PLN #10: In Praise of the F Word

The article, “In Praise of the F Word,” by Mark Sherry, explains how the threat of failure to some students can be very motivating and result in success rather than failure.


Mark Sherry’s reasoning behind the statement in “In Praise of the F Word,” that kids respond well to failure, is well-backed up and is interesting to think about in a perspective that many people aren’t used to looking at. The article says that if kids get the threat of a failure in a class, then they will definitely be more motivated to work hard to do well in the class they know they’re doing bad in. The author even had examples in his article that proved his theory right. The article also expressed that many kids who have graduated or dropped out of high school go back into school to re-learn what they were supposed to learn in high school. Many of the graduated people admitted to receiving their diplomas even when they didn’t actually learn what was being taught. They were basically saying that they shouldn’t have passed the class, but the teachers let them anyway. I think that threatening students with a failing grade is an interesting way to motivate them because it’s not a way that teachers would normally come up with but it really drives kids to get good grades, and they will be happy in the end.

PLN #9: Teens, Sleep, and School

The article, "Teens, Sleep, and School" by Gisele Glosser explains the many causes of sleep deprivation in teenagers and how it affects everyday teen life.

“Teens, Sleep, and School” by Gisele Glosser very accurately portrays the reasons teenagers tend to lose sleep-- procrastination, social media, and even puberty comes into effect when teens should be sleeping. I can relate to this article very well on a personal level because I know I don’t get as much sleep as I should and the reasons are very accurate according to my nightly schedule. I am one to put off homework until the last minute so I usually end up doing it later at night than I should. Also, social media has been taking over my life and I am involved in more apps than I should be. Although they shouldn’t be able to be very time consuming, I usually can find myself on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, or any other piece of social media I can get  devoured in time after time. This is definitely a weakness of mine because once I get sucked in, it is hard for me to back out and let self control take over, so I am up later than I should be. I think the author of this article really knows what teenagers’ weaknesses are, therefore the information is accurate and the solutions to extreme sleep deprivation might be legitimately beneficial. Some of these solutions include going to bed earlier and keeping electronic devices out of bedrooms at night. I think that if teenagers with sleep deprivation problems try these solutions, they won’t have to worry about extreme outcomes such as depression or even suicidal thoughts.