Tuesday, April 19

Today, English was not quite the same without the usual, "Hello, Smith!" Smith was gone yesterday and today, because her husband is running in the Boston Marathon! So of course Smith went with him to cheer him on.

We walked into class and got started right away. We watched another TED talk video, given by Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind. Throughout his talk, Daniel Pink explains what motivates the brain to do an activity. In recent studies, rewards have negatively impacted doing a task in comparison to a person doing the task with no reward. The true motivation is simply the satisfaction of doing a challenge. Daniel Pink concludes his talk with the idea that rewards ultimately destroy creativity.

Next, we discussed the main points of Daniel Pink's TED talk. Rewards and punishments work very well for simple tasks, but decrease efficiency when the task is more complicated. People create for their own enjoyment, not for the reward. The sub handed out a third packet, Seven Reasons Carrots and Sticks (Often) Don't Work, which is due tomorrow with annotations. We then worked on homework until the end of class.

Homework:

-Blog about the Daniel Pink video is due tomorrow (remember to do extra to get above a C!)

-Continue reading A Whole New Mind (the calendar can be found here under Honors Calendar)

-All 3 packets that have been handed out are due tomorrow with annotations