21-day challenge for teachers

Happy Teacher's day!
(To people in India.*)

Happy teachers day to all the people who came into life and played their role. Without which certain learning would not have been possible. Few played a very big role. From my parents, near relatives, neighbours, friends, school and class teacher, few institutes and many more.

Before 2008, exactly 10 years back. I denied being a teacher and working as a teacher.
From 2008, u started seriously thinking about teaching.still many times (almost all, I kept on saying I don't want to become a teacher. I am not a teacher.)
Today in 2018,
I humbly accept and feel grateful of The Divine on being a teacher.

Why I never liked calling myself as a teacher. As I always thought and firmly believe that teaching is noble profession. It's a true service. Teaching for me is not  an occupation, a career. Teaching is more of learning. And more than learning it is about living the life. Living the life in its true form. As a learner seeking the truth, moving towards light. I can go on writing and describing all this thoughts and feelings. There is already enough on social media and on internet about this topic. Specially today, they are in circulation a lot.

Here I want to present something little different. Many of us might be doing something alike or similar.
Today, I want to share them as a challenge to the teacher.

This 21 day challenge is for the teacher.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OrzlNiVrCp2WLhcqvxBAOTCOgEkpjZr8G5UMkEY_ktk/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=112414330940144438553

I have put 24 challenges.

You can select any one and do them for 21 day.
Or select one for a day and go on for 21 days.

You can share your feedback, experience of challenge and your stories, to me on

jiyomaitry@gmail.Com
Or
9560839287
Or just put a comment on google document.

This 21 set of challenge is a work in progress. So pls share valuable insight what works more, any such challenge which we can include here.

I am grateful to following organization and people. Either I learned few practiced presented here their or got an opportunity to do them on campus. People who inspired and supported.
mirambika - on becoming director of my life. Bringing me more near to my true self, near to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. I love you. Special thanks and wishes to tara di, kamala di, srila di, sulochana di, baren bhai, rashmita di, minati di, nithya shanti (my connection is through mbk only), ramesh bhaiya, matthijs bhaiya and neeltje di and all other didi bhaiya of past, present and future. Children and their parents who were always there for new learning and opportunity.
Few other people from Sri Aurobindo Society, vetal ben, kaivalya bhai, shiva da, vijay bhai, shantanu da and sampadanad bhai and more....

Gayatri Parivar - without whom I would not have came to know about Sri Aurobindo. And also providing me my first chance to work with the children at borivali, mumbai. Nivedita ben, amar bhai, truptiben, poonam ben, darshit bhai, manish bhai, sheetal ben, manisha ben and others for supporting and allowing to be part of sunday school. And also vajpayee ji for trusting and giving responsibility to conduct workshop in uttarakhand.

The Yoga Institute, Santacruz, mumbai.
For consolidating my learning and giving back the faith. Anjele mam, krunal sir, hansaji, varsha mam , vandana mam and many more... It's a place where few ideas and belief got reconfirm and also got new fresh to test and move on the path.
Few ideas of challenge are from there and few I had been practicing in my own sense but here it got refined and reconfirms.

The Polymath school and EL education
My last ground where I did few experiments and lived with children. EL from where I found new ways and making simple thoughts and idea work. Few challenges are take from EL core practices. Some of them were followed at the polymath school.

Service Space, Nipun bhai and wonderful people associated with moved by love.

Mihir pathak - for taking initiative, pushing  and supporting me for beautiful learning curve.

At the end today, happy teachers day to all. Special thanks, love to all wonderful divine , soul who came as a student, children to this life.

Eti Shubham.

*UN celebrates teachers day on 5th October.

Need and Time

After writing yesterday's portion on learning style, today some sharing and reflections took place at friends place. One word which drew more attention was need. Finding learners need of learning, what learner must have or must do to become knower, doer in its most perfect way.{ Grateful to the teacher who asked few questions on my previous article. Without which could not have went little deeper into this word and it's aspect. Also grateful to srila di and the yoga institute for exercise on need, want and desire.}

One of the question which came to my mind was, does need has a tense?
Here are few random, unorganised chains of thoughts on answer of above question.

In simple terms..
Needs are always in a present.
Leaving apart need of breathing, eating, sleeping, and others such general ones. Needs can not be in past or of future.

I looked into dictionary. It says need is a verb with two different ways of knowing.
Something one must have or something one must do.

