Sunday, March 2, 2014

Blog Post #7

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?

The Last Lecture given by Randy Pausch was very significant because it was actually going be the last lecture he would ever give. Pausch told how he had ten tumors in his liver and was given three to six months to live. Even knowing all this, you could still see his enthusiasm and passion for his job. He faced the destiny of his life with no fear. I got the pleasure of actually reading Randy's Pausch's book The Last Lecture in high school and I absolutely enjoyed reading the book. After reading the book, we watched his last lecture as a class and it was very touching. It really hit home for all of us because we were all seniors in high school about to go to college and try to pursue our dreams.

One point that Randy Pausch made that really stuck out to me was he talked about brick walls. He discussed how we are always going to run into a brick wall when we really want something. "The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Things do not always come easy in life, but brick walls help us fight for what we want and never give up. Another point Dr. Pausch makes is about time. "The key question to keep asking is, are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have." I think as a teacher time is a very important element. Teachers only have one year with their students before they have to either repeat the grade or they move on to the next grade. Only one school year is given to teach the students everything they need to know before they can hopefully move on to the next grade. I think in that time teachers can also learn a lot from the students as well.

Shortly after giving this lecture, Randy Pausch died from liver cancer. After reading and watching the last lecture, I will definitely use some of these life lessons as I continue to strive to become a teacher one day. I will also use Pausch's wisdom in my classroom when I become a teacher.

Randy Pausch giving his speech

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