Okay folks, let me tell you about that time I stumbled on the Unacademy World Series 2021 Top Teachers List thing. Man, I just loved the idea – learn from the best, right? Sounds perfect for picking brains. So, here’s exactly how my messy, human attempt to soak it all up went down.
Finding the List and Getting Set Up
First things first, I had to find the actual list. Seemed obvious, but it wasn’t just sitting on their main page like I thought. Had to dig around a bit in their announcements section – kinda like finding an old sock buried in the laundry pile.
Finally got it. Looked like a long list of names and subjects. Felt a bit overwhelming. So many people! I grabbed my notepad – the cheap spiral one I use for shopping lists mostly – and my phone. Decided to pick a few names whose subjects I actually kinda knew something about already. Didn’t wanna dive into rocket science day one.
Signed up quick for Unacademy itself. Easy enough. Then I hunted down the schedule for when these top teachers would actually be teaching. Some were live soon, some were already done and had stuff recorded. Messy. I scribbled down names and times I could actually make on sticky notes. My desk looked chaotic already. Couldn’t just rely on app reminders; trust issues, you know?
The Actual Watching… And Trying To Absorb
Alright, showtime. Set myself up with coffee. Important fuel. Joined the first live session.
Teacher started talking, real fast and passionate. Felt like trying to drink from a firehose. Scribbled like mad in my notebook. My handwriting? Absolute chicken scratch. Probably only decipherable by me, and maybe not even then.
Tried focusing on how they taught, not just what they said. Things like:
- How did they start the class? Big idea? Funny story?
- When someone asked a question in the chat, how did they handle it?
- What kind of examples did they pull out for the tough bits?
Sometimes I got lost in the what and forgot the how. Brain would wander. Noticed some teachers used the platform tools really well – drawings, highlighting stuff on screen. Others were mostly talking heads but man, just the way they explained things made it click. It wasn’t about fancy graphics, sometimes just clear words.
Made a big mistake once. Thought a session started later, showed up halfway through. Felt like an idiot. Luckily, that one was recorded. Still, annoying.
Recording and Reviewing (The Chaotic Way)
For the live ones I caught, I did something kinda janky. Propped my phone up on a stack of books near the laptop and hit record. Just audio mostly, sometimes shaky video. Not some perfect recording system, just me trying to capture it. Figured I could replay bits later when my brain wasn’t so full.
Later, when I looked back at my notes and the recordings… man, it was a big mess. My notes made sense only when I listened back to the specific part they matched. Took longer than I thought. Ended up rewriting some stuff clearer in a slightly better notebook. Started marking things:
- Green check mark for great teaching moves I wanna steal.
- Red star for moments where the explanation suddenly made sense.
- Question mark where I still didn’t get it even after rewatching.
What I Ended Up With (And Didn’t)
So, after all that, did I become a top teacher? Nope! Not even close. That wasn’t the point though. Honestly, my main takeaway wasn’t a neat little package.
I saw different styles. Some super energetic, some calm and slow. Some made complex things seem simple, others broke it down step-by-step. The main thing? They all seemed deeply into their subject. Like they lived it. And they found ways to connect it to the person watching. It wasn’t just facts flying around.
My recordings? They’re still sitting in a folder on my desktop labeled “Unacademy Stuff” next to vacation pics and old tax docs. My rewritten notes? Slightly less chaotic than the first ones, but still just notes.
The biggest win was feeling inspired. Seeing how passionate people explained things lit a little fire under me. Got me thinking about my own explaining – how to make things clearer, how to show I care about it, how to stop sounding like a textbook sometimes. Picked up a few little tricks, like how certain teachers used pauses or simple drawings.
Was it efficient? Probably not. Did I have some moments scrolling through unrelated stuff during slow parts? Yeah, guilty. Did I get distracted by kids yelling outside or the coffee maker beeping? Oh yeah.
But hey, I actually did it. Dug into that list, watched those top teachers, got my hands messy taking notes, and came out the other side with something. It wasn’t pretty, but it felt real. Like actually putting in the work, bumps and all. Lessons weren’t just absorbed magically; I had to wrestle with it.
