Randy Paush's "Last Lecture" brought out many valuable points about teaching and learning. He talked not only about his childhood dreams, but how to enable the childhood dreams of others. Throughout his lecture he emphasized "head fakes". A "head fake" is having fun while learning. An example of "head fake" was through "Alice". He also applied this through his teaching, by allowing students to work as a team with the freedom to express themselves. This was evident when the program became so successful that it drew interest of other college departments. As educators it is important to allow students to explore that freedom in order to achieved a successful "head fake".
Randy shared many of his life stories and what he learning from them. My favorite being the brick wall. One may think that a brick wall will stop you however, he viewed the brick wall as allowing us to prove how bad we want it that is our dedication. He believes, if you want something bad enough you just keep trying no matter the obstacle. This determination needs to be taught to our children of today. So many times children just give up, it is important that we as educators teach children to try, try, try again. As Randy said it is important to be good at something, it's what makes you valuable.
In the lecture he points out what is needed to be successful. The first being dedication, the brick wall concept. The second being "Don't Bail", that is don't give up. Thirdly, get feedback and listen to it. Don't just say okay, do something about it, also don't complain and work hard. The most important being show gratitude, always think of others and others will think of you.
In conclusion, Randy unveiled the biggest "head fake" of all. He displayed his gratitude to his wife, by having 500 people sing happy birthday to her, while also informing us that the lecture was not just any other lecture. This lecture was for his children, because he may not be around to tell them the things they need to know. That was the biggest "head fake" of all. He once again made learning FUN!
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EXCELLENT! Technology is becoming such an integrated part of our lives. As educators, I feel that we should teach our students to be comfortable with technology and to understand that they should not be afraid of technology. In most cases, things can be fixed. It is my hope that my students leave my class with a basic understanding of technologies and at least understand how to get around any program. They should not be afraid to "poke around" in a program to see what something does. Keep up the good work.
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