DemMangoes was solely created for the Humanities class of 2012-2013. I suppose this blog will no longer be used, so it's basically dead.

Rest in pieces.

Motivation By Tony Gurr- Response

In Humanities we read a very interesting blog post about Motivation written by Tony Gurr. Tony's post is very different and unique. Instead of just relying on words to tell his message he used more visuals than actual words. The pictures were very informative and made his message even stronger. The first couple of pictures were a bit confusing, especially the one with the" cyborg" face that says "I'm back... therefore I am.", which I didn't think was very necessary. Some of the things that he says doesn't exactly make sense to me, for example "Hey…do not shoot the “postman”! I'm pretty sure that it was a joke, but I just didn't really get it (Sorry Tony).

I completely agree to Tony's perspective and advice. Basically he is saying that teachers should listen more to the students and give them a "voice" to do what they want and not just what the teacher wants. Also giving students tests doesn't make them learn more, for students, tests are just short term memories and we just forget about the subject after the tests. If us students have the three R's (responsibility , respect & reality) we can definitely learn more and be more motivated to learn which can lead both students and teachers to success.

I really liked this picture.

I personally love all of the quotes that he puts in his pictures. It makes his message stronger and the quotes are so...poetic. I definitely loved all the pictures and they made his post even more interesting. Tony did a really great job at showing his message and he is really great at giving advice. 

Response to post on Motivation

                On Wednesday we read a blog post about Motivation. The post was written by Tony Gurr. He is a teacher from turkey. His blog is about learning in more effective ways for example making the work that a student does relevant to them and make them want to learn about it. The post that we read was about Motivation.

                This post was not your average blog post with multiple paragraphs, a few images and the author giving their opinion on a topic. Instead Tony had a different way of blogging. In his posts he used more graphics and visuals than a usual blog post. This made his posts more visually appealing and kept the reader’s attention. Tony’s blog post were not just more appealing to the eye than other blog posts but he makes the reader ask questions. These questions make the reader think for themselves about what they were reading and not just reading words that just go in one ear and out the other.

                I feel that anybody who reads this post from teachers to students will get something out of this. This post is related to teachers and student because it talks about how teachers have to make the students want to learn and not just tell them to and how students have to be self-motivated learns to really learn be able to learn well.

                Tony’s post was a good change to the posts that we usually read. It was very visually appealing and made me ask myself questions.  I felt that what Tony was talking about was actually relevant to me and that I could take something away from reading this and use it to make myself a better learner. 

Tony Gurr - Responce to Post

Wednesday in Humanities, we looked at a post that was written by Tony Gurr. The post was about motivation and instead of doing a multi- paragraph post, he went in a more visual route. He had very little words with a picture. He didn't need to say much for us to understand what was going on in each picture. Some of them were hard to understand, but when I was able to figure it out, I totally agreed and got exactly what he was trying to say. I love this way of posting and the kind of style he brought to it. It was a nice "twist" to blogging.

Having a twist to your writing is always a good thing. It's what makes your writing unique! If I had a multipara graph blog in front of me and a visual blog, i would defiantly be more appealed to the visual blog because it grabbed my attention. Its something different. The main reason that I liked Tony`s post was because he used little words with a picture also having words in it. He started off with a sentence on top, then a picture and then he finished the picture with another sentence. This was a good idea because if you didn't understand the sentences, the pictures could tell you what its about. It defiantly enhanced Tony's post!

Another reason why I loved Tony's post is because it was relatable to the real world. Both teachers and students could relate to each picture posted and he also gave some really good advice. For example:

 


This picture can relate to both students and teachers. I defiantly agree that if the student doesn't like his/her teacher, they wont learn as much apposed to a teacher they do like. Also, giving your students a voice is very important as well. If we don't give them are own opinion on things, then how will the teacher know if we understand what she is trying to teach us? Giving to much voice is not a good thing, but having no voice at all is worse. This picture is my favorite post by Tony.


Overall, I think Tony Gurr's post on Motivation is an unique post because you don't see allot of post like his on very many blogs. From seeing this post, i have been inspired to do one like this next year. Its creative, unique and defiantly an eye catcher. It will also be a challenge for me because it must be hard to come up with a powerful message in only a few sentences. Its a challenge, but I'm up for it!

Motivation

Tony Gurr's blog was very unique and different from the average blog. The bridge between our type of blogs and his is that he has more pictures than words which I think is much better. I think I speak for many students when I say that visual things are much better than words. It is much easier to visualize that's why it is called a visual. If a student read a story, they will not get as much out of it as much as if there were pictures because it helps them to picture what is going on in their head.

Another good piece of feedback that I noticed is that he uses good puns and uses words in a different way that you wouldn't expect especially from someone of his age. An example would be

                                                                         

Teachers have to give what the students want, not what they want. This way they will be able to pay attention and focus and learn more. To catch a fish you have to put a worm on the hook not a sirloin steak.


The right kind of picture is also important because some pictures have the nicest background but has more words than a textbook and that will also put students to sleep. This is what Tony also does very well. He chooses his pictures wisely because most people when looking at blog they would only be interested in the first 1 or 2 pictures. If it rocks they keep going and if it stinks they would go back to Facebook.

Now that I have seen this type of blogging, I think i=I will incorporate it in my own blogs such as my own motivation blog.

Thanks Tony

Motivation Post - Response

This is a response to Mr. Gurr's post about Motivation. 

   First of all, I detested his writing style with a burning passion. He made some unrelated comments:

• Go on…disagree with my favourite rahmetli hocam – I dare you!
• No, you cannot watch another movie for 2 hours…Zeynep!
• Honest – look at that face of mine…you could buy a second-hand car from me!

His writing was nothing short of informal, and he put unimportant words in bold. 

Like this and kinda like that! I also think the sizes of the graphics was unneeded. 

BIGGER DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN BETTER!!!

One more thing: His graphics were really... meh. They were just pictures he took off the internet and put words on them. I think only half of the pictures were sourced. It makes me unhappy when people don't source their pictures.

    However, I did agree with his opinions on learning. He spoke about how teachers cannot motivate their students, but rather teachers should try to inspire motivation within their students so they want to learn.  Also, he believed in the notion that students should become their own teachers, much like our Genius Hour. All in all, I agree with most of what he said.

Poetry that Moves

Original poem by Shel Silverstein. Animation is mine.
Hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed animating!
This isn't late at all

Poetry That Moves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgikUUHgI-Q

I had some trouble with the animation,but I'll post this for now.

Soldiers Are Courageous and Strong-Poetry That Moves