Learning Nerd’s Diary #35
Welcome back Learning Nerds!
Without me trying, this week’s writing takes inspiration from exercise so here is my favourite exercise gif to get us going!
👀 Sneak peak
Here is what I have in store for you this week -
💭 Learning About Learning: Lessons on Learning from CrossFit
🥜 Learning Nugget: Training Wheels
💥 Coolest Thing I Learnt This Week: Embracing Vulnerability
🔦 Spotlight: Instruction vs Learning
Let's jump right in!
💭 Lessons on Learning from CrossFit
I’ve been doing CrossFit since 2019. Besides it being a form of exercise I really enjoy, it also has some valuable lessons on learning.
Here are 4 lessons on learning from CrossFit -
1/ Focussed Time to Push 🎯
Most CrossFit workouts look something like this -
Warm-up → Skill Work → WOD (Workout of the day) → Cool Down
What I love about this format is that in both the Skill Work and the WOD you’re pushing yourself in different ways. Both put together still take up only about 50% of the workout time.
Most learning experiences don’t focus on priming the learners. Learning something new and applying what you already know is also quite siloed.
But what if our learning looked like this? What if in each class you prep, learn AND apply - all at once?
2/ Different Journeys 🛣
All CrossFit workouts are composed of the same set of exercises in different combinations. Moreover, for each exercise, there are variations based on the level of the athlete.
A handstand for a beginner starts somewhere else and for an athlete ends up with a lot more.
So even if the WOD is the same, everyone can pick their own scale. You could be level 1 in one exercise but level 5 in another one!
Formal learning is largely standardised. No two people are the same, but everybody is expected to know the same thing. What if we were to challenge that? What if instead of picking a standardised level for all subjects, you create your own journey for each?
3/ Different Scales 🏁
CrossFit workouts are of different kinds:
AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible): How much of a certain exercise you can do in a given time
EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute): Every minute you switch the exercise and move to the next one
For x Reps: Doing a certain number of reps, without any pressure of time
For PR: Doing exercise to reach your PR, without any pressure of time
With kind of workout you’re actually focussing on different things - it could be time and it could be strength or endurance & more!
What if our assessments were like this? What if instead of only focussing on how much we can do in a given amount of time, we measure other things as well?
4/ Personalised Benchmark 🚩
CrossFit has this concept of a PR or a Personal Record. Now a PR can be for -
Maximum weight deadlifted
Maximum number of burpees done in a minute
Fastest 1km run & many more!
PRs are not goals but milestones. Each PR is celebrated in an athletes journey because they mark growth in some form or the other. There is no standardised PR - PRs are unique for every athlete.
What would be the PR equivalent in the learning context? How do we shift from learners meeting a standardised benchmark to them doing their personal best?
I’m probably leaving this piece with more questions than answers but hey, that’s what learning is about right? What are some questions/ ideas that this has sparked for you? Are there any other lessons you can think of? Write to me, I’d love to hear from you!
🥜 Training Wheels
We rarely learn something in the first go.
All learning experiences require training wheels. How long they stay on changes for each learner.
💥 Coolest Thing I Learnt this Week
Embracing Vulnarability
There is this amazing talk by Brené Brown that talks about how courage requires vulnerability.
Earlier this year I got invited to be a part of a friend's 'Personal Board of Directors'. For him, this board was composed of some of his closest friends or people whose opinion he valued.
He was struggling with a career choice and we got together for our first 'Board Meeting' to hear out his dilemma and share our thoughts. He was surprised at how everyone on the call was rooting for this one option that he hadn't fully considered.
Putting yourself out there, even in front of your closest friends requires courage and vulnerability. And all of us need more of that in our lives.
Manager vs Maker
I came across this post and it really felt like someone was talking about my life!
Which one do you identify as - manager or maker?
How do you like to plan your day?
🔦 Spotlight
This amazing visual by Harish Srinivasan -
Love & Learning
Until we meet next week!
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