Nice try!

A very personal opinion: smart technologies requires smart teachers...

http://hmaxwelladams.edublogs.org/2011/02/22/edublog-2-the-impact-of-smart-boards/

It's time for a talk

Julia Sweeney

http://www.ted.com/talks/julia_sweeney_has_the_talk

Despite her best efforts, comedian Julia Sweeney is forced to tell a little white lie when her 8-year-old begins learning about frog reproduction — and starts to ask some very smart questions.





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Transcript from TED:

0:30I have a daughter, Mulan. And when she was eight, last year, she was doing a report for school or she had some homework about frogs. And we were at this restaurant, and she said, "So, basically, frogs lay eggs and the eggs turn into tadpoles (toad larva, polliwog= têtard) , and tadpoles turn into frogs."
And I said, "Yeah. You know, I'm not really up on (je ne suis pas à jour) my frog reproduction that much. It's the females, I think, that lay the eggs, and then the males fertilize them. And then they become tadpoles and frogs."

0:39And she says, "What? Only the females have eggs?"

0:41And I said, "Yeah."

0:43And she goes, "And what's this fertilizing?"

0:45So I kind of said, "Oh, it's this extra ingredient, you know, that you need to create a new frog from the mom and dad frog." 

0:53And she said, "Oh, so is that true for humans too?"

0:56And I thought, "Okay, here we go." I didn't know it would happen so quick, at eight. I was trying to remember all the guidebooks, and all I could remember was, "Only answer the question they're asking.Don't give any more information."  So I said, "Yes."

1:12And she said, "And where do, um, where do human women, like, where do women lay their eggs?"

1:19And I said, "Well, funny you should ask.  We have evolved to have our own pond. We have our very own pond inside our bodies. And we lay our eggs there, we don't have to worry about other eggs or anything like that. It's our own pond. And that's how it happens."

1:38And she goes, "Then how do they get fertilized?"

1:40And I said, "Well, Men, through their penis, they fertilize the eggs by the sperm coming out. And you go through the woman's vagina."

1:51And so we're just eating, and her jaw just drops, and she goes, "Mom! Like, where you go to the bathroom?"

1:58And I said, "I know. I know."  That's how we evolved. It does seem odd. It is a little bit like having a waste treatment plant right next to an amusement park ... Bad zoning, but ..." 

2:18She's like, "What?" And she goes, "But Mom, but men and women can't ever see each other naked, Mom. So how could that ever happen?"

2:26And then I go, "Well," and then I put my Margaret Mead hat on. "Human males and females develop a special bond, and when they're much older, much, much older than you, and they have a very special feeling, then they can be naked together."

2:42And she said, "Mom, have you done this before?"

2:46And I said, "Yes."

2:49And she said, "But Mom, you can't have kids." Because she knows that I adopted her and that I can't have kids.

2:53And I said, "Yes."

2:55And she said, "Well, you don't have to do that again."

2:57And I said, "..."

3:00And then she said, "But how does it happen when a man and woman are together? Like, how do they know that's the time? Mom, does the man just say, 'Is now the time to take off my pants?'"

3:09And I said, "Yes." "That is exactly right. That's exactly how it happens."

3:20So we're driving home and she's looking out the window, and she goes, "Mom. What if two just people saw each other on the street, like a man and a woman, they just started doing it. Would that ever happen?"

3:28And I said, "Oh, no. Humans are so private. Oh ..."

3:33And then she goes, "What if there was like a party, and there was just like a whole bunch of girls and a whole bunch of boys, and there was a bunch of men and women and they just started doing it, Mom?Would that ever happen?"

3:42And I said, "Oh, no, no. That's not how we do it."

3:48Then we got home and we see the cat. And she goes, "Mom, how do cats do it?"

3:52And I go, "Oh, it's the same. It's basically the same."

3:54And then she got all caught up in the legs. "But how would the legs go, Mom? I don't understand the legs." She goes, "Mom, everyone can't do the splits (grand écart)."

4:00And I go, "I know, but the legs ..." and I'm probably like, "The legs get worked out."

4:04And she goes, "But I just can't understand it."

4:05So I go, "You know, why don't we go on the Internet, and maybe we can see ... like on Wikipedia." 

4:11So we go online, and we put in "cats mating." And, unfortunately, on YouTube, there's many cats mating videos. And we watched them and I'm so thankful, because she's just like, "Wow! This is so amazing."She goes, "What about dogs?" So we put in dogs mating, and, you know, we're watching it, and she's totally absorbed.

4:27And then she goes, "Mom, do you think they would have, on the Internet, any humans mating?" And then I realized that I had taken my little eight year old's hand, and taken her right into Internet porn. 

4:43And I looked into this trusting, loving face, and I said, "Oh, no. That would never happen."

4:53

goone

a stupid or deliberately foolish person 

A pie in th sky

if an idea or plan is pie in the sky, it seems good but is not likely to be achieved 


wishful thinking, idealism- bâtir des châteaux en Espagne, utopique, illusoire 

• Those plans to set up his own business are just pie in the sky
• Our leaders need to offer more than pie in the sky when they talk about political and social issues
• She thinks her book will be a best-seller, but that's just pie in the sky.