Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

First let me start by saying I truly enjoyed watching this lecture. I never once caught myself not paying attention or wishing it would end soon. Pausch is a great speaker and his lecture was by far the best video I have ever been assigned to watch for any type of assignment. Pausch was very enthusiastic during his lecture. He was very passionate about the material he was discussing and you could really tell he enjoyed speaking on his topic. I find Pausch's attitude during this lecture to be surprising, considering he had been given the news one month earlier that he would only be alive for six more months. This amazes me and at the same time inspires me.

Randy Pausch's lecture was all about how to achieve your childhood dreams, or rather how he achieved his. Pausch explains to us his six childhood dreams and how he was able to achieve his actual dream or something close enough to it that it meant more to him then the dream itself. Achieving his dreams was not an easy, I'm going to do it all in one day task. In the process of achieving all six of his childhood dreams, Pausch hit what he called brick walls. He says" Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." I love this statement! Pausch never gave up, not even on one of his dreams. He was determined to accomplish what he set out to do and he did just that. No matter what the obstacle was, Pausch found a way to overcome it. I think of my everyday life and how many brick walls I have hit and have just given up. Pausch's lecture has encouraged me, especially as a future teacher to look at the brick walls as opportunities rather then just a spot to give up.

One of Randy Pausch's dreams was to be Captain Kirk. He says looking back at this dream he questioned why he would want to be Captain Kirk. Compared to the other people on the ship Captain Kirk didn't have very many skills and wasn't the smartest. He had cool gadgets, but not many skills. But then Pausch says that Captain Kirk had a very important, very valuable skill. Captain Kirk was a leader, he had the skill of leadership. Throughout his lecture Pausch talks about several of his leaders and how they pushed him and helped him become who he was in life. Leadership is very important, especially if we plan to be teachers, we must learn to lead in a way that is encouraging and not destructive.

Another good point Pausch makes is to teach someone to be self reflective. He says this is one of the most important things you can do for a student. When someone gives you feedback take it and value it. Rather it be constructive criticism or just plan criticism take it and use it. Evaluate yourself and use the feedback of others to help you better yourself and your work.

I took several important points from Pausch's video that I hope I am able to use when I teach my future students, but one of the most important bits of information is the way Pausch taught. He taught indirectly or as he called it using "head fakes". He says the best way to teach someone something is when they think they are learning something else. Make it fun, let them believe it is all about what they are enjoying doing, not all the important factors they are truly being taught. I feel this is so important. Make learning fun in your teaching. Let the students know it is okay to have fun while at the same time they are learning. I hope when I become a teacher I do just this. I hope I encourage my students to enjoy their assignments while at the same time teaching them the information they truly need to know.