Project #15

Project #13

Blog post #10

           In Sir Ken Robinson's lecture he discusses the "human resources crisis". He starts out by quoting Jeremy Bentham in saying that there are two types of people in the world. Those who divide the world into two types of people and those who don't. The two types of people that Robinson sees are; people who simply endure life and wait for the weekend to party, and those who enjoy their lives and live with passion. With that being said I believe it's in connection with his next point. He says that education distances people from their natural talents. By this he means that not everyone is meant to be a highly educated individual who will go onto be a professor at Harvard or a speaker at Ted Talks. He tells a story about a fireman he met. He asked how long he's been a fireman and the man said "always. I've always been a fireman". He said he's wanted to be a fireman since he was a kid. His teachers hassled him about it constantly. One particular teacher told him that he was throwing his life away if that's what he chose to do with his life. His teacher said he should go to college, be a professional person, that he had potential and that he was wasting his talents in his pursuit of becoming a fireman. The man said Robinson made him think of that man because he saved his life six months ago along with his wife's from a car wreck using CPR. 

      I think the biggest lesson to take from Robinson's lecture is that education isn't always black and white. Education doesn't always necessarily go hand in hand with success. You don't have to receive your masters degree and then practice what you studied for the rest of your life. Sometimes you have to blend your natural talents in with what the educational system has taught you in order to be not only successful but happy while achieving that success.

You can watch the video

Blog Post #8

A very useful resource for education is Ted Talks. Ted Talks are lecture based discussions used for learning and they are given on a very wide variety of topics from in-class education to how military drones are impacting society. Ted Talks are very accessible as well on the internet. 

        In Rita F. Pierson's discussion she emphasizes the importance of a strong teacher-student relationship.  She says students only learn from people whom they have built trust in.  A colleague of hers said "I don't get paid to like the kids, I just gotta teach them" and Pierson was at a loss for words. Pierson later said "well, they don't learn from people they don't like". Pierson then quotes James Comer with "no significant learning will occur without a significant relationship". 

       

You can watch the video here

Blog post #7

      In Randy Paush's lecture he brings up many good points about not only learning, but teaching as well. When giving this lecture, Pausch was currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. He made it a point to make sure that no one felt sorry for him or pitied him. He said that he was not only in phenomenal shape but that he was in better shape than most of the people in the audience. He then proceeded to do various types of pushups in an effort to emphasize his health.

          One of Pausch's first lessons is "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you want." What he means by this is no you may not have achieved your goal, but look back at everything you've learned on the way and apply it wherever you find fit. Pausch talks about how a childhood idol of his was Captain Kirk from Star Trek. Pausch was so attracted to Kirk because of his leadership role on he show. He talks about how, even though it was a television show, he led his team and said he wanted to have that leadership role. Pausch later goes onto talk about the figurative "brick walls" that people hit, saying that brick walls only stop people who just simply don't want it bad enough. Pausch says he was taught that everyone has good in them no matter how evil they may seem. He says "wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you".  

           When attempting to get permission from Disney to work on a project the man he spoke with quickly and aggressively pretty much said "screw you" and he was told to ask the head man in charge. When he asked the man he simply said "I'm not sure exactly what it is but I'd like to learn more about it. Pausch said that even though both men said the same thing, it was how each man answered that was most important. As a professor Pausch used numerous techniques he used to further his students' education. Two of which in particular were trickery and project based learning. Pausch told a story of students who came to him about the progress of their project. Pausch said it could be a lot better when in fact it was very good as it was but he wanted his students to surpass their own expectations. He says, as an educator, you're doing your students a disservice by setting a bar.

            

You can watch the video here