Needs are of two types, one which is constant and every moment/day one has to fulfilled it. Another which changes as per the development and cyclic nature of growth/person. Means in summer you feel a need to make yourself cool. But in winter same need is completely opposite in nature.
Need is nothing much but a bare minimum necessity. We as human crossed the bridge and made it two crowded , where we mixed need and wants..

Need is taken as a verb, except as common noun. As per business dictionary, need is a motivational force that compels action for its satisfaction. Needs are finite and wants are boundless.
Needs can be of necessities ,basic survival (should be called living) and those created by human per say social, intellectual and cultural, can be called necessaries. Still without few necessaries need one can live healthy, safe life.

Talking in learner need, it is a necessary point of development which learner wants to move ahead.

Needs are define primarily in present moment.. moment needs starts defining in future, as must have or must do... It becomes very easy to turn and sleep into demands, wants, desire..

There is something call developmental need. Like chile as it develop, at different stages it will require different sets of things. If one makes a progression graph of such need, it will mostly linear in nature. In terms of wants progression graphs keeps on growing even after satisfaction of it,some time quite exponentially.

What I really require? My basic needs to live a life on this beautiful earth.

Learner, need and style

On Saturday, I paused while writing the blog post on style of teaching and learning.

Today, little more insights, an understanding has been developed on same ground.

Before diving deep into the topic
some process and purpose needs to be stated in terms of education, teaching and learning.

In very simple words there is a person who feels a need to know, do, develop for own progress so one can do something more better or do something which never done before, know something little better. To be able to participate in worldly affairs. And list can go on from knowing things within to knowing things without.

In this process there is a learner, who has a need. And someone or something who is able to help in fulfilling the need. This someone or something , can be friend, teacher, mother, father, book, songs, movie, experience..

Unlike taking both the strand (learner and learner supporter /teacher/others) together for this part, we will take learner in our center.

A process of pause and listening is a first thing to be done. Listening here stands for observing and finding , hearing those parts.
What we going to pause and listen is real need of learner.
This pausing and listening can be done by learner himself or herself, in consultation and guidance. In case of small children  the Parent can do pausing and listening. (Here small children taken are below 10 and maximum age allowed is18, that to progressively keeping child invovle in the process and giving freedom. Some might get wise by age of 14 too and may be before.) It's a role of parent to find real need of a learner and not to impose some demands as per own, society or any other agency.

Needs of learning is what needs to kept at center.
To meet this need learner has to take certain steps, put ones hand, heart and head into it. In simple word use whole body, mind , intellectual complex system fir this learning.
What we have seen style is some outer behaviour and ways.
When we work in the world, whole of our life... It's not that we only use one sense or one particular part.

When I am accessing information and knowledge, it's all sense.. through all sense only an integral picture can be made. Some sense will work predominently while few in dorment. With activities it can be different.

Finding out predominent style of Learning. Then people defend and give as much as possible information to instruction to knowledge through that style only.
This sounds like, if I am visual learner I will use eyes more than the ear.
Is it possible?
Such lope sided attempt builds and slowly brings disharmony.

Knowing ones predominent style is good. But should not be made a case for a learner in terms of not developing and using other ways of learning. Rather focus can be refinining and making instruments better in all domain. Such should be our approach. Mastering one side will easily lead to master others too.  If practiced sincerly, one can develop more.

Many time it has been seen finding such learning style give another fancy of working in one direction and trying that method absolute on other. Interest of learner also has some stack in it. Learner might not have got that sense of need completely. So much that learner can identify a right support who can help in fulfilling those needs. Whether it can be teacher or a book ot a video or internship.
If learner doesnt have a choice to select support to fulfill need, learner mind should always keep higher end of aim, the need. Also other in any ways not suggest about or disrespect learner support. Not to tell that such teacher or books are useless and degrading talk. If learner finds such things , tries to find a way, change the support or develop such capacity through which it can adapt the teaching style. Asking someone else to change is much more difficult and expect other to change. It's easy to change oneself. Here to one is not actually changing ones style just enhancing less predominent style or using them more. Which eventually going to produce better result and develops learner into much better learner.

In short we, learner, parent, teacher need to come out of mindset that only and only through this way I can learn something. Finding style is good but macking it exclusive is not. Rather one can work in direction of improvement holistically. Sense development and awareness through body program are such things which can help learner to become better adapter to learning in different forms and style.

