Last Day♥

Last day as a teacher trainee at Cottonhill school.

To begin with, I was unable to express myself as the emotions within were confusing. I was proud, happy, sad, exhausted and contented, above all.

I have never imagined myself doing B.Ed, that too from a college in Thiruvananthapuram. But life had other plans and I'm here. 

I am happy that I got to see myself as a teacher. 

I am happy that I evolved as an emotionally more mature  individual.

I am happy that in spite of all the shortcomings and struggles, I made it through the first phase of school internship.

I spent the day recollecting the journey with my kids who were so considerate and loving. I gave sweets to them, captured photos and hugged them. I'm really grateful for the love, hugs, random compliments, reassurances and all the gentle gestures that made an anxious, clumsy student teacher comfortable amidst the chaos and recurrent self-doubt episodes.

I'll miss being their Bushra teacher..♥

A Hectic Day!

The day was tiring and hectic. I was assigned the exam invigilation duty in F12 room during the forenoon session. In the afternoon session, I was assigned the invigilation duty in the UP section. The exam started by 1 30 pm and didn't end till 3 45 pm. It was really exhausting to stand in the exam hall for such a long duration and walk to and fro while the learners were continuously asking doubts.

20/12/2023

I reached the school by 9 15. I was assigned the discipline duty in the school auditorium during the forenoon session and UP section during the afternoon session. I got to interact and talk with my kids from 8J, 8E and 9C. It felt quite warm as the internship was about to end.

19/12/2023

I was asked to invigilate the examination during forenoon session. I was in charge of the CwSN room. There were about 20 learners under various groups of learning disabilities or disabilities. I assisted them and gave prompts so that they can easily understand the questions and answer accordingly. I realized the need for individualized education plans instead of trying to accommodate everyone within the established system. 

Later, I collected the answer sheets and took it to the teacher in charge of examination.

English Exam🌚

I reached the school by 9 15. We were asked to divide the examination and discipline duties among ourselves. Since the learners of 8th standard had English exam in the afternoon, Bhagya, Ashly and I discussed the lessons with them. I discussed various discourses including notice, diary and letter with the learners and wished them luck for their exam.

13/12/2023

It was the first day of the half yearly examination. We were asked to report at G2 at 9 30 and carry out the duties according to the instructions. The learners of standard 8 and HSS section who didnt have exams in the forenoon session were seated at the auditorium. We were asked to look over them to ensure that they don't roam around the campus unnecessarily and the discipline is maintained. It was a monotonous task since there wasn't really anything to do. Besides I had to constantly approach the learners and tell them to keep silence or learn.

In the afternoon, Mary and I were assigned the duty to help teachers in the UP section. We accompanied Priya teacher while she distributed the armed forces day stamp among the teachers and engaged the learners of standard 5 as part of maintaining discipline

Chocolates, Feedback and Love..🍬💌

Last regular working day as part of the school internship phase 1. I was having mixed feelings about the day and the journey leading up to the day. I will for sure miss being called bushra teacher and complimented on the most random things..

I engaged 8E during the first period. I distributed chocolates among the learners and asked them to write a feedback about how they think I managed to pull off the role of a teacher. I was so happy to see the learners feedback papers drenched in colors and adorned with little sketches. I collected and read them as soon as I got back into the room and reflected on my journey with them.

In the afternoon session, I had a class with 9C. Since it was the last day before the exams, number of absentees overtook the number of learners who were present in the class. I distributed chocolates among them and asked them to write their reflection. Some of them wrote an entire sheet of paper and this added to my curiosity. As I read the reflections, I was glad that they appreciated the efforts I'd taken. Some of them wrote that they loved the new tradition of watching movies after the lesson was finished.

Countdown⏳

The last week of school internship phase 1 has started. There was a morning assembly in the auditorium. Rajesh Babu sir gave instructions regarding the examination and told them to follow the instructions. The winners of District School Kalolsavam were congratulated in the assembly along with the learner who was selected as a content creator for unicef and a learner who won the Mann Ki Bath quiz competition and was invited to witness the Republic Day parade 2024 It has been a challenging journey and I'm glad that I managed to make it.

