Blog Post #10

What Can We Learn About Teaching And Learning From Randy Pausch?
Randy Pausch's last lecture at Carnegie-Mellon University was beyond powerful. I do not have the words to explain how phenomenal it was. The very first thing that I learned from Randy's lecture was to encourage not only my students but myself as well to dream no matter how far fetched the dream may be. I also learned that when I run into a brick wall to not get discouraged because it is only there to remind me of how bad I want what is on the other side of it.

Randy also said to always have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. I think that this is a valuable lesson as pertaining to group projects. I have worked with people who did not contribute to the project and it was hard and unfair to the people who did contribute. I also learned that if I don't get what I want that it will be ok because of the experience I received while pursuing it may take me further than I could ever imagine.

Randy spoke about those brick walls again when he addressed leadership. I believe that he was saying that whatever your role may be that there will always be obstacles in the way. And again, there are ways around those brick walls. I also learned that when you are in a leadership position that you should never give up on people. Per Jon Snoddy, one of Randy's mentors, if we wait long enough, people will surprise and impress us. Randy also let me know that just because we are in leadership does not necessarily mean that we will know everything. With that being said, there is a good and bad way to say that you don't know something and because of the integrity of the leader, he will choose the good way. A leader should enable the childhood dreams of others and give them the freedom to explore those dreams. In other words, don't set limits on your students. We should get the students to become self reflective. This tool will enable the students to see areas that need improvement as well as areas that they have mastered. One of the most important things that Randy pointed out about teaching and learning was to embrace your critics because most of the time, these are the people that care about you. Randy said to not start worrying until your critics have nothing else to say about you.

Although Randy did not use the term, Lifelong Learners, I know that he was describing it when he said that we learn from our parents, mentors and students. As future educators, it is a must to have a mentor and we should be open to learning from our students. Our students are equipped with something that we should never lose and that is childlike wonders. We must remember that if we loyalty is a two way street and if we want our students to be loyal to us then we should first be loyal to them. We must learn to never give up, not to complain, work harder and help others. As future educators, we should train ourselves to find the best in everybody. We should surround ourselves with people who will tell us the truth even if it hurts. We should listen to that truth and use it. If any one is still unsure about how to lead your life, I suggest you watch, Randy Pausch Last Lecture.