Blog 6

When I saw that the video The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch was over an hour long I dreaded watching it. After the first time I viewed it I had to watch it again and again. I believe that I watched the video at least 3 times. I thought it was very good, sad, exciting,

funny, and heart throbbing. Randy Pausch made mention to a few things that I would love to put in my classroom. One of topics he mentioned was about fundamentals being a necessity in learning the “big stuff”. I agree with him whole-heartedly on this subject. How are you supposed to understand how to read without learning the alphabet? How are you supposed to know how to figure out an equation without knowing how to add? Fundamentals are the single most important lesson a teacher can teach a student. This is due to fundamentals being the key components that make up the “big stuff”.

Another idea I agree with Dr. Pausch about is his idea of the Brick Wall. I have had a lot of brick walls in my life. A lot of them were really hard to overcome, but I managed to do so. Every student is going to have brick walls in their life. Some of them harder than others, but it is the ones that get over that brick wall that shows you their determination. Finding a way through that Brick wall shows how

badly they want something. I think that if a teacher can find that something that will push the students to get over that brick wall they are doing a great job! Just like John Snoddy said, “If you wait enough time some people will tend to impress you”.

Having fun is one of Dr. Pausch’s main topics he pushed. I have the exact same view as he did. There is no point in learning anything if it isn’t fun to learn. A student won’t retain any information if all he/she receives is a lecture. If a

teacher were to throw something fun at them, such as a game, they will be keener to learn. I was one of those students who couldn’t just sit back and listen to a lecture. So I will not be the kind of teacher to sit back and give a lecture. I will be a Tigger of the group of teachers. A quote from Dr. Pausch stated, “Try to get kids to have fun, while learning something hard” and it is the truest statement I have ever heard.

One last thing that I certainly agree with him on is giving feedback. No one is a mind reader. No one can tell what he/she is doing right or wrong. Giving feedback is one of the most crucial components a teacher has. Giving feedback can also be very tricky, especially when you do not use the right tone. How a teacher

says something can make or break a student. So be nice about the feedback, but make sure the mistakes are corrected. Dr. Pausch was a brilliant man, and I am very glad that I got the opportunity to learn more about him.