I have wanted to watch Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture since he recorded. It is sad that it took me till now when I had an assignment to watch it. I have over a page worth of quotes from the lecture that I find myself already using. My favorite quote is “brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things,” or as he later said “they let us show our dedication.” This is a great thing to teach your students. I would teach my students that just because something stops you from achieving you goal does not mean you give up on that goal. It means you fight harder. You look for new ways to achieve that goal, and when you attain it will be all the sweeter. Although like Dr. Pausch pointed out, you may not accomplish your goal but instead gain experience. The experience we receive from not achieving our goals may not be known to us for years down the road. Experiences alone do not change us, but moments as well.
Another quote I like is “when you’re screwing up and nobody is saying anything anymore, that means they gave up.” This is something I would like to teach my students. I want them to realize that when they are getting corrected that it means that someone cares for them and wants them to succeed. When someone is giving you a hard time about something you did wrong do not complain; you just work harder. I wish I could tell this to myself as a child, but I will settle for teaching my students it.
An additional quote I like is “find the best in everybody; no matter how long you have to wait.” Everyone has that one annoying person in the office or classroom. I often times will go and try to befriend that person. I think this is a great lesson to teach students because with 25 or more students in a classroom there will be differing personalities. As well as when they get to college or out in the work place there will be many more people these students will have to get along with. To find the best in others is a great tool to have to get along with other people.
“Apologize when you screw up,” may be the hardest of lessons Randy Pausch taught. This point actually has two parts, both of which can be hard for student as well as some adults. Apologizing would be the first part, and the second part would be the admitting that you messed up. Often times we want to blame others for our mistake and never take ownership of our mistake. I think this is a great point to teach students. This also is about doing the right thing, and as Randy Pausch says “when you do the right thing good stuff has a way of happening.”
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was well-written and the connections you made to your own classroom showed how well you took his speech to heart. It also showed your dedication! When you said, "Everyone has that one annoying person in the office or classroom. I often times will go and try to befriend that person", I cracked up! That reminds me of my mom. She is the biggest advocate of befriending those that other people avoid (and you yourself may also want to avoid), because it strengthens your patience and allows you to set an example to others. I can recall so many dinner parties and play dates she set up that I groaned about growing up, but now I do it too! Like her, I now find the oddballs to be a challenge and a blessing. I also realize that I myself am also an oddball, and I think all of us have an "inner oddball" too that should make it easier for us to relate to others! She told me that "usually the things we dislike in others are the things we dislike about ourselves." To see the best in others, we have to come down off our pedestal and identify with them, admitting that we aren't perfect either.
I agree that "“Apologize when you screw up,” may be the hardest of lessons Randy Pausch taught." Swallowing our pride is hard to do! It also goes back to admitting that we aren't perfect, no matter how hard we work to fix our mistakes. We aren't failures, we're just human. I don't want to be the teacher that refuses to see when I am wrong, if one of my students points out a short-coming. It can be used as a learning experience to demonstrate overcoming weaknesses!
Some grammar errors to watch out for:
"when you attain it, [it] will be all the sweeter." This is one of the only ones that I saw, but always proofread!
Very good writing! Keep up the good work,
Carly