'They don't need you tell them that New Delhi is the capital of India'

One and a half month into the course, The Two-day B.Ed Programme Orientation was held on 27 and 28 of November since admission procedure wasn't completed. The inaugural session was chaired by Dr. V.K. Santhosh Kumar. The most enlightening and inspiring talk was obviously delivered by Dr. Jayaprakash R.K, Director, SCERT Kerala. Despite his busy schedule, he found time to interact with a bunch of student teachers and left chunks of thoughts for us to reflect on.

''The students you're going to meet at the schools, they don't need you to tell them that New Delhi is the capital of India. That information is just a click away for them'', he said. This was indeed a shocking revelation and I pondered upon the very same statement for hours. He talked about the competencies of a teacher that today demands who, in his words, should have perspectives and fearlessness amidst a period full of fear and chaos.

Dr. Joly. S and Sri. Rahul V.R expressed felicitations. Welcome speech was delivered by Dr. Jayakrishna.K, Academic Co ordinator and Miss. Chinju S Nair delivered the vote of thanks.

The orientation programme consisted of 10 sessions led by 10 different teachers of our college which were meant to contribute towards grooming or moulding us to be 'good teachers'. The sessions, 1 hour or 45 minutes long, were informative and engaging and discussed about diverse areas such as technological competencies, pedagogical perspectives, social commitment, psychological underpinnings etc. of this profession. The sessions enabled us to prepare ourselves for the coming years intellectually and emotionally, and left a lasting impact.

Inauguration of Anti-Narcotic Club

 

The day was relevant considering the spread of the use of drugs among the youth and teens. A function chaired by PTA President, Sri. Sabu Valerian marked the inauguration of the Anti Narcotic Club, Nerkootam Committee and Sradha Committee as part of the 'No to Drugs' campaign organized by Government of Kerala. Sri. P.K.Jayaraj, Excise Division Officer, Tvm inaugurated the meeting and spoke extensively about the extent of the threat drugs are posing, its various dimensions, its influence among adolescence based on his professional experience. He was presented with a token of love from the GCTE Family.

Sri. Madava Das, Dr. Joly.S, Miss. Gayathri B.L and Miss. Mettilda Alphonse shared felicitations. The welcome speech and vote of thanks were delivered by Dr. V.K.Santhosh Kumar and Dr. Rajashree K. Prizes for the winners of Inter-departmental Script writing competition and Poster making competition were also distributed. The whole programme brought the urgency to address and resist drugs through a collective and systematic effort to the limelight.

Thiruvananthapuram South Subdistrict Science Fair

 

The day started really early as compared to my usual days. We were about to take on our charge as invigilators of the sub district level science fair held at Govt. Boys HSS Karamana. I was quite excited as it was my turn to be an invigilator after spending my school years as a participant and a spectator. As soon as we got there, events were allotted to each of us and we were sent to separate venues.

I was in charge of the vegetable printing competition of LP, UP, HS and HSS along with Kavya. The day had a rough start as parents and escorting teachers expressed their concern over the lack of adequate space for the participants. In fact, the room was congested, but there was no option other than utilizing the available space to the maximum. Along with 3 SPC cadets, I went on a mission to find out more benches and succeeded. It did cost me a reasonable amount of energy just to arrange the hall and calm down the disturbed crowd there. We managed to begin the competition by 10:20, late by 20 minutes.

I took the charge of HS and HSS section participants, checked their participant cards, made them sign the attendance form and distributed their chest numbers. The LP students were making the day more lively as they raised their hands everytime I was calling out HS and HSS students. They were so restless that I had to pin the chest numbers to their clothes as well. They kept on complaining about being hungry, but I was in no position to help them other than informing their teachers. This was saddening to an extent. I felt the strong need for efforts from the authorities to address this basic need of children as they had to spend 3 long hours there.

Throughout these 3 hours, none of us were supposed to sit or relax, as there were complaints and calls to be attended.I was amazed at the skill of students who made beautiful pictures in diverse colors and shapes. They made these on pillow covers, bedsheets and even on pallu of saree. I went on and took a glance at the metal engravings and fabric painting done by other students. Our responsibility ended only after, arranging the participants based on their section and chest number and assisting the judges.

Though the day had a chaotic start, it ended well. It was for the first time I was in a school and children were calling me as 'teacher'. It felt special.

Ganamela

The association hour organized by Physical Science department was vibrant. The programme titled 'Ganamela' consisted of group and solo performances. It was for the first time that we officially sang onstage in GCTE. Along with my friends, I sang alliyambal kadavil with karoake after so long and it did feel very special. However, o mama mama mama chanda mama stood out. The air was full of life and music and everybody had a really good time vibing to it.

Our time is now - our rights, our future

The assembly celebrating international day of the girl child was something warm and really close to heart. The fellow student teachers narrated anecdotes from their lives to remind the audience that 'being a girl child is not easy'. I found every bit of life shared in the assembly highly relatable. The assembly conveyed a great deal regarding the struggles that every girl goes through on a daily basis in a deeply patriarchal society. Bhagya recited the famous poem by Maya Angelou that goes ,

'... I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman, 

That's me.'

The day exhorted us to  believe in ourselves, follow our dreams and fight everything that comes in between.