I wish to present my memoirs of each day at my teaching practice session as the rivets which helped to find balance and stability in my teaching.....
09-11-2016
This was the day when we started the second phase of School internship as part of our B.Ed programme. The school allotted for me was Fort H.S. Me and the student teacher from Malayalam optional Thushara .T.P were the only teacher training candidates in that school. We were very happy to have been allotted a place in the staff room itself. We got sufficient space to place our belongings and do our daily work.The first day in class was also very interesting. When I asked the students to introduce themselves in English they looked at me with a confused expression. I decided that I had to use the Bilingual method to help them learn English.
10-11-2016
I started teaching only from the second day of the teaching practice. As per the timetable on all week days I was allotted the first period. Loss of time on taking attendance and settling down the late comers seemed to be a challenge. I doubted if I would be able to finish the lesson plan within the planned time. Preparation and use of teaching aids also posed a challenge. The opportunity to use the smart class facility was very encouraging from the part of the school authorities.
11-11-2016
Today I started unit 4 Flowers and showers. The subunit song of the flower is a poem which teaches about dealing with life’s struggles. The students listened to the class out of curiosity. I felt happy about the way I handled the first class in this session.
14-11-2016
Co operative learning is found to be a very effective strategy in teaching. So I chose to use the co operative learning model to teach Metaphors and Similies to the students. I found that they enjoyed a deviation from the usual classroom practices.
15- 11-2016
The second subunit of UNIT 4 is ‘First Showers’. I felt very much hopeful about teaching this lesson as the scope of using the smart facility was very high in this lesson.
18-11-2016
The class management was a bit challenging. But I hoped to improve more. The school was new and also the students. I thought I might take more time to adjust to the new challenges.
21 – 11-2016
I felt that grammar lessons will definitely help the students to improve their language use. Adverbs were taught to them using the Concept attainment model. The students had difficulty in identifying the unlabelled examples. I felt I could have simplified it.
22-11-2016
Today I felt very motivated to use the smart class facilities to take the ICT lesson on pronouns. The possibility of ICT is definitely helpful in enriching student learning experience.
23-11-2016
Today I started the lesson “The nightingale and the rose” by Oscar Wilde. I played a video on the earth song by Michael Jackson as the entry activity. I felt the students struggled to give the correct pronunciation for the words even if I read it repeatedly.
24-11-2016
The smart class facility was used to display the various musical instruments as the part of the constructivist group activity. I thought it was effective as the students sat with a smiling face. They were also successful in giving the right answers.
25-11-2016
Today I used a model available from internet to give learning experiences in grammar. ‘Clauses’ was the topic. I also finished the exercises related to the lesson that I was teaching in class.
29-11-2016
The entry activity on feelings was received with enthusiasm by the students. The students had difficulty in finding the meanings of the new words when they tried to track the passage. I remembered that the students I was allotted during 3rd semester teaching practice were comparatively better in terms of vocabulary skills.
30-11-2016
The reflections of today’s activity encouraged me to be more planned with learning activities. The student efforts to view the pictures selected for the entry activity caused a bit of indiscipline. I thought i would give them more specific directions to present the answers after entry activities as well as group activities.
01-12-2016
Today I continued with the lesson ‘The Nightingale and the rose’. The students had difficulty in finishing the crossword puzzle which was given as the entry activity. I was especially happy about the facilities of the smart class in the school while I took the class. It could be understood that they did not use it much as most of the teachers did not prepare any presentations for the class.
02-12-2016
The discourse construction in today’s class was to find word substitutes matching the character traits. The time management in the class is something I have to improve. I feel like giving a lot of explanations when I find the students in doubt. This must be the reason why I am not able to keep up with the time allotted for the class.
05-12-2016
The entry activity was interesting to the students. They were able to share their wishes and present it before the class. The lesson also referred to a character whose wish causes the story to happen. The students in my class are from poor families. There were students from vanchi poor home also. I think I should help them to compensate for the lack of support to imporove the study skills. I feel they are more interested in such life related explanations I give in the class.
07-12-2016
The entry activity for today’s lesson was really entertaining to the students. They were asked to find the animals hidden in the given sentences. I asked a few questions about the previous portions to which they responded satisfactorily. The discourse construction activity was a bit too difficult for them. I could not get the expected quality in the student’s work. The discourse activity was to prepare and deliver a speech to mourn the death of the nightingale. I thought I should simplify the work more.
08-12-2016
Today I took the advance organiser model to help them learn the essentials of letter writing. The diary entry format was given as the advance organiser. Priya Ma’am observed my class. She gave some valuable suggestions.
09-12-2016
I started the lesson with the explanation about the summary of the lesson learned till then. I felt that would be effective to those who missed the previous lessons. The chart of the entry activity could be prepared well. With a little help the students were able to identify the proper headlines.
03-01-2017
The first working day of the New Year!! I started the class with positive thoughts for my students and myself. We both had to improve ourselves in areas of our work. I had to take a lesson which presented the importance of humanitarian values. I had asked the students to discuss about their life experiences during the group activity. Some of the students were silent. I could finish the class on time. I felt I had improved a lot in time management.
