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GOTD - What is Grej of the Day?
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Well, the short version is that GOTD is a micro-lesson concept - initially designed for educators and students - which is based on a tool box of several well-researched triggers that help us absorb new information and facts more easily.
In GOTD, you use and integrate different key ingredients that together make you a little extra curious about the new fact - take in more information much quicker - and you will also remember it significantly better.
In 2010, Micke decided to start each school day with a super short micro lesson. This concept, which he chose to call "Grej of the Day", was based on these basic pillars:
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CLUE
The day before the microlesson: Micke gave the students a clue (text, image, puzzle...) for the next day, as a teaser, an intro to the following micro lesson. E.g. "A radiant woman". This really fueled their curiosity and many tried to solve the clue in different ways.
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THE MICRO LESSON
The next day: The students eagerly shared thier solutions and thoughts regardning the clue. Micke presented his answer: Marie Curie and gave a short, interesting micro lesson about her.
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SHORT FORMAT
Micke´s GOTDs were usually only 7-8 minutes short. He wanted to harness the power of the compressed format. These sessions would be the intro to something new and exciting. He wanted to stop before the students had a chance to get bored.
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STORYTELLING
These "lessons" were always based on storytelling ("Farytales of facts"). The facts were of course always included, but it would be easy to listen to and keep up.
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WOW
Every GOTD contained at least a couple of real WOW moments - "What? Is it really true?!" Facts like these are easier to remember.
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PPT
Micke used powerpoint BUT containing only images. This was not a ”dictation exercise” or a "read-everything-while-I-talk-exercise" - He wanted the students to really listen. The images were just there to enhance the comprehencion and facilitate memory storage.
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RETELL
Each GOTD was completed by the students retelling at home some exciting part(s) from today's micro-lesson. Retelling from memory is considered to be one of the absolute best methods when you want to consolidate something new.​
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THE KNOWLEDGE NETWORK
On the classroom wall they had a big GOTD world map. With pins, thread and small pictures they would gather all of the GOTDs (see above). This GOTD-wall really became a new epicenter in the classroom and here you could literally see how much they learned, and how knowledge was connected in different ways.
GOTD really turned everything upside down. Micke´s class loved the concept from day one. They literally DEMANDED that they had this every morning (hence the name – ”a thing a day”) and the effect was incredible. Watching in real time these school-weary and unmotivated kids transformed into curious students in just a couple of months is the most powerful thing Micke has been a part of.
Micke completed more than 600 (!) GOTDs over six academic years. GOTDs about everything from the Blue Whale and Apollo 13 to the Berlin Wall and Anne Frank. In the beginning it was just him and his class ”grejing” but slowly the word spread and GOTD was discovered around the world:
2014 – Article in SvD (biggest Swedish newspaper)
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2015 – Micke is named Best Teacher of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce and appears on TV.
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2016 – The first GOTD book is released in Sweden, Micke holds a TEDx in The Hague
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2017 – GOTD spreads in Finland
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2019 – GOTD spreads to the Netherlands and Belgium
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2020 – GOTD spreads to Norway
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2021 – GOTD takes off for real. France, Australia, NZ…
2022 – More than 100,000 teachers in various GOTD communities around the world including Singapore, India, Bali, Austria...
Check out Grej of the Day on Facebook and Youtube.