Blog Post 8

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

     Before I begin to answer the above question I first have to say that I am so glad that we were assigned to watch the video "Randy Pausch's Last Lecture." I feel that if I never would have viewed it and continued my life without ever hearing of who he was or hearing him lecture then I would have missed out on a very influential experience. That being said, I think that Dr. Pausch presented us with a lot of ways to both enhance our teaching and learning.
     In the first area of teaching, he made several great points about reaching out and finding what it is your students dreams, goals, or desires may be. Being in touch with what they want to achieve in their life can provide us with ways in which to inspire our students and give them the tools they will need to succeed. Teaching shouldn't just be about meeting standards or making sure enough projects have been done, but instead should get our students motivated to be life long learners in whatever dream they may have. Learning doesn't stop just because a semester ends and neither do dreams or motivation. Dr. Pausch demonstrated to us that teaching something doesn't mean that you have to teach the new subject head on. By building into or up to new ideas, you can present your students with stepping stones that they can use to make it to the whole point of the lesson. Additionally, it is important to keep it fun, to teach with passion, and again, to motivate our students.
     With learning I think that it is most important to keep an open mind. Even if we think we know it all or have reached the level that we deem respectable, there is still a lot to learn. Just like how Randy was when he initially went to Disney to work with the imagineers. People are going to know different things than we know and we have to be smart enough to listen and know that we can still learn so much. It is important to know that at any point in time that there are an abundance of resources available to us, not just those found on the web, but the people we know and have met along the way. We have to be motivated to learn as well.
     Viewing this video has taught me so much about how the things we want can be achieved if we want them badly enough and just keep trying. There are going to be a lot of brick walls and closed doors along the way to your dreams, you just have to decide how badly you want it and find a way through.