After watching Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, I honestly wasn't sure exactly what the lesson in this video was. After pondering over it for a couple of days I still wasn't clear. I decided I needed to watch the video again. After watching the video for the second time I realized the whole video was a "head fake" but, not the "head fake" Randy Pausch mentions in the end. Randy Pausch describes a "head fake" as information we learn indirectly. We learn best when we don't even realize we are learning. I think the reason for this is because we are more open minded when we think we are being entertained and not educated. I hope I can adapt the "head fake" method in my classroom so my students will become educated while being entertained and engaged.
The next lesson I took away from the video was, perseverance. Randy Pausch said, "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things". All too often, when people hit a "brick wall" they call it quits and walk away from their dreams or goals. Some one with enough perseverance will find a way through any "brick wall". As educators it is our job to make sure all students succeed. Sometimes you may encounter a student that doesn't care, your "brick wall". Our job as educators is to find a way to get through to that student to make sure he/she never gives up. We have to help them develop perseverance.
Something else Randy Pausch mentioned was the importance of self reflection. I believe self reflection is important because, when we can look at ourselves and see the areas where we have grown and also see what we can improve on, then we can and will succeed. We need to teach our students took look at their work and see where they went wrong and how it could have been better. This will help them long after they graduate.
Here is some more advice from Randy Pausch that I felt was worth mentioning; learn from our students, have fun, never loose our child-like wonder, help others, and never give up. Randy Pausch wants us to believe that the "head fake" in his last lecture was, "How to lead your life". I think it was about the legacy of his life.
Hey Chelsea I admire you for watching the video twice that really shows how dedicated you are. I agree with you one hundred percent about the video being a head fake however you never told us what you learned the second time you watched it. I think that you and Randy are correct and that brick walls are built to enable perseverance and that self reflection is important because if we know how well, or poorly, we do we can continue the success. I also wish you would have added a picture, but good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I loved this video also, and I'm sure I would have picked up even more by watching it twice! I almost lost it when they showed his wife and she was crying....so inspirational. Couldn't agree more with you about the brick walls and head fakes- looking forward to incorporating those into my teaching method.
ReplyDelete"...As educators it is our job to make sure all students succeed...." Much too ambitious. You will never reach this goal. What about create opportunities in which everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed? No one can guarantee that everyone will succeed. I have students every semester who never make any effort at all to succeed. Any effort!
ReplyDeleteThe reason we include this video is to inspire you to bust through those brick walls, to raise the bars, to execute effective head fakes and much more. I hope you will do these things when you are a teacher.
Keep on learning! Note that I used the word hope. No guarantee, but I have started you down that path.