It's no secret (to anyone who knows me) that I'm a HUGE fan of the WolframAlpha project and of the creator, Stephen Wolfram. How can you NOT like a guy who says, "Ever since I was a kid I've been thinking about systematizing knowledge and somehow making it computable." (I feel like such a loser! All I ever thought about were girls and hunting or fishing, depending upon the time of the year.)

Watch this video of Stephen Wolfram talking at the TED conference. Share it with your math students or those AP or Gifted students. Then, ask them what THEY think about. Ask them, "If you could take any path in life right now, where would you want to go and what would you want to do?" No, it's not a question that will appear on any test, so it won't a test score, but it just might get them thinking about their own interests and passions.

Here's another video to show your students. This would make a great writing prompt, I think.

This is an issue that our students will have to deal with as adults. You can't help but watch this and feel horrified.

Once again TED has shared an amazing talk on their webites, this time from Edith Widder. She shares her passion for underwater sea life that produce light. Share this video with your students. It's perhaps one of the few wonders left for some of your students. This is just cool stuff.

Thanks to Sue Sheffer for pointing me to this one. What do you think?

"When expectations are low, trust me, we will sink to them."
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