04-01-2017
Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s ‘Solitude’ was continued in the class today. I played a few philosophical songs from Malayalam films stressing the solitary phases of human existence. The students had difficulty to speak in English .They could not be motivated to think creatively. I think they can improve with additional tips.
09-01-2017
Today I started the lesson ‘The school for sympathy’ by E.V.Lucas. I used a motivational video and a sharing of school experience to begin the lesson. The discourse construction did not satisfy me. The students wrote the same content from the text to complete the activity. I consoled myself thinking that changes cannot be brought about rapidly.
10-1-2017
I managed to finish some of the activities given in the text.I thought I should finish the exercises in the text together with finishing the activities in the lesson plan.
11-01-2017
The answer sheets of the achievement test were distributed to the students. I got an additional class today. So I could finish more lesson plans today. There is a reference about observation of Blind day, deaf day and lame day in the lesson. I asked the students try it out in the class. I felt they could experience the challenges of the differently-abled students.
12-01-2017
I never imagined before my teaching practice that I would be able to make my class effective by utilising the ICT facilities. The power point presentations and multimedia downloads are helping the students to take interest in the lessons. Today my class was observed by our teacher. I taught grammar lesson in the class. The topic was ‘Subject and Predicate’.
13-01-2017
’School for sympathy’ gave a chance to present a video on Hellen Keller and Ann Sullivan. I could explain to the students the value of the hardwork and hope in helping a person to succeed in life. I have started to make the students engage in the activities connected with the lesson given in the text.
14-01-2017
I did not get class today. Today there was school assembly in the morning. The prize distribution for winners of the district youth festival was done in the assembly. As part of the MADHURAM MALAYALAM programme by Mathrubhumi daily together with the rotary club a dust bin was donated to the school. They distributed copies of the newspaper to the students. In the afternoon I continued my dance lessons with the students who were being prepared for the annual day.
16-01-2017
I love the writings of the great Indian writer Kamala Das better known to malayalis as Madhavikutty. I really enjoy teaching from ‘the Grandmother’s house’ in class. I showed them a video on the great Indian writer. The students attempted to prepare a summary of the short story written by her. I knew the students have limitations in doing exercises in English, but I think it is important to give them chances to work so that they try and improve their skills.
17-01-2017
Today I finished the lesson ‘my grandmother’s house. I presented the visualised version of the poetry. I will always be thankful to Youtube for the varied possibilities it opens up. The use of internet resources can definitely revolutionise the teaching of English!
18-01-2017
Today I gave diagnostic test in the class. They were very disturbed even at the thought of an exam. But they co-operated with the test. After that I gave the physical education lessons as a part of the Physical Education paper. They were made to play a game and chances to self evaluate their performance was given. Me and Thushara are the arts education teachers at that school.
19-01-2017
Today I finished the text- based activities in connection with the lesson ‘the Grandmother’s house’. The activities were done through group discussions to ensure student participation. The students were more attentive. I felt they could understand my efforts.
20-01-2017
There were text-based activities to be conducted for the lesson ‘the Grandmother’s house’. I made the students to do the work. The work was conducted in the form of constructivist group discussion. A few documentaries on Kamala Das was also shown in the smart class.
I also planned the activities for the conscientisation programme together with thushara.
23-01-2017
Just two more weeks ahead before the finish of the teaching practice. The thought of class interactions coming to an end was disturbing. I enjoy the time in my class and also taking part in the school activities. The school administration has been very co-operative.
In the class I presented a video on Shakespeare’s life. I asked questions related to the video. The students were responsive.
24-01-2017
Today we conducted the conscientization programme.the headmistress of the school Smt.Usha inaugurated the event.Thushara and me took class on the topic ‘Drug Abuse’.The students from classes 8th,9th and 10th participated in the programme.The students were allotted some responsibilities in connection with the conduct of the progamme. They participated whole-heartedly.
25-01-2017
Today I showed them a video on the topic ‘Merchant of Venice’. After that I conducted a discussion on the theme. The students were responsive. I felt happy about their change.I understood that if we continue our efforts to make changes in students through hard work good things will happen.
27-01-2017
The topic of today’s lesson was grammar. I taught them about the construction of various types of sentences with the help of an instructional video downloaded from the internet. I feel that variety in approach will definitely make learning process interesting.
Today there was a programme on public education at the school. The programme had the participation of the community members also. While the teachers and students got engaged in the learning activities they formed a symbolic protective ring and pledged to save public education. I felt very much inspired of the government initiative.
30-01-2017
We are going to conclude the teaching practice by this week. At this point I realise that changes have happened in me, as a teacher. My students have also shown improvement in various study skills. They are far better in English communication than the starting period of my teaching practice. They have also become more responsive. Today my topic was ‘Merchant of Venice’. I conducted a role play as a part of the lesson. The students thoroughly enjoyed it.
The experience from the teaching practice helped to take up the teaching profession more seriously. The conditions in our schools should be understood before directing the students towards learning. The social realities were really shocking. I felt the most important challenge was to make the students understand the importance of learning and ensure their whole hearted participation.
