Blog Assignment 7

Watching Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams is definitely well worth the time. He is such an inspirational person and his messages are all ones we should learn from and take into consideration in our own lives. What struck me most were his positive attitude and his teaching philosophies.

Randy Pausch had every reason in the world to let himself become depressed and bitter. Instead, he obviously radiates confidence and a very positive attitude about life. He wove humor throughout his whole lecture, which I thought added to his credibility and appeal. Near the very beginning of the lecture, he thought it best to talk about his cancer or what he calls “the elephant in the room”. This is a healthy habit and I think it sets a great example. Randy Pausch is obviously not depressed, but he is not in denial either. He just knows who he is and has a very deep relationship with himself. He wants to share his dreams with others and encourage everyone to make the dreams of others come true.

Before I comment on his teaching methods, I think it’s important to comment on how inspirational Randy Pausch is as a person. As teachers, we are automatically put into a position of being a role model for our students. We see our children almost as much as their parents do, and that puts a huge responsibility on our shoulders. I think as teachers, we should all strive to be the best role models we can be. This means exuding confidence and a positive attitude every day just like Randy Pausch does. If he can do it and be dying of cancer, we can definitely put our burdens aside for our students and give them our most positive attitudes. In his lecture, Pausch says “decide if you’re Tigger or Eeyore”. I really liked this quote and I think it’s a great way to remind students as well as others to evaluate their attitudes.

As far as his teaching methods go, I definitely agree with his philosophies. I think his “head fake” educational style is really effective. I definitely believe that indirect learning can be one of the most successful ways to learn. It’s supposed to be fun to learn, and as educators we must be creative and think of ways to teach our kids multiple lessons. I definitely had tears in my eyes at the end when he said that his talk “is not for you, it’s for my kids”.