Blog Post #8

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch? “Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” is avvery powerful and inspirational video in which Randy Pausch shares his life’s wisdom.  He is an outstandng human being that has the right outlook on life.  His words and lessons will not only benefit us in the educational world, but also in our everyday lives.  This video is titled “Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture” because he was battling cancer.  He starts his lecture by talking about his childhood dreams.  Some were realistic and some not so much (being Captain Kirk.)  Randy Pausch ended up achieving each childhood dream in some aspect.  This inspires me to never give up.  As a future elementary educator, I hope to enable my students’ dreams and inspire them to never give up.  One way to do this that Pausch lectured about is to know what a brick wall is.  He explains a brick wall as “being there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.”  We are all going to face obstacles that get in the way of our goals. As long as we push through and keep working towards what we want, we can knock them down! He mentions that  Jon Shoddy once said to him that "if you wait long enough then people will impress you”.  I believe this applies to learning and teaching in a big way.  Teachers should never put a limit on what their students are capable of; let your students surprise you with what they can do when there isn't a bar.  Randy makes the point that we should never lose our child like wonder.  I believe this is especially important for elementary educators to remember.  Your students are going to be more willing to engage and learn when you are presenting things in a fun and imaginative way.  This is compared to being a strict teacher demanding your students to work on assignments alone with absolute quiet. I feel that making your lessons fun and entertaining will show incredible results with your students. Know how to get your students excited about learning.  I’m sure this is easier said than done, but keeping your child like wonder will help with this situation.  Randy also discusses the importance of helping others. Randy says,”Loyalty is a two way street- Believe in your students and they will believe in and with you.” This is a quote that really stood out to me. Teachers must never give up on their students.  Let your students know that you believe in them and they will feel more motivation to fulfill their dreams. Teach your students that ,“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. ”  Randy speaks about focusing on other people instead of yourself and finding the best in everybody.  This is a useful lesson as an educator and just as a human being.  Randy Pausch truly is an inspiration and a great example to never give up. 

 “It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life, ... If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.” 

― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture