Blog Post #8

In his Last Lecture Randy Pausch makes so many great points about learning and teaching. Right away his passion and great attitude shows us that you have to want to learn to be able to teach. One of the first things that he exclaims is that anything is possible! Whether you are learning or teaching you have to know that eventually you will achieve your dreams. Randy's point about the brick walls stood out most to me. "Brick walls are there for a reason: they prove how badly we want things". This point tells us that no matter what the obstacle we can overcome it. He also says that brick walls stop the people who don't want it badly enough. When you have a passion for learning and teaching you will never stop fulfilling these passions.

Randy then talks about his football days and wanting to play in the NFL. He tells a story about when he was a young boy playing ball and the coach was riding him all practice. This was a good thing explained Randy, when they stop yelling they stop caring. Even though Randy did not achieve his full football dream he took the best out of the situation. He says "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted", he took a positive out of his failed dream. Hearing this story, we as teachers realize that we must never stop caring about our students. Teachers need to express to their students how important it is to want to learn and have goals/dreams. Randy teaches us that even if our dreams are far fetched we must always try our best to achieve them.

Randy Pausch not only achieved his dreams, he helped others reach theirs. With teaching and learning comes frustration. Even if a project or a student does frustrate us, Randy reminds us that if we wait long enough people will surprise and impress us. Randy gave his students a two week assignment, they came back with time to spare and projects that blew him away. Instead of saying how great and impressed he was Mr. Pausch tells them that they can do better. This shows me that the more we believe in our students the more they believe in themselves.

I loved listening to every part of Randy's lecture. He made so many great points about teaching and learning. He was so passionate about his job and his dreams, he really inspires others to achieve theirs. I plan on purchasing his book. This is something that I will not forget!