PS: at the end quenching the need of learning is the goal. One cannot give away learning from some very knowledgeable or experience person just because it doesn't match or doesn't cater to our learning style.
I haven't done editing and reading thrice this time.. if any mistakes , pls help..

Link of next post , teaching style
Style vs Substance in education http://godsknow.blogspot.com/2018/09/style-vs-substance-in-education.html

सुन day

सुन day.

सोन day।

Sunday is a day to listen... Your body and heart....
Monday to saturday ... You done enough o hand  leg and brain to get...
Let us also do something...

Let me sleep, you didn't allowed that too easily.

Writing this note today in lighter laughter not.

I wanted post of sunday little bit less research and heavy.

But can't stop.
Was checking history of sunday.

It's just 19th century no work day as per government and other sector.

But way back in 9th century as church getting autonomy, had declare no physical labour on that day. Even some church had told one should not travel on that day...

Whatever....

Right now I am musing with this सुन day।
Listen good music
Listen to your family member, friends and relatives...
Listen to your house.
Listen to your own body... (Isn't on regular day we force or ignore certain physical need and desires. But on Sunday with special attention we see gases moving, hunger striking, rest and relaxation.)
Listen to demands of relationship

Listen to _______(pls fill yours) on सुन day।
आज किसकी सुनी sunday ko?

Why style matters in education? Or does it really matter?

{ps: prerequisite before reading it, this topic consider person has fair bit of idea about different learning style (auditory, visual, kinesthetic and others) and teaching style (model, facilitator, lecture,etc.). If not use any of the below reference resource and read them. Thanks. You are free to read otherwise too.}

There are two main definition of the english word - style. (In hindi : शैली)

1. The way that something is done, built, etc.
2. The shape, fashion or design of something.

Now when we put this word along with Learning and Teaching. We can derive few meaning out of it. Each tells whether it is static or dynamic, fixed constant or changeable variable. I am not going right now in details to take each combination and analyse them

In general, few believes are prevalent in education domain, specially in today's time. They are,
1. When we use word learning style we generally, mostly use second definition of style, with fixed notion.
And
2. While using teaching style we generally, mostly use first definition of style and in changeable notion.

Above statement comes from general observation, few reading and research finding. (See the video given in link. Again not going into details)

But why I am suddenly talking about this? That to in short description.

I found this Learning quite amusing. Seeds of it is quite old. While current root lies in one month yoga course.

On first day of our course, during  orientation we were told there's going to be many teachers. Some time two to three teacher for same areas. Each with their unique style.
That's hard fact for any institute, school, university. Every individual going to be unique. Teachers, professors are not a machine robots which can produce same thing.

As a student, I tried to adopt and adjust all learning style appropriate for that particular teacher to best (and some time low too) of my capabilities.
It was interesting mix of things.

But in those few days what I show as a student and conversation with fellow student. As well past observation of teacher and student. I develop little more understanding about life and education. It posed few questions too.

I found we have somewhere got caught in our own believes about our style and capability. Our mindset has restricted us. Also as a system, on one hand we are telling teachers to change style of teaching, differentiated learning and so on.. but same thing we don't tell to student who can actually get more benefit by doing so. (In terms of development). We label student (it's happening at many places) or start comparing student with student, teacher with another teacher. To a certain extent that parent and even other teacher don't hesitate to tell to their children, your teacher doesnt know 'how to teach?' ' your teacher is third class teacher .' and many such phrases and sentences.

At same time, providing a child with learning style most dominant or preference base, really helps that child. In life, at work scenario at many other learning and development level can we keep on creating, catering to those style. And if you don't find such occasion and teacher which suits your learning style, then what will you do?

What are we doing?

Again a big question, here I would like to take a pause..
I would like to take a pause for two reason.
1.
Bring down a level down and present questions, understanding in smaller chunk... While maintaining that interconnectedness.
2. I have already presented something which many have tried, challenged and proved by research, a kind of myth we have generated on learning style.

Also, you might to read again or watch the video.
As above write up is kind of summary and next steps..

Reference resources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/557687/

https://blog.cognifit.com/teaching-styles/amp/

Multiple intelligence by Howard Gardner

https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/5-types-of-classroom-teaching-styles/
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/rhubarb/fingerprints-learning-styles.html

https://youtu.be/855Now8h5Rs
(Must watch...)

