All I can say about Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture can be summarized into single word right now... WOW! When I first saw that the video was an hour and 16 minutes long, I thought to myself, "Are you serious? There is no way I'm going to be able to watch a lecture video this long without getting bored." I admit now that I could not have been more wrong about my initial assumptions. After a few minutes into watching the lecture, I was intrigued. I knew I wasn't going to be able to stop watching until the end. While Randy's lecture was fun and entertaining, it was very powerful and inspiring. Honestly, I needed to hear something like this.
"Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things... they tell us what we are capable of."- Dr. Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch was a brilliant man and an amazing educator who had a very positive outlook on life. Because of this, something that was very important to him was to live out your childhood dreams and make them happen for you. As teachers, this is something we should all hold dear to us and never forget. One of the biggest things that kids believe is their dreams no matter how impractical they are. Their dreams are what makes them enthusiastic and inspired. It is our job to enable the childhood dreams of others and make our students believe that any dream is possible. There are many ways to do this but one is to never set a bar for your students to reach. Your students can surprise you and being the teacher does not mean that you know what your students are capable of. If your student blows you away on their first attempt, surpassing all of your expectations, do not let them be satisfied with just stopping there. Tell them, "That is great, but you can do better." One of the best things you can do for your students is not set a bar and to keep pushing them because that is how they learn what they are capable of and that they can even surprise themselves. Also, give your students chances and opportunities to show off that same great work that gets better and better. Like Randy said, "One of the best things you can give your student is the gift of appreciation and excitement from their peers." In all of this though, you need to make sure they know that you are not going to give up on them. When you mess up and no one says anything to you about to discipline or correct you, it means they have given up on you. It is a good thing to be criticized and corrected, so do not be afraid to do that to your students because one of the worst mistakes teachers can make is enable the kids to believe that you do not believe in them. If they think that to be true, then they will not believe in themselves and no longer have any excitement and pride in their work.
Another thing that Dr. Pausch seemed to stress was that everything is a learning process. Like his quote stated earlier, that brick wall is there for a reason, it is there to teach you. When you hit that wall and you do not achieve what you were trying to do, remember to appreciate the experiences and lessons you get from that because most of what we learn we learn indirectly. In that, you learn what you can do to get past that wall and stay there. If there is a math problem you can't seem to understand or a research paper that you just keep getting stuck on, don't give up on it. Do some research, keep trying practice problems and you will see that are capable of understanding what you though you couldn't. As teachers, helping our students get past that brick wall to get one step closer to their dreams is our responsibility.
Randy's whole lecture was just great and filled with many tips and life lessons about how to be the best teacher and even person you could be. There were a few things he called "Lessons Learned" at the end of the lecture that really stood out to me that I'd like to share real quick:
- The role of parents and mentors is more influential than you realize
- Respect authority, but also question it
- "Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore?" Always tell them to just have fun!
- Never lose your child-like wonder, it is what drives us
- Loyalty and Respect is two-way street that has to be earned
- Listen to the feedback you receive
- Find the best in everyone
Hello Faith,
ReplyDeleteYour summary was great and detailed. As far as mistakes in your blog, you had a few.
*When I first saw that the video was was an hour and 16 minutes long, I thought to myself, "Are you serious?>> IN THIS SENTENCE YOU PUT WAS TWICE
*There is no way Im' going to be able to watch a lecture video this long without getting bored." DO AN APOSTROPHE SUPPOSE TO BE AFTER THE WORD I'M
*After I had gotten a few minutes into the lecture.. MAYBE REWORDING THE SENTENCE WILL FIX THIS
*Honestly, I need to here a something like this. NEEDED INSTEAD OF NEED SOUNDS BETTER AND ALSO OMIT THE A
*Because of this, something that that was very important to him was to live out your childhood dreams and make them happen for you. YOU USE THAT TWICE
Overall, great post.
Porscha Sellers
'is no way Im' going" I'm. Im'
ReplyDelete"Honestly, I need to here a something like this." Maybe you mean hear, not here. Omit a
"...believe is their dreams no matter how practical they are. " Do you mean impractical?
"...Their dreams is what makes them…" dreams are, not dreams is
"...most of what we learn was indirectly taught to you." The point is that you are not taught, you learn from experience. This should be rewritten this way: …most of what we learn we learn indirectly. Even better: most of what we learn we learn from experience.
Thoughtful. Interesting.