Blog Post 8

     Randy Pausch's video, Last Lecture was entertaining and kept my focus all the way through.  I feel like I learned and was reminded about a lot of things through his lecture.  The thing I liked most about his lecture was that he told his life experiences which turned into life lessons for the listeners.  Pausch introduces "brick walls" in his lecture.  He shared the dreams he had as a child.  He wanted to be an astronaut and then he wanted to be an NFL player.  He explains that the brick wall lets us prove how badly we want something.  If we want it badly enough, we will push through the brick walls of life to achieve our dreams.  He was told no time and time again to his dreams, but he continued to push through and strive until he achieved them.  He then began to remind us that we should encourage our students to succeed and we should never give up on them!
     He explained that it is important to raise up students that are able to be "self reflective."  This causes students to push to be better and strive to do more.  If we do not set a standard bar for our students they will do more.  He gave an example of his past class that did more which led to the faculty and parents eager to come see their final products.  We can teach them to self reflect through peer reviews and allowing them to see their mistakes.  We should not just throw away their work or assignments, but give them back so they can see what they need to work on.
    Pausch reminded us that to be an educator we must always be a learner. We must always be willing and ready to expand our knowledge.  His example on how to be a learner to be one that never quits. We should never be willing to say that we do not know or that we know enough.  If we do not know, learn it! Then finally and probably most importantly, I learned that I should never give up on my students and never stop caring for my students.  At the end of his lecture, he asks the audience if they figured out the head fake yet.  The head fake was his was of telling us that his lecture was not for us to hear about how dreams are achieved, but instead, how to lead a life. What kind of life will you lead to your students and the people around you?