Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

There were a lot of gold nuggets given in Randy’s lecture. Before this assignment, I knew nothing about Randy Pausch and never have heard any lectures he has given. From the introduction of the video, he set the tone of this lecture. Randy viewed his battle with cancer as another opportunity to enjoy life and the people around you. He was a professor at CMU. This video presentation of Randy’s Pausch Last Lecture will motivate you to continue your dreams and enable others to do the same. He uses his own life experience to help awaken your dreams.

I liked how he shared his own childhood dreams. He named several in the lecture and with each one there were lessons of courage, tenacity, and hard work. One thing I would like to mention, not all his childhood dreams was achieved but there were lessons gained from trying to obtain the dream. For instance, he never made it to NFL but he learned the value of hard work and the power of enthusiasm from Coach Graham. There were several quotes and sayings he uses after each dream was accomplished or attempted to accomplish. I will name two. First one, experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want and secondly, brick walls are there to let us know how bad we want something. These are quotes that I will definitely share with young adults as well as my students at Whitley.

His second focus point was enabling others childhood dreams. The way he did that was through careful advice he became a professor. Professors and teachers have an awesome task before them. They can either break or inspire dreams in their students. Professor Pausch had his first assignment when he had a student come to him with his childhood dream. Tony wanted to work with Star Wars; this was in 1993 and Randy did not think that that would be possible, but it came to pass. I gathered from this experience is sometimes as a teacher you may not think a dream is possible but if the student has a deep passion for that dream help them get there.

Another focus point is learning how to work together in a group. Randy created a course Build Virtual World. In this course several other departments was bridged together to accomplish a whole part. This was a big success on the campus. Students learned the value of networking and as a teacher he learned how to encourage them and inspire them to excel higher than where they were. Everybody needs someone to help them reach their dreams. Parents, mentors, bosses, and students all play a major role in helping a person obtained their dreams. Success also depends on the character we portray such as loyalty, forgiving, truthfulness, grateful, cherishing and listening to feedback. I work around children every day and all they want is for someone to believe in them. From this point forward, like a mighty warrior, I will carefully point those arrows in the right directions.

International School Teacher's Blog

The School I found was Lorne Skuce Public School in Oakville, Ontario. The teachers basically use their blogs the way teachers in the United Sates use theirs. It advertise to the public; if you are relocating into that area, you can use the blog to find out about the mission, goals of the school. They use their blog for the parents. You can check homework schedules and check out up-coming events. It was not anything so outstanding that appeal to me. You can check out Lorne Skuce Public School at http://lor.hdsb.ca/index.html

This is the second blog I found of Calwell Primary School in Australia. There is nothing so interesting about this blog. The teachers and school use the blog just like all the others. One particular thing I notice was, there were not pictures or videos. But, they had information concerning programs, the school mission and goals and parent information. The parents could access information from their children's class with a password. I do not think this blog would help me in my area of interest. To visit Calwell Pimary School go to http://www.calwellps.act.edu.au/contact_us.

Pictures Forest View Elementary

Teachers Blog in U.S.

I was very fascinate with Forest View Elementary Blog. They use their blog for several different reasons. The colors were very eye-catching and the pictures were wonderful. The blog is a great advertisement tool; Forest View Elementary did an outstanding job with that. If I was moving into that area I certainly would consider that school. Also, It is a multicultural school with a warm learning environment. The teachers, students, and parents have resources on there that is helpful for each group. The parents can keep up with the different upcoming events and the district offers a parent newsletter to enlighten the parent concerning progress of the whole district. My favorite was one of the kindergarten classes. The teacher showed how teaching five years old can be fun and rewarding. He also posted pictures from different field trips. If I was a kindergarten teacher, I would certainly glean from this particular teacher’s blog. You can view Forest View Elemenatary School at htt:p//www.forestview.dpsnc.net

Elementary schools are my favorite but I must say Washington Middle School had a very good blog. For the middle school age children, if I had to choose I would consider taking a look at the campus. They also advertise their school but with less color. I understand the reason; you are appealing to the adolescent group. The teachers posted their homework assignments, and upcoming events concerning their class rooms. For parents I like that because you can keep up with your child’s assignments. The athletic department posted their events and that would perhaps attract athletes. Washington Middle School also uses their blog to let the community and parents know about the different programs they offer. If you want to know more about Washington Middle School go to http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/washington/

ACCESS

ACCESS is another program used in the Alabama Department of Education for enhancing education through technology. As I stated earlier, technology is the number one tool used by many organizations for expansion and advertisement. If we want our students to be able to compete globally, we must continue to invest in programs like ALEX and ACCESS. As the name implies, ACCESS allows classrooms statewide to connect with each other. The purpose is to share information through distance learning for advancing student achievement. According to the power point, this can be achieved through a strong infrastructure.

The power point presentation presented two modes of delivery. Course work can be taught through the web and videoconferencing. First, principals and guidance counselors must be professionally trained statewide. Secondly, preexisting IVC labs must be connected to state network systems. Thirdly, establish pilot sites to blend online and interactive videoconferencing. Students can benefit from both online and videoconferencing courses. IVC will provide additional teachers and allow teachers to grow professionally. Online learning will improve test scores and students will have easy access to lecture notes. If we continue to utilize this program our students will be able to compete globally.