I engaged 8E during the first hour. We discussed the lessons and an activity was given. Learners were asked to write the diary of Danilka at the night after he returned from the count's copse. I checked and corrected the notebooks of the learners and explained the common mistakes which were there in the writing of everyone and how they can be avoided.

The whole mood of the school has changed as the exams were near. Everyone including teachers and learners seemed busy.

08/12/2023

I engaged 8E during the first period. We held a discussion around A Day in the Country and relevance of nature. Learners shared various opinions and views regarding the same and I was surprised at the variety of their perspectives. 

During the third period, I engaged 9K and took a lesson of health and physical education. I demonstrated a short exercise to relieve stress and asked the learners to repeat it. The learners cooperated well and the session turned out to be a success.

In the afternoon, I conducted a diagnostic test in 9C including fill in the blanks questions from the confusing areas of modal auxiliaries and prepositions. I checked the papers and prepared the diagnostic chart as well.

Achievement Tests

I engaged 8E during the first period and conducted a test based on First Showers and The Nightingale and the Rose. The learners attended the test well and asked for clarifications. I felt happy as the learners seemed confident while answering the questions. I checked the papers and was satisfied by how the results turned out.

In the afternoon, I conducted an achievement test for the learners of 9C based on The Last Leaf and On Killing A Tree. I had taken printouts of the question paper and planned the exam properly. While invigilating the exam, I found learners struggling with grammar. I promised to help them with the concerned grammar areas.

Love Language🥺

I engaged 8E during the first period. I discussed the concept of simile through the concept attainment model. Learners actively participated in the class, identified the similarities of Yes examples, completed the activity cards, labelled the examples as Yes and No  and composed the definition. Archa handed me over a paper when the class was about to end. It was a pencil drawing of me with Love you Teacher written on it. She had made a heart with a pink foam sheet and pasted it on it as well. I was overwhelmed. Since I was having an anxious day, I realized how warmly this love language helped me calm down. I confessed how happy I felt before her.

It was the inauguration of School Teens Club. Rahul sir had come to officially inaugurate the club. He talked about the potentials of the teens and how it shouldn't be overlooked. Students reigned over the day with their vibrant performances. My personal favourite was the performance of 9C. I loved how flawlessly they pulled it off and left everyone stunned. 

In the afternoon, I engaged 9C during two hours. We watched the movie 'The Happiness Machine' and held a discussion around it. Later, we revised the lessons and discussed the themes of each lesson.

Diverse Perspectives..🌚

I had my first class with 8E. We discussed the last part of the story 'A Day in the Country'. While doing the comprehension part, I asked learners why did the children go to the barn instead of their house. They had diverse answers like 'it was dark and they couldn't see the road' and 'their house was too far and since they were tired they decided to rest'. When I asked them about the part where Terenty placed bread under their head, they had diverse connotations about it, being a dream and Terenty secretly entering the barn. I was wondering how distinct the thoughts of children are!

I dealt with A Prayer in Spring in the afternoon in 9C. It was a short and meditative poem by Robert Frost. When I asked learners  that which pronoun should I use while referring to God, they responded variedly. Some responses aligned with the metanarrative of 'God being a he' while some others said God didn't has a gender. A learner mentioned Ariana Grande's God is a Woman and opined that 'she' can be used. And out of the blue, one asked 'do we need to specify the gender?' I loved how learners are so different individually and how they assert their own opinions.

School Parliament Election♥

It was the day of School Parliament Election. A multitude of memories ran through my mind and I was missing the election days. Since the election continued till 11 am, I had to engage 8E during the fourth period. We discussed the journey of Terenty, Fyokla and Danilka back to the village. I practiced the new pedagogy where learners had to discuss the comprehension questions in groups, find answers to them and write them on the activity cards. Omanaseelan sir visited and observed the class as well. He told me that I've improved in terms of handling and managing the class. It was a relief to hear that.

In the afternoon, I engaged 9C and finished 'The Happiness Machine'. When I asked the learners about their opinion on family as a happiness machine, everyone responded positively. I wrapped up the significant details of the story as many of the learners missed classes in between due to NCC camp and practice sessions.

I congratulated Shefa and Ananya on being elected democratically as class leaders and discussed how important democracy is in the present scenario.