Something that matters. Start. Do it.

Even this video was released in 2009, six years ago, it is still very inspiring to watch. On TED's website, Seth Godin's The Tribes We Lead video has over 1,589,065 views. Apparently, I am not the only one is amazed by his innovative speech.

At the end of his presentation, Seth Godin said," I would like everyone to start a movement, something that matters. Start. Do it.We need it." I instantly thought about the PLN (personal learning network) project which I am working on for the course "Social Media and Digital Culture" of CU Denver's Master program.

What is the status quo that I am really upsetting about? What is my genius interest that I truly want to advertise for? As a new world language teacher in middle school and high school, I plan my lessons based on the established curriculum that is designed to help students to pass AP language test in their 7th years of studying Chinese. The curriculum is great and covers most of the test content area and teaches lots of "fancy words" to show student's ability to use high-level vocabulary.

However, I am struggling to deliver the content to all of my students. Not all my students are aiming to take AP test at the end of the high school. These students chose Chinese because they simply would like to become fluent. They will be happy if they are able to express their ideas and have themselves understood. Reading and writing is not their goal.

So as a teacher, with two groups of students aiming for different things, I am feeling torn apart a little bit. The curriculum does not give me much wiggle room during the class, maybe it is time for me to create a networked learning space for my students who only want to concentrate their oral communication skills. In my PLN, I will become a leader that shares the current trend of oral communications, hopefully, I will get the other students who are interested in this topic to contribute their opinion and resources.

Thanks for Seth Godin, I felt like my thoughts have been combed through after watching his video and now I have more clear thoughts about my goal for the PLN project.