Images front tes.com and internet sources.

Back to school, as a student

27th july 2018
Day of leaving school as a teacher is coming near. I have resigned and they have finalized the day and date - Tuesday, 31st July 2018.
Many things are playing withing mind. Shall I tell student about my leaving. When I will hand over various things to others, things (areas)I used to look after.
What next yoga course, extension in school or work or something else.
Heart is convinced to go for yoga course. Basic inquiry has been done.

I went to school in a school T-shirt. Instead of taking class, I allowed teachers to take the lead. I pretended almost whole day as a student. New admission. Except class with younger kids, kg2 and grade 1 kids.  It was fun to be like student. Real student kept on bringing and catching me at every nook and corner when I acted as teacher or found at place teacher goes.

30 and 31st July 2018
Game went on, I pretended most of the time as a student. Switching the role between student and teacher, wherever I liked and found necessary. They also enjoyed along. Few student of 4th and 5th grade wanted to take advantage. They started acting and tempting me to come out of the role.
I am just pretending. Can't really be a student, specially of their age group. Still it is a worth to try and find.

1st August 2018
I woke up early, around 4am. I have to get ready to reach the yoga institute by 9am and before that go home, collect documents and fee receipt. I left bhiwandi house around 5.10am. on good ground by 7.30am I was at goregaon. Took little bit rest, collected documents and left the place to reach Santacruz.
Dot 9am I am at the institute. It took a longer time to complete all formality, I was getting impatient. Classes will being by 10am. I waited. It's 10.45am and still no sign. I went to concern person and told, hope my class will not get miss. Can I go and attend the class. She agreed and I am in the class now.

First class itself set the tone and brought a new light which I was seeking. A much needed thing and it came.
Finally, I am a student again.
Going to be student for a month now.
I was waiting for this moment since March 2016, when I had registered and paid fees for this course. At that time, I followed the different call. Time was not ripen to attend this course in 2016. Time has come now and looking forward for wonderful learning.
At the end of a day, still in exahlated state. Out of three class two became special. One by the director of the institute, smt. Hansaji. And another a class on patanjali yoga sutra by vandana ma'am.

What is yoga?
A question with multiple answer, multi dimensional. Conscious and unconscious seeking of nature.

I will try to write more on learning, experiences and whatever else comes up.

Happy on being a student again. That's what I shared in introduction round too.

Till yesterday, I was a teacher in school and today, now I am a student among you.

Learning as a student

{Source: Google search}

As a learner life teaches us many things. Our education continues from birth to death. Every moment there is something to learn and progress to be made. Evolve into the future, into our better self. Consciously or Unconsciously we are learning. Our brain, mind, heart and body keeps on adapting and adjusting according to newer learning taking place. Sometime with our knowledge and acknowledgment, while many times without that. Life moves on. That's where a question needs to be asked "Are you learning as a student?"

What does this mean, ' learning as a student' in above context?

There are certain typical character or actions which belongs to a person who is a student. Like, student is seeking something beyond him/her. Student has a questions and seeks the answer. Student has some goal to achieve. Students wants to develop certain skills by learning from the teacher and putting them into practice. Ideal Student is sincere, attentive, aware, and so on...

When we just live our life, some of this characteristic of student are not present or present but in its lower state (can be called unconsciously present). Many unsolved problems and questions are there but in daily rut they are put aside. We can't put our 100% attention and occupy oneself only for finding answer, a difficult task.

Yet, there are few who are not just aware but consciously puts an effort to live and not just exist. When we do not just live our life (merely alive) but really live (full of awareness, joy and enthusiasm). They are student of Universe, or the life itself.

Thus asking again a question

Are you learning as a student, from the life/universe?

 

or

Does life just teaches you important lessons and you move on without learning?

PS: I started writing this blog post with intent to share my experience as a student in past 30 days (month of August 2018). I wanted to share few of the learning, feelings and much more. What I learn and found as a student at The Yoga Institute, Santacruz, Mumbai. It would have been simple if I just typed what I wrote yesterday night in diary. But this question "Are you learning as a student?" is very powerful right now for me. I hope this questions brings something to you too. If it does, do share your views/learning/experience on it. 

I hope to write down another post about the experience as a student in a day or two. Eti Shubham