Randy Pausch's last lecture

Wow. What a fantastic speaker. I was crying by the end of his lecture. There are a few important teaching methods Randy used in this speech to make learning effective and interesting. He used a powerpoint so his audience could follow what he was saying visually, he used humor,and a warm, conversational style of speech.

Randy shows that not only did he engage his students at MIT, but he engaged all of campus, parents, and other outsiders. He made his classes and projects interactive and made many efforts to open opportunities for his students after graduation. All teachers should make an effort to do this for their students! Randy also used what he called "head fakes" for his students. This means that he basically tricks his students into learning something hard by making it fun.

There are a few points that Randy had in his speech I would like to mention. His whole speech was about childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons learned. First, I loved what he had to say about "brickwalls." Randy says that brick walls are there to stop people who don't want it badly enough. He also stated that experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

Randy was a phenominal teacher who truly pulled the best out of his students by interesting them, making them work hard, and by requiring that their work be hands-on. He opened doors for them, challenged them, and learned from them. This is what a teacher should be and I think that all future teachers should watch this video. For anyone who stumbles upon my blog and reads this post, please follow this link and watch the video. You won't regret it!