Blog Post #8

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
It's hard for us to accept death. We turn away from it, wanting to ignore it. Dr. Pausch embraces it and knows it will be his time soon and he gives some of the best lessons in his lecture.
Randy Pausch gave a great lecture about his childhood dreams. It is so important to pursue your childhood dreams and we often forget that, we just want a job that pays the bills. We never go for it like Dr. Pausch did. What he did was fantastic, following his dreams and going to teach at Carnegie Mellon, expanding their resources and knowledge into everything he did.

The way Dr. Pausch taught his students was very special. It was encouraging and exciting for them and rewarding for him. When they thought they'd done all they could on a project he would tell them they could do better. He got an entire school and even parents involved in what his students were doing, just by letting them do their own thing. It's interesting what you can learn when you're given the opportunity to an almost rule free project with endless possibilities. "Brick walls let us show our dedication." Dr. Pausch says that many times throughout his lecture. It's a reminder for what he did all throughout his life and what we as people need to do every day.

Randy Pausch gave notice to a lot of different people in his speech. He seems to recognize everyone that's helped him over the years, he's appreciative of them. That's a special trait because not everyone can appreciate people like that, let alone recognize them for all the help they've been to him in his lifetime. He really knew how to give thanks and give that special kind of recognition.

There's a lot we can learn from Randy Pausch, he was an excellent teacher and person. He allowed his students to be creative and use their own imagination. He is the true start of good project based learning. It's inspirational what he's done.