TED Community » Marlon Jones

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About Me

Location:
United States, Tulsa, OK
Current organization:
Wright Career College
Past organizations:
Tulsa Community College, YWCA Tulsa Project Citizenship
Current role:
GED Program Director/ Instructor
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Public Speaking, ABE- Adult Basic Education Instruction, eInstruction
I am:
Christian, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Marketer, Parent, Social entrepreneur
Associations:
Toastmasters International(Oklahoma), Tulsa Mayor Veterans Advisory Committee, OATH-Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans, Ruth G Hardeman Literacy Tutor, OKADE-Oklahoma Association for Developmental Education
Universities:
University of Tennessee-Martin, University of Phoenix - MBA/HCM & EBus
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Comments

  • TEDCred score: +0.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A comment on Conversation: Should we aim for mediocrity?

    Nov 30 2012: I'm sure that we all remember what Samuel Beckett said that encourages trying and not giving up.
    “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” If the "thing" that one is trying to do is logically possible I wholeheartedly support the pursuit because success is not really fully realized unless one has experienced failure by which to contrast it
  • +2

    A comment on Conversation: Should we aim for mediocrity?

    Nov 28 2012: As a father of two daughters I'm not in the doubting business. It is vitally important that they dream and not just wish. I was listening to an NPR interview with Dolly Parton and she identified the distinction between wishing and dreaming. Wishing is more imaginative but not necessarily to the point of action. Dreaming on the other hand carries with it the element of potential to acheive. While her distinction may not me definitive, I can subscribe to it. Poetry is uplifting and I stress to my daughters the following poem a portion of which follows:

    It Couldn’t Be Done By Edgar Albert Guest


    Somebody said that it couldn’t be done
    But he with a chuckle replied
    That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
    So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
    He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

  • A comment on Conversation: "...but I'll defend to the death your right to say it⦠Really?"

    Nov 26 2012: I have been honored to read each of your conversation perspectives and thank you for sacrificing your time to comment. I look forward to participating in many other conversations and anticipate interacting with you in those places as well. I have referred all of my students to TED conversations and encouraged them to get involved. I have used our conversation as discussion starters and supplements in my GED, ELL, and Citizenship classes.

    Again thank you for the intellectual growth!

    Marlon

  • A comment on Conversation: "...but I'll defend to the death your right to say it⦠Really?"

    Nov 15 2012: Greg, I think your post touched on the conflict that exists. I agree. I believe that a good bit of discussion is happening behind the scenes. How often have we heard that governing is like sausage making. The results, for the most part, are good [depending on who you ask of course], but the process is not very pleasant. The thing that grinds me is that it appears the sausage making has increasingly more to do with personal attacks and less to do with the feasibility of the issue(s). the reason I appreciate these comments is when I ask myself the question no matter how hard I've try I have not been able to argue the opposing viewpoint with sufficient passion. So there it is...a work in process.

  • A reply on Conversation: "...but I'll defend to the death your right to say it⦠Really?"

    Nov 14 2012: Yes...absolutely!

  • A comment on Conversation: "...but I'll defend to the death your right to say it⦠Really?"

    Nov 13 2012: When I contemplated posting this discussion I was honestly asking myself the question. I must admit that there was a moment of hesitation although in the end I’d like to think that I would. As stated in my profile I am the director of the GED program in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When discussing literature with the class I have to emphasize reading a literary piece within its historical context. So if we are analyzing an 1851 post-Fugitive Slave Act poster with the word “Negro” emblazoned on the front we discuss the significance of the poster within the context of less than a year after the passing of the Act. There is nothing inappropriate to me in this context. I, then, fast forward 162 years later and hear racial and gender slurs from ALL sides as well as religious slurs that seem to only have the context of the emotion in the moment. [Full Disclosure…I’m an ordained elder]It saddens me more than angers me. As Danger Lamppost stated…A house divided against itself cannot stand. Thanks so much. I really love reading you guys’/gals’ posts!
  • +1

    A reply on Conversation: Is it possible for an individual to be without ethnocentrism?

    Sep 6 2012: Imad. "In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong" is definitely in my top 10 lists of favorite books. Maalouf goes on to state, and I paraphrase... when we fail to notice the various allegiances{links} that we have with our fellow man; we begin to create an "other" or someone totally diferent and completely isolated from us. It is at this point that stereotyping enters the arena

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