Blog Post 6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

After I watched Dr. Pausch last lecture, I confirmed that he is an inspiration to the whole world. In this video he talks about life lessons along with educational lessons.  I will discuss some of them.

The first lesson that I will discuss by Dr. Pausch is the"head fake" lesson. He defines it as learning indirectly. He expounds on that idea by saying it is the best way to teach someone because it gives someone the indication that they are learning something that they know. In reality, they are learning something opposite of what they think they know. I can see myself using this skill in my teaching method. Oftentimes, when people do not learn certain material, it is not necessary that they do not have the ability to learn it. It is mainly because they do not put the effort to learn the material because they do not like it or for some other reason. That is a major issue among  younger adults, youths, younger children and overall, generally speaking, people period. I think the "head fake" method will improve situations similar to this one.

The second lesson that I will discuss pertaining to Dr. Pausch is the fundamental lesson. He acquired this method also from one of his old football coaches. He stated that his coach would often tell the team that in order to master more advance skills you have to master the fundamentals first. In "other words" if you do not get the fundamentals down the fancy stuff is not going to work. In the education profession, some educators have forsaken fundamental value all together. They have moved on to more advanced methods that are not efficient. That has caused problems in the education profession. In order to get back on the right track, fundamental value will have to be taught in education. For an example, I would put emphasis on fundamentals by providing basic learning concepts in my teaching method.

The last lesson or idea I will discuss by Dr. Pausch is the self-reflect lesson. We have all been guilty of not doing or giving our best performance when we know someone is not analyzing our work closely. Dr. Pausch said many people or more likely to put their best effort when they know it is going to reflect their image, work, or etc. That is why he required it in his class. That is why I would use it as a technique in my classroom.

Although, Dr. Pausch had an life-ending health problem. He did not let that dictate how or what he did in his lifetime. He was a good-spirited, high energy type of person. That is what I admired most about him. As,  I stated earlier he serves as an inspiration to the world. I will surely use some of his teaching techniques in improving my learning and teaching skills. I will also suggest to people who are having problems teaching, learning, or motivating themselves to view Dr. Pausch  last lecture.