Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

First of all I have to say I agree with Dr. Strange, this lecture was most certainly worth the time. In the start of his speech, Randy Pausch tells the audience that he is a cancer patient diagnosed with only a few months to live. He acts out this lecture as a way of saying his final words, and attempting to leave a meaningful message behind to his family, students, and colleagues. He carries himself in such a positive way, that viewers can't help but be intrigued by him, and want to see more of what he has to say.
In the first third of his lecture he tells us his childhood dreams and how he accomplished them. He gives us a remarkable tale of all the dreams and goals he achieved through his career, some of which seem like they happened out of shear luck. With each goal that he overcomes, he shows us that there were obstacles, or "brick walls", in the way that weren't there to stop him, but simply to make him prove what his dreams were worth to him. This is such an eye opening part of his speech. He says in the end that if you live your life right, the dreams will come to you. What a lesson that is!
The most important part that future educators should take out of his lecture is possibly his teaching styles and the ways he lead his students. He was so driven by innovation that he had his students creating and designing work that had never even been thought of. He focused on project and group based learning to spark excitement and create a fun learning environment. I liked his word for it, "edutainment". It's obvious from the videos that his students were having an amazing time in his class, but it's also obvious that he was truly pushing them to their full potential, maybe without them even realizing it. I'm sure the majority of his students look back on his classes and remember him as not only the class they learned so much it, but the class they had so much fun in.
I truly hope that I can learn to teach and instruct like Dr. Pausch did. He saw the fun and entertainment in everything he did, even in his final months. He taught his students that the world is there playground, and they can do anything with it they desire as long as they have a little motivation. He really seemed like a remarkable educator and I think his last lecture is something I will keep in mind in my future classroom.