club can have on young minds that are always "on".

After some sharing about their fears and the barriers they find in front of them, we watched a TED talk that I thought would get them thinking about today's topic (great ideas that are worth sharing). We watched Adrianne Hastlet-Davis talk about "What people say when they don't know what to say".

The students were moved by Adrianne's story. They started talking about her idea and started connecting their thoughts about it to our chart about ideas worth spreading. Each student commented on what they learned from her talk and how it resonated with them. 

They were thankful and appreciative for Adrianne's message. Although her talk is a "sad" one, the students said that they were sucked into her talk because of the narrative she provided. They were also very happy to learn that she was the one in a million that would reach her goal. I made sure to tweet Adrianne to let her know that her words made an impact on the students. It was nice to receive a tweet back.

As we continue our TED-Ed Club journey, I look forward to many more moving moments like the one I shared with you above. The students are learning how to take what they are passionate about and form it into their own mini TED talk, but that is only one of the many by-products that will come from being a TED-Ed Club member this term.