Blog Post #8

Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

Teaching and learning go hand in hand, if you are teaching then you are also learning. Randy Pausch gives and inspiring leacture about a number of things in life that are relevant and beneficial to everyone. He speaks as someone who was constantly learning. Which I believe is invaluable first hand advice. I have compiled a list of things I learned or saw as valuable pieces of teaching and learning information while watching his lecture.

Through this lecture I have learned that teaching and learning share many of the same fundamentals, and "Without fundamentals nothing else matters." Randy talks about how some of the most valuable things he ever learned were learned indirectly through what he called a  "head fake", meaning he believed he was having fun and doing one thing when really he was learning something much more valuable in that moment. As teachers, we should heed this advice and strive to use it in a way that is beneficial to our students, which I believe that is exactly what project based learning is doing in the current realm in the education world. This type of " head fake" teaching is exciting to not only the teachers but also their students. Teaching is about leadership. 

He speaks about himself and his students being excited about what they were learning and doing academically and professionally. He spoke about "brick walls" being in our way for a reason, I took away from this that as teachers we should challenge not only our students, but ourselves as teachers and that as learners and teachers we should be willing to take risks. Most important give and get feedback when the opportunity arises. Then use that feedback to self reflect and better ourselves in those areas and as individuals.
Be honest and be upfront, As a person, a student, and a teacher. Because people will remember and appreciate it later. We must also remember while teaching or while learning that we must keep and open mind, this was something that was imminent throughout this lecture about Pausch's ideas. There is also "a good way and a bad way to say I don't know." Think before you react as a teacher. It is okay not to have all of the answers, seek answers and advice from everyone around you because there is always someone who knows more.Whether teaching or learning, everyone has something to bring to the table. Never settle on just one idea, dream, or goal. Strive to achieve more than you set out to in the begging and it is okay to fail, as long as you keep going.