(You can also listen to me reading this HERE.)

हलीवुडको चलचित्र “फाइट क्लब” को म एकदमै ठुलो फ्यान हुँ। यस चलचित्रको केन्द्रमा रहेको एउटा पंक्ति यस्तो छ : “फाइट क्लबको पहिलो नियम — तिमी यस क्लबको बारेमा कोहिसंग पनि कुरा गर्ने छैनौ। र, फाइट क्लबको दोस्रो नियम — तिमी यस क्लबको बारेमा कोहिसंग पनि कुरा गर्ने छैनौ।”

अरुलाई कसरी सल्लाह, सुझाब, वा फिडब्याक दिने भन्ने सन्दर्भमा फाइट क्लबको नियम जस्तै मेरो पनि एउटा मनगडन्ते नियम छ।

सल्लाह, सुझाब, वा फिडब्याक दिंदाको पहिलो नियम — तिमी कसैलाई पनि सल्लाह, सुझाब, वा फिडब्याक दिने छैनौ।दोस्रो नियम — तिमी कसैलाई पनि सल्लाह, सुझाब…

I am learning how to juggle three balls. I was trying to relate the concepts of working memory and cognitive load theory with a concrete example and learning how to juggle three balls made a perfect sense to me.

And, I also wanted to experiment on myself. First, I would try to learn juggling by watching a few juggling experts on youtube. Then try to figure it out myself on how it’s done — The Ekalavya way of learning archery. I made sure not to click any videos with “Learn how to…” or “Juggling for beginners…” Tempting thoughts though.

Week…

The corona pandemic. The need to keep the teaching and learning going.
Every teacher scrambling and doing what they can with whatever they have.

This is what I’ve been doing, and hope this general, bare minimum, lean lesson plan helps other teachers teaching online (while remaining sane).

I teach in a grad school, and the classes run for 120 mins synchronously, twice a week.

Prep before the class:
UbD based Lesson Plan
a. What is the big idea of this chapter/session?
b. How do I know the students have learnt this big idea?
c. What structure/activities/materials/articles do I need?

Beginning…

When I reflect on my school/college days as a student, my responsibility as a learner was basically to:
- attend the classes regularly,
- act obedient
- listen to the teachers,
- take notes (copy notes),
- prepare (re-read and memorize) for the exams
and do it all over again and again for many many years.

On the flip side, the basic responsibility of teachers was to:
- teach the content
- act strict
- supply notes
- conduct revision classes (check the memory)
- give exams
and do it all over again and again for many many years.

The…

At EA, we are passionate about empowering teachers, students, and professionals so that they can create more impact in the society. And we do so by creating amazing workshop experiences. That’s what we have been doing — sharpening our skills in understanding, designing, and facilitating participant-centric workshops so that they leave with a sense of empowerment. Just like earlier years, 2019 has been an awesome year of sharing, learning, reflecting, and growing. We want to thank all the schools, colleges, and institutions we’ve worked with this year. You guys are awesome.

Just about an hour into a workshop session for teachers, we were having the participants write a short reflection on their teaching rituals. Suddenly, out from the last table in the hall, this guy comes walking towards me. He looked like a leaner version of Rajesh Hamal, only a bit shorter, possibly a lot meaner.

He blurts out: “You know I’m also a teacher trainer. What you have been doing is quite boring. In my training sessions, I use a lot of movie clips and motivational clips to motivate the teachers. Why don’t you use such videos?”

I didn’t see…

Recently, we held a two-day workshop for the faculty members of Prime College. After the usual ice-breaker, I had this slide up, asked the participants to write them down, and share their responses.

While they were writing down their teaching & learning assumptions, I somehow slipped into my past and thought about my early days as an English language teacher in a private school.

The first two years of my teaching career were a disaster. With shame and regret, I have to admit that I was nothing but an arrogant teacher who would walk into the class with “Hey, I’m…

Are you creative?

If you are reading this, think about this question for a while. Now I want you to give yourself a rating on the scale of 0 to 10: rate how creative you are. Now, ask. Why didn’t you give a 10 for yourself? (Oh, did you give yourself a 10? Awesome. Why did you give a 10?)

So are you creative? Yes, you are. And, that’s what Ulla-Maija believes. “Don’t make excuses of not being creative,” saying this Ulma-Maija started the day with her session on Creativity. Every one of us can be creative if we work…