Week 8 Blog : Due March 7, 2010

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Randy Pausch begins his last lecture by introducing himself. He has liver cancer and has been told he will only live a few more months. Because of this, he decided to give a "last lecture." In this lecture, he not only gives advice, but, more importantly, he gives inspiration. At the beginning of the lecture, he gives a list of quite a few of his childhood dreams. Throughout the first half of the lecture, he gives examples of how he accomplished each of these dreams. This man is still very young, yet he has managed to accomplish so much of what he wanted to in life because he was persistent. One of my favorite things said in this lecture is that brick walls are there to show us how much we want something. I've never thought of this before, but it's very true. A roadblock, in any situation, is there to weed out those people who don't really want it. If you truly want something, go after it. Don't let a minor roadblock keep you from achieving your dreams. I think this is something we can all learn from in life. Everyone experiences brick walls, but there is always a way around them if you try hard enough and remain persistent and dedicated.
One section of the lecture was about teaching people how to make people excited and happy. This is a great thing to learn because, as teachers, our goal should be to help others achieve their dreams. Another great piece of advice for a future teacher is that when you're trying something new, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. This should alleviate any thoughts that it only happens to you. Don't be afraid to try new methods. Things will not go perfectly the first time. Deal with what you've got, and improve on it next time. As a teacher, we should teach students to be self-reflective. This comes with many benefits. A student needs to learn to focus on something. Why not put this focus on themselves? I don't mean in a selfish way at all. We should teach people to focus on aspects of themselves that that like. Then focus on how they could use these talents to help others. We should also focus on what they would like to improve about themselves. Don't dwell on the negative, but focus on what could come from improvement. I truly liked the "head fake" method as well. This works for students of all age groups, elementary to graduate school students. If people believe they are learning something else, other lessons will come from it. If you don't want to teach a particular thing, or you think the students won't be receptive of the way you teach it, throw it in with an activity that focuses on something else. The students may enjoy it more, and the lesson will still be learned. "Have fun while learning something hard."
There are many things that affect a child's behavior, attitude, learning and life. Parents and mentors are probably at the top of the list because the children spend the most time with these people when they are developing. Children have it all right. We, as adults, need to continue to have fun. We need to continue to portray that "child-like wonder." Children are so open to new ideas, and they are always wanting to learn something new. Don't let these characteristics fade as you grow older. Dr. Pausch also focuses on helping others. Show gratitude when gratitude is deserved. We should always try to find the best in everyone. This may not be apparent for years and years, but everyone has a good side. Patience will allow you to find this with everyone. You have to be persistent and dedicated if you really want to achieve your dreams. If you live your life the right way, it will seem as though your dreams are just falling into place, but remember what you had to do to get there. Don't complain about the situation. Just work harder to fix it. The advice given in this lecture will be some that I will remember, and hopefully utilize, for the rest of my life. Thank you Dr. Pausch.

Comments4Kids

This week, I commented on Michala's blog. Her blog post included a cinquain about Friendship. She had a very well written cinquain, and she seemed to truly value who friendship.