Adios.

It was the last day of Internship. I engaged 8C during the third period. I was feeling emotional. I had loved this class since the beginning. They were so vibrant and loving. I had a heavy heart while I asked them to write something for me. Some of them had already brought handwritten cards and chocolates. Their words were so kind and full of warmth. We chatted very casually for some time. Then as per their demand, I sang a song. Before I could complete it, I saw eyes full of tears. I tried hard not to cry. Later, I took a group photo with 8C and 9B. 

I bid farewell to my kids. I'll be grateful for everything they've done and taught me.

 

Chocolates and Love from 9B

It was my last day with 9B. I engaged them during the first period, since their teacher was absent. I asked them to write a feedback on my teaching. Their words were so kind that I felt so happy. Then, I distributed chocolates among them as a token of love and shared my experience as a teacher in 9B. I had another class with them during the fourth period. We discussed the final part of 'The Toilet'. I asked them to comment on the significance of the title to which they responded creatively and critically. I felt happy that they understood the core of the memoir by Gcina Mhlope. Then I bid farewell to 9B.

During the last period, I engaged 8C. We discussed the poetic devices including alliteration, assonance, simile, sensory imagery etc. Learners still had confusions regarding how to identify these. Thus, I had to explain the basics of each poetic device so that they can easily identify them.

29/07/2024

I engaged 8C during the third period. As soon as I entered the class, learners sang happy birthday. I felt special. I was really happy. Afterwards, we discussed the last stanza of From A Railway Carriage by RL Stevenson. After silent reading, I asked them to pass the marker among themselves and write the new words one by one on the white board. Learners were so excited to write on the board. Then we discussed the meaning of the words. While discussing tramp, I asked them whether they can guess a synonym for the same and wrote the clue on the board with dash assigned to missing letters. Athira told Wagamon as I wrote v and g. Since I was preoccupied with the word, I clapped for her and asked the learners to do the same. The whole class burst into laughter. Later, we identified the poetic devices and rhyme scheme as well.

I conducted a test paper for 9B during the last period based on Dreams Realised and Nothing Twice. There were 5 comprehension questions from the prose part and an appreciation from the poetry part. Learners managed to finish writing within the stipulated time.

27/07/2024

Although it was a working day for school, there were no classes for the students of 8 and 9. We were asked to supervise the practice of yoga by the students. The instructor gave an orientation on yoga. After the warm up session, they practiced vajrasana, padmasana etc. Later, we helped the teachers in conducting SPC screening test and sports meet. We were permitted to leave the school by afternoon.

Merit Day

 It was the school merit day. The students of last SSLC and +2 batch who secured full A+ were honored in a ceremony organized by the school authorities. Antony Raju MLA, Ex minister, formally inaugurated the ceremony and handed over the memento to the student who scored 1200/1200 in HSE 2024. Miss. Rakhi Ravikumar, Councillor, Vazhuthacaud, members of PTA, teachers and students of class 10 participated in the event.

I engaged 8C during the fourth period. A unit test based on We're the World and A Shipwrecked Sailor was conducted. It consisted of 5 comprehension questions and an interview with Velasco. During the sixth period, I engaged 9B. We discussed The Toilet. Learners were asked to enact a role play based on the conversation between Gcina Mhlope and the white Madam after encountering the dogs. Learners enjoyed the activity and did their roles very well.

Certificate Distribution, Data Collection..

After the prayer, we were asked to accompany the teachers in distributing the SSLC certificates. 8 counters were set up in the school auditorium. I accompanied Prasanthi Teacher at the fourth counter. Each counter had 100 certificates. The chore was something different and involved multiple tasks like verifying the hall ticket, taking the signature etc.

During the fourth period, I engaged 9B. We discussed The Toilet, the part where the narrator found the public toilet as a space of her own. In the afternoon, I administered the rating scale among them. I had already discussed the topic of my project with them. However, the learners struggled to read and respond to the statements on their own. I had to read out and explain the statements one after the other so that they could mark the most suitable response.

24/07/2024

I engaged 8C for 2 periods. We discussed the textual activities of A Shipwrecked Sailor in the first class. Later, we started discussing From A Railway Carriage by RL Stevenson. As an introduction to the poem, I played the sound of a train using a bluetooth speaker. Learners were so interested to guess the sound. Then, they were asked to share their train memories and experiences. This ensured a smooth entry to the lesson. After I recited the poem, learners told me that they liked the rhythm of the poem. 2 learners volunteered and recited the poem. The class went really smooth and I felt really satisified.

