Blog Assignment #7

This week I watched a video of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture which is titled "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". Pausch worked as a professor for many years at Carnegie Mellon University. Pausch discusses his life, his work and his accomplishments. Pausch gives his audience inspiration that they can accomplish all of their dreams, too. He gives several great tips for people to follow in accomplishing their dreams and he also includes suggestions for teachers who would like to inspire their students. I enjoyed watching this video because I had already read the book written by Pausch that was based on this lecture which is entitled The Last Lecture. I highly recommend the book because it includes more interesting stories and information about Pausch's life.
Pausch states that people should make specific dreams and goals for their life. People will be more motivated to accomplish things if they have a specific direction and purpose in life. Pausch asserts that dreams really can come true. They came true in his life and in the lives of his students. However, there are no magical fairies or genies that will grant these wishes. People have to be willing to work hard for success. Pausch discusses how often people are inhibitted when they reach a "brick wall" that prevents them from attaining their goals. However, Pausch states that "brick walls are there to stop people who don't want it badly enough." Pausch proves through his own personal stories that if you push hard enough, you can overcome these brick walls which come between you and your dreams. As a teacher, I will motivate my students to outline specific goals fpr their lives and do my best to give them the skills they need to achieve their goals.
Another piece of advice that Pausch gives to teachers is to stress the fundamentals. In his lecture, Pausch tells a personal story about how his childhood football coach would make his team practice without a football. This coach showed him that he first had to learn the fundamentals of football in each position on the field before he could actually handle the football. The same advice can be applied in an academio setting. It's important for teachers to ensure that students learn all the basics so that they will be fully prepared for more difficult tasks in the future. This will make students more successful in the future and closer to achieving their goals.
Pausch discusses "head fakes" or indirect learning which is a tool that teachers can use to teach kids without them being aware of it. An example of indirect learning is an educational video game. Kids are enthusiastic about participating because they enjoy playing games. However, they may not realize that these gamnes were created with the purp[ose of teaching them reading or math skills. I think that I would be able to incorporate indirect learning projects in my classroom so that the children will have fun while learning. Pausch surprises his audeince by stating his whole lecture was actually a "head fake" because he really gave this lecture in order to teach life lessons to his children.
Pausch encourages educators to remember that they can never giove up on their students. Pausch states that people will come up with astounding results, if they are given enough time and encouragement. Pausch also says that it is important never to set the bar for how much students need to achieve. This will only serve as a limitation for students. Pausch encourages teachers to challenge their students. Pausch gives examples of amazing that students his accomplished when he continued to challenge them to reach their full potential.
Randy Pausch died of pancreatic cancer in July of 2008. His legacy will forever live on as he continues to inspire people to believe in themselves and accomplish their dreams.