Blog Post #7

There is so much to this lecture. An entire book has been derived from this lecture. I had to watch this lecture multiple times, but it was well worth it. I wanted to watch it again and again. Pausch’s last lecture was beyond inspirational and contains an extensive amount of advice on life, learning, and teaching. The overall positivity that Pausch advocates and exudes stood out to me. Bottom line, despite the odds, a positive outlook is essential to achieving anything.

“Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.” This meant a lot to me as an educator. All students have immense potential. Sometimes it may take longer to show, and some students may just need to be given the right tools. My students should always know that I would never give up on them; another of Pausch’s pieces of advice, never give up. Just as I shouldn’t give up on them, they shouldn’t give up on themselves. Dreams can be achieved if you work hard enough for them. “Brick walls are there to provide us with an opportunity to prove how badly we want something.” No matter what path we choose to take in life, there will always be obstacles. To get through these brick walls and achieve the things you want, you can’t give up.

Not all childhood dreams come true, and that’s okay. This is just as important to teach my students as not giving up on their dreams. Sometimes these are the best instances to gain experience. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” The things that we do not achieve are often replaced with adapted versions. In the lecture, Pausch shares his childhood dream of playing in the NFL. While that didn’t happen, he learned many things in the time that he did play football that helped him considerably in other aspects of his life.

Encouraging creativity, raising the bar, and pushing my students to do more are just a few things I plan to consider when educating my future students. There is just so much that I took from his lecture! Teaching the fundamentals and following it with fun, technology based projects will be a major method for me. I would also try to allow my students to see where they stand among others. I hope this will encourage them to try harder and do more. I want to provide them with substantive feedback, but I also want to recieve feedback from them. This will give me a chance to teach the importance of critics that Pausch emphasizes.

I will be able to provide my students with assignments that will allow them to be creative and still utilize fundamental rules of English. I would like to stray away from a traditional English class and give students a real chance to both realize and reach for their dreams. Writing can be an excellent way to self-reflect; something that Pausch felt was very important to teach.

Throughout his entire speech, Pausch focused on other people. He explicitly states “you can’t get there alone”. Networking is crucial. The way you deal with people is everything. Be loyal, show gratitude, cherish criticism, and talk to people in the right way. Word usage is key when communicating. There are many different ways to say the right thing and it’s all about the way you say it. This basically comes down to be a good person, a good friend. Always do the right thing. The relationships that you build will become a major stepping stone in the things you accomplish.

I could write incessantly about the ways Pausch’s lecture can be adapted into my teaching and personal life. His lessons apply to life, me, my students, everyone. I recently began reading the book, The Last Lecture, and I’m looking forward to finishing it. If you haven’t at least watched the lecture, you should. Pandy Pausch’s Last Lecture was amazingly inspirational, and definitely worth the hour and sixteen minutes.