Things in Education

Edition 1.17

5 Aug 2022. This is the part two of a two-part series on how the process of scientific thinking can be used to engage students in active learning. In this part we give you an idea of how we approach designing a class to engage students in the process of scientific inquiry. We hope that this helps you integrate inquiry as a way to actively engage students in the classroom. Read More.

Edition 1.16

22 July 2022. This edition is the first of a two-part series on how the process of scientific thinking can be used to engage students in active learning. In this part we try to show how the process of scientific inquiry can lead to active engagement and hence deeper understanding in students. The next part will focus on the challenges while using the process of scientific inqury in class. Read More.

Edition 1.15

8 July 2022. Today's edition is a little different. It is a type of an experiment. This edition tries to summarise information on different aspects of lesson planning that we have written about over the last six months. Lesson planning is an important skill and needs to be built over time and experience in the classrooms makes lesson planning more refined. Sometimes teachers say, "I had a great lesson plan. I knew what I was going to do every minute of the class." Lesson plans are not only about preparing material for every minute of class. It is about engaging and motivating students. And what better way to introduce it, than to paraphrase the boxer Mike Tyson... Read More.

Edition 1.14

24 June 2022. In today's edition we have written about motivation - specifically motivating students to learn. Motivation is one of the most difficult aspects of child (or adult) psychology to deal with. There are multiple factors which feed into one's motivation. Here we present one framework by which we can understand student motivation. Read More.

Edition 1.13

10 June 2022. Thinking creatively need not be an in-born trait which cannot be taught. There are ways to encourage creativity in classrooms and help students build this vital skill. To understand how one can do this, Read More.

Edition 1.12

27 May 2022. Flipped learning has gained some momentum in the last few years given the advent of online learning and asynchronous learning. In this article we talk about the dangers of doign flipped learning wrong. This is meant as a caution and we will share tips on how to avoid this in upcoming editions.  Read More.

Edition 1.11

13 May 2022. Inquiry-based learning is a powerful pedagogy which allows for the democratisation of education. Students have a bigger say in what they would like to explore and learn rather than being told to do something. However inquiry classes are not straightforward to manage for some teachers, especially early on. In this edition of the newsletter we take a look at the challenges that teachers face and how we can ovecome these challenges.  Read More.

Edition 1.10

29 Apr 2022. Why is it easier for us to remember all the characters of our favourite TV show and their history but when it comes to history of the world, we struggle to recall? This edition of our newsletter suggestes that the answer may lie in how our mind rebels against remembering things that it deems unimportant. As educators we need to get our minds to stop rebelling against the learning matter. Read More.

Edition 1.9

15 Apr 2022. Engaging lesson plans are important, but what is more important than engaging students? Engaging students so that they learn and understand. We write about how to go about approaching lesson plan creation by keeping student learning at the centre. We also have a couple of great teacher professional development courses - details in the newsletter. Read More.

Edition 1.8

1 Apr 2022. In today's edition of our newsletter we decipher why it is difficult to think critically. And once we know why it is difficult, we can find ways to make it easier for students to develop critical thinking as a skill. Read More.

Edition 1.7

18 Mar 2022. In today's edition of our newsletter we focus on project-based learning (PBL). Specifically, we share our experiences of working with educators who are interested in conducting PBL classrooms in their schools. We hope that this edition helps you understand the basics of PBL and gives you options on how to start the transition to PBL classrooms. Read More.

Edition 1.6

4 Mar 2022. It is that time of the year again! The final examinations are upon us in most of the schools in India. And they will soon begin in the rest of the world, as well. Creating the final examination is an important process. One, it can assess the students' progress in the year. A subtle but more powerful aspect of creating final examinations is to allow teachers to reflect on the year of teaching and learning. Reflecting on the focus of teaching during the year can be a powerful tool to know what a teacher taught during the class, and hence what to focus the final examinations on. Further it helps teachers understand what teachers got right and what changes they should try in the next year. We hope that this edition helps you with the reflection process. Read More.

Edition 1.5

18 Feb 2022. Our core interest and expertise lies in Teacher Profesional Development and we help schools and governmental organisations to upskill teachers. From our experience we have come up with some common pitfalls that educators may fall into while thinking about professional development. Though this edition comes from our experience with schools, these are easily applicable to individual educators and parents. Read More.

Edition 1.4

4 Feb 2022. Reading is a difficult activity for the human brain. Depending on the language we can fluently read, our brain develops differently. What does this mean as digital devices replace books as primary reading resource? In the fourth edition of Things in Education, we dive into answering this question. And not surprisingly, the answers may come from the early days of writing in Western Asia and Egypt. Read More.

Edition 1.3

21 Jan 2022. In the third edition of Things in Education, we focus on how challenging it is for educators and students to transition from lecture-based classrooms to inquiry classrooms. We also write about scaffolding and how it helps in student learning not only in inquiry classrooms, but also in any type of classroom. Read More.

Edition 1.2

7 Jan 2022. In the second edition of Things in Education, we talk about one of the main reasons why reading levels in India are so low and what are small changes that educators or parents can make to help build reading skills in students. Read More.

Edition 1.1

25 Dec 2021. In this first edition of Things in Education, we talk about why our brain is quick to lose motivation to learn, and how relevance, rigour and fun can make learning easier as well as deeper. Read More.