Blog Post #10

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch taught me ways to achieve my dreams and how to enable the dreams of others. Randy’s story was very inspirational. He was a firm believer and fighter. Randy was diagnosed with ten tumors in the liver with a three to six month life expectancy of good health. His discussion inspired me to not be distraught by the obstacles that are put in my way during a journey. Despite the negativity there is always some sort of positivity in any situation. I learned that doing something young enough and training will make it become a part of you. For example, Randy had a childhood dream of becoming a NFL player. He was active in football at a young age and trained for it. Even though he didn’t make it to the NFL the game was instilled in him still. I can use this idea to help encourage my students with accomplishing their goals.

Randy also stated a quote that I will instill in my students for enthusiasm, “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted”. Even though Randy didn’t make it, he still got the experience. Also, I learned some leadership skills. Leadership is a very important element when teaching. You always want your students to respect you and trust that you believe in them. One important skill that Randy learned from John Snoddy is that when you wait long enough, people will impress you with the things they have learned. I think this is true. A teacher’s biggest reward is seeing their students take what they have learned and use to create something of their own. Therefore, it is important to give your students time. A strong leader has to have patience. Last, Randy discussed his class, Building of Virtual Words. This class consisted of fifty randomly selected students divided into several groups that will construct five projects during a semester. This development stood out to me the most because after the projects were completed his students shared them in front of an audience of peers, faculty, and parents. This encouraged the students to do better in their work and to keep learning. I learned from Randy that encouraging students that they can do better will keep them going and improving. To conclude, Randy Pausch’s discussion was very inspirational and provided several skills such as, enthusiasm and leadership, which I will pursue in my future classroom.