8th Post: March 7, 2010

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture.

I really enjoyed this video. I have actually heard a similar video with Mr. Pausch except it was only a couple of minutes long. His last lecture was very inspirational and very enjoyable to watch. He will definitely be remembered for his outstanding work. The things he did for a virtual world was amazing. He definitely accomplished a lot of his childhood dreams and a lot of people can't say that they accomplished at least 50% of their dreams.

He really loved what he did especially involving the imagineering and virtual world. I love virtual world type of games like "The Sims." I love his idea of not using textbooks in the classroom. Honestly what would you need a textbook for in the type of assignments he was having his students work on anyway. It would be just a waste of money to have them. Also when you have your students switch up partners for each assignment is great because everyone is getting to know other people. Also having students rate their team members was good, but also scary at the same time. You have to worry about if someone liked having you in a group or not, but you also get to know how well you work with others and its an opportunity for you to improve on other projects.

Mr. Pausch was a very caring guy and definitely had a sense of humor. I wondered if all of his students really enjoyed his classes and knew how much they had learned from him. After Mr. Pausch would discuss something he would bring up a slide on "the brick wall." Which were there for people who knew how badly they wanted something. If you want it you will not let the brick wall stop you. Which I felt was great because there are times where you want something so badly and of course those unexpected events happen and you may not be able to accomplish what you want, but if you really want it then will you do it and not let anything prevent you from accomplishing what you want.

Mr. Pausch made some key points on things to remember such as, having fun in the classroom as a teacher, never lose the child-hood wonder, helping others because it makes us better people. He also discussed how to get people to help you. I really loved this video and didn't mind watching it for the entire hour. It was very nice at the end how he had a cake brought out for his wife's birthday. He is definitely an inspirational person. When his children look back at this video they will be proud that there dad left this for them to learn from. He deserved that standing ovation at the end.

Comments4Kids
This week I commented on Cindy from an Arizona middle school and she had written a beautiful and touching poem titled "They Suffer." The comment that I left Cindy is below.

Cindy,

That is a beautiful poem. Did you write that yourself? My name is Katherine and I’m a college student in Mobile, AL. I really enjoyed reading your poem. Keep up the good work!

-Katherine

Comments4Classmates

This week I commented on Kristen Thrash (Class A) and Kathleen Cosgrove (Class D) and both students are up to date on their blog posts.