Blog Assignment #10

                                                  "Enabling the Dreams of Others"

                  "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." - Randy Pausch

Educator and innovator Randy Pausch was all about enabling the dreams of others. As teachers, this should be our goal as well. In his "Last Lecture" Pausch not only covers enabling the dreams of others, but of enabling and accomplishing your own dreams as well. Pausch contends that this is accomplished by having specific dreams. As teachers, we should challenge students to help find and accomplish their dreams so that they may lived more fulfilling lives. The teacher as a guide could serve no better purpose.

Pausch contends that "it's all about the fundamentals". He goes on to say in reference to his time playing football: "When you do something young enough and you train for it, it becomes a part of you". This is the attitude not just students, but teachers as well should take on for learning. By actively engaging students in learning throughout school, it will become a part of them that they will hopefully carry with them for the rest of their lives.

In his Building Virtual Worlds class, Pausch "put engineers and artists together". This shows the future of the Educational system. By showing both the value of the Empirical Sciences and Humanities and applying them together, everyone can engage in a meaningful Project-Based Learning environment. The writer may not be interested in the workings of a computer and vice versa, but when the two work together on different parts of the same project, masterful things can occur.

More so, Pausch elaborates that a "phenomenon swept across campus" engaging all kinds of students and parents. This not only taught the students subject matter, but drew them closer together as people, proving the value of cooperative learning.

Pausch himself was an inspiration. One quote that stuck with me was: "Brick walls are there for a reason. Brick walls are there to show us how badly we want something."

As teachers, our goal is not to be a brick wall, but to prepare students for how to deal with brick walls in life. Teachers are there to enable, prepare, and inspire. To quote Pausch: "The inspiration and permission to dream are huge."