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"The Unexpected Benefit of Celebrating Failure"

Video Summary: The speaker of the TED Talk on failure works for X- The Moon Shot Factory. At X, the goal is to uncover a huge problem, think of a radical solution, and then try to prove that you’re wrong. If you do the hardest parts first, it will keep you from hitting a dead end farther down the road. Discovering problems in a project sometimes puts in on a better path. For example, one team at X was working on a car that was almost in complete control and would only turn the power steering on if something went wrong. When the feedback came that this was a terrible idea, for drivers weren’t paying attention like they should have been, the team shifted their perspective and began working on a car that is in complete control. Screenshot from the video showing X’s thought process for projects Employees at X are rewarded and promoted if their idea fails in order for them to feel safe in failing. This idea stemmed from the consensus of being uncomfortable with working on risky...
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Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Throughout the course of the semester, each PLC group will read three YA novels. The first novel that my group is reading is titled  Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. The novel revolves around the life of "self proclaimed fat girl" Willowdean, nicknamed Dumplin by her mother. Willowdean is comfortable in her skin until she falls for Bo, a private school boy who she works with. As her positive self image begins to crumble, she distances herself from Bo and from her best friend Ellen. Willowdean's mother is known for running the local beauty pageant that captivates the town for half of the year. Although her mother never says she should enter the pageant, Willowdean decides to register in order to regain the self confidence she had before meeting Bo. The novel teaches adolescents to be happy in their own skin and that a good self image is important.  As of right now, we are currently through the first third of the book or so. Throughout the novel, strong connection...
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Girl Rising

Flyer of the SMC Common Read events The Saint Michael’s College Education Department has a common read each year. The common read for the fall 2018 semester was Girl Rising by Tanya Lee Stone. Three events were held over the course of the semester to deepen students’ and the public’s understanding of the book. I attended the author talk on October 22nd and I watched the film (which came before the book). The trailer for the movie is here for anyone interested in watching it. The author talk with Tanya Lee Stone was inspiring and moving. She began the talk by explaining how the Girl Rising movie was released in 2013. After watching it with her children, she noticed that they remembered more about the girls’ stories than about where the problem of education is in the world. She became passionate about slowing down and unpacking the information in the film in order to understand it better. This passion led to the idea of turning the movie into a book.   Stone c...
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