Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

WOW. That man was incredible. God certainly used him. Not only was he a great teacher, but he was a great father and husband. The birthday surprise and second head fake made me hae tears. Before watching this video, I was thinking it would be just another informative video for us all to watch and rewatch way down the road. I didn't think it would be so moving and inspirational. This is the kind of video people need to watch more often. It shows that hard work does pay off and that everything isn't just handed to you. I'm so glad we had to watch this!! Thank you Dr. Strange for sharing this with us.

As for teaching methods and learning, Dr. Pausch just talked about how he pretty much created classes to teach for students. He had that one class where they would have to create a world (the one with the scary bunny thing) and present it to the class. They started letting the public watch and even had parents come sit in. I think that is a great way to get kids to want to learn. There was also a girl that said if you teach something in a storytelling way, it helps them learn better, too. I agree. He took them on field trips and showed them real life scenarios that they could work with. He genuinely cared for his students and their success. How cool is it that EA guarantees that they will hire Carnegie Mellon's students? I think that's awesome. The student's gave feedback on other students when they had to work in groups. It would show each student what their peers thought of their group skills. ( Not sure how to word that.) I think that is a very useful idea and will probably somehow work that into my classroom. The more I'm learning about all this technology and the way things are going now, makes me want to teach a higher level so I can put all this to good use!

I think Dr. Pausch was a great teacher. I think he continued to learn about people and things throughout his whole life. That's what keeps a person well-rounded. You have to have an open mind and be willing to learn something new. One of the most important messages of his whole lecture was that he said in other words, never give up. He said there would always be a brick wall, but it wouldn't be there to stop you, just the other people. He never gave up on his dreams. He also said that we learn indirectly or by a head-fake. I'm starting to agree with that.

Dr. Pausch's lecture was about achieving your childhood dreams. He talked about his childhood. How he wanted to be Captain Kirk, play in the NFL, reach zero gravity, and work on the Disney team. He told how he set out to reach those goals. He told what he learned along the way and that yes, there would be a brick wall. He didn't let the brick wall stop him, though. He climbed over it and kept going. He talked about working at Carnegie Mellon and working with the staff and students. He was a pretty funny guy. He was always positive in everything he said and never had a mean thing to say about someone. A summary won't do his lecture justice. I think EVERYONE needs to watch that video. It will change your whole outlook on life. I know it did mine.