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Dr. Randy Pausch’s lecture was very inspirational to say the
least. He hits on amazing points throughout his lecture about achieving
dreams, enabling others to achieve their dreams, and mounds of very useful
career advice. Putting these things aside, Randy Pausch knows a lot about
teaching and learning and conveys this through witty phrases and personal
stories from his own career in the field of education.
What we can learn first from Randy Pausch are some words to
live by when encountering rough times while educating. Dr. Pausch says “when you reach a point where
you mess up and nobody is correcting you, that is a very bad place to be.” This
is important because as teachers, it is possible to become complacent.
Complacent in the sense that we stop trying to learn and grow as educators, and
the education field should be stock-full of teachers collaborating and
critiquing each other on a professional level. Teaching and learning should be
a never-ending cycle.
Information from Dr. Pausch can be very useful to new and
soon-to-be educators. One phrase that really stuck out was: “Experience is what
you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” As a student in the education
field, I have illusions of grandeur so to speak. Illusions of my students being
engaged, excited, and actually caring about class content and I know I am in
for a rude awakening. However, I will know that I got the best experience I
could and that I will only learn what I take from that experience and use it to
either get me down or make me a better educator year after year.
Dr. Pausch’s beliefs toward education mesh with what EDM310
is all about. These beliefs are derived from years of working with students and
are something that any aspiring or present educator will benefit from. When in
the classroom, try to implement projects that relate to the real world. A
student is more than likely to be more interested in the topic if it relates to
him or her or the immediate environment they live in. These projects are also
more fun when students work together. Through collaborative assignments
students bond, and through this they should produce overall better work.
Another thing to remember is to help students have fun while learning something
hard. I remember when I was a student that when working on something that did
not come easy to me it was no fun at all. If I were able to have fun through a
project, I would have learned very hard material without even knowing it. The
last thing is to give students a chance to know what it feels like to make
other people excited and happy about something. Once students experience this
feeling, the possibilities are endless.
Dr. Randy Pausch’s lecture was called Randy Pausch’s Last
Lecture, and for a good reason. Doctors had discovered a tumor in his brain
that didn’t leave him much more time on this earth. His lecture encouraged
people to help others, be loyal, to never give up, to not complain, just work
harder, to be a Tigger not an Eeyore, and to never lose the “child-like
wonder.” If teachers treat every lecture like it is their last lecture, we will
have the best school systems in the world.
Watch Randy Pausch's Last Lecture HERE!
Watch Randy Pausch's Last Lecture HERE!
Hi Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post. I loved the lecture that Randy Pausch gave. He covered many things that as future teachers we need to consider. I think you did a great job of summarizing what he had to say. I liked how you used quotes in your blog about what he had stated and elaborated on them.