Assignment 8

Randy Pausch Last Lecture:
Achieving Your Childhood Dreams




I enjoyed listening to Randy Pausch's lecture. It was very long, but interesting. It amazed me at how he was able to talk about the fact that he does not know how long he has left to live, and be so calm about it. He did not seem to let his diagnosis get him down. I can tell that Dr. Pausch enjoyed his job and his life. The passion he had for both shines throughout the entire lecture. Dr. Pausch was definitely a man who practiced what he preaches. This lecture reflected on his life experiences and his motto life's short, keep having fun.

The lecture focused on how to lead your life. His first point was on childhood dreams. Everyone has these dreams when we were young and the world seemed to be in the palm of our hands. When I was little I wanted to be a ballerina. I always danced for everyone the second they walked in the door and they didn't even have to ask what I wanted to be when I grew up. However, I realized I wasn't going to be good enough to make it professionally, so I moved on and became a teacher. I loved when Dr. Pausch said we learn the most from the brick walls. Would I have the beautiful family and wonderful husband I do today if my dream of a ballerina came true? The neat thing about his childhood dreams was that he actually fulfilled most of them. The dream of playing in the NFL was the one that he did not fulfill, but it got him where he is today. Football taught him fundamentals and experience for life.

His next point was about enabling childhood dreams of others. Throughout his life he has had a lot of positive effects on people. He started a class that allowed students to be creative while learning. Randy used video game technology to teach students different things. The class taught students about computer programming. He did not use the traditional teaching methods when implementing his graduate program. All learning was project based and an no "book learning". Pausch said they had already had four years of "book learning". This is a wonderful way to teach to let the students learn by doing. When the students graduated they had companies that were ready to hire them straight out of college. By starting the program he helped open doors in students' lives.

His last point was on lessons learned. He talked of people who have helped him get where he is today. In order for someone to be successful, they need someone to encourage them. Everyone has potential in life to do great things. Living life is truly a learning experience. I have realized that not everything in life is fair. We all have to deal with experiences that we don't want to face. However, they make us stronger as a person. He also talked on being loyal and doing the right thing. That part of the lecture was very true. Finding the good in people and being honest is the best way to live your life. I really believe it will make you a happier person. The lecture was very enlightening. It made me appreciate my life. No one really knows how long they have to live, so we should live everyday to the fullest.

Comment4Kids Week8

This week I commented on a student named James and he was a year 8 student. He was writing about the six traits of writing. His focus was on voice and word choice. The way he was able to understand exactly what voice and word choice were leads me to believe that he will be able to effectively write with those as his focus. I really enjoyed reading his post and am glad to see that this teacher is using the computer to publish their writing for so many to see.