23/07/2024

I engaged 9B during the fourth period. We discussed the steps to write a news report and speech. Learners were asked to write the script for a speech to be delivered at the school assembly on Gandhi Jayanti highlighting Gandhiji's idea of non-violence, heroic part played by Indian women in the freedom struggle and his concept of independence. Many learners attempted to write it and succeeded, but failed to avoid spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes. I felt puzzled at the extent of their misspellings and thought about how can this issue be dealt!

I engaged 8C during the last period. We discussed about possessives. It was quite concerning that learners don't have a basic idea regarding english grammar as they told that is and was are pronouns. Even after clarifying the idea they struggled to distinguish between pronouns and possessives.

22/07/2024

 I engaged 8C during the third period. We discussed the final part of 'A Shipwrecked Sailor'. Learners were excited to finally know whether Velasco survived or not. As I  shared how Velasco was rescued after spending 10 days on the raft without food or water, they had all sorts of doubts. While asking the comprehension questions, some of the learners struggled to answer correctly. We also completed the mind map based on the story and discussed the main events leading upto the rescue of Velasco.

During the 7th period, I engaged 9B. We started discussing a new lesson titled 'The Toilet' by Gcina Mhlope. As an introduction to the lesson, I told them about Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's own. We discussed how important it is to have personal space in a world full of chaos and noise. A video about a woman craving for personal space and finally finding it inside a cardboard box was screened. The woman finds peace in a reverie she has while she's inside the box. Following this, learners were given chits to describe their personal space. They came up with answers like freedom, peace, cozy etc. The class went really smooth. Learners actively contributed to the lesson by interacting, answering the comprehension questions and completing the activity within the stipulated time. 

Sheena ma'am had come to observe my class. She gave an overview of points to be taken care of and my weak areas. She explained how I need to work on my intonation and facial expression and use language more freely.

19/07/2024

I engaged 9B during the sixth period. We held a discussion around phrasal verbs. Learners were given chance to guess the meaning of some frequently used phrasal verbs. They actively participated in this. All of them guessed the meaning of give away since  it is part of the net language.

 I engaged 8C during the last period. We discussed how Velasco ended up completely alone on the life raft with all his mates drowned and dead. Learners seemed sad about his fate. They were asking doubts about how a wave can hurt and leave one injured, why did the narrator splash the hot water onto his head and so on. I failed to address these questions. However, I was happy that they were actively listening.

18/07/24

I engaged 9B during the fifth period. We discussed the textual activities of Dreams Realised. The learners were so reluctant to write the answers. Even after repeating the words and sentences, they struggled to write the answers properly. Exceopt 7 or 8 learners,  others had great difficulty in recalling spelling of the words discussed in the lesson. After a point, I stopped spelling the words and asked them to look at the textbook and find out the correct spelling. It was disheartening to see them mess up the spelling of very commonyl used words. Afterwards, I collected the notebooks of the learners of 9B and 8C to check and correct their works. There were numerous spelling mistakes, punctuation errors and grammar mistakes in their writing and I had a hard time correcting those. I wrote words of affirmation and suggestion on the notebooks as well.

17/07/24

I engaged 8C during the third and fourth period. An achievement test was conducted during the third period based on 'The Boy who Drew Cats'  and 'Taj Mahal'. Learners struggled in terms of time management. Even though there were only 2 discourse questions, many of them failed to properly attempt all questions. During the fourth period, we discussed 'A Shipwrecked Sailor'. As I went on randomly picking learners to answer the comprehension questions, many of them failed to answer correctly. I understood how these learners require an extra push and support in order to achieve the objectives. 

In the afternoon, we were asked to invigilate the quiz competitions of Mann Ki Baat and Moon Day. Number of learners who had reached for participating was so large that we struggled to manage them and conduct screening test prior to the actual competition. The winners were congratulated by the teachers and interns. They will be representing the school in sub district level competition.

12/07/2024

I engaged 9B during the sixth period. We discussed the final part of Dreams Realised. Many learners who had gone for NCC camp had returned. I summarized the key concepts of the lesson and asked them to write answers for some textual questions. Later, learners were asked to frame three questions to ask Gandhiji if they had met him back in the 1930s. Learners showed reluctance towards this task which involves creative writing. Some of them were so hesitant that they ended up writing 'how are you?' Many of them made spelling errors even while writing Gandhiji and independence. I told them to work on their writing as it is one of the most crucial skill as far as academics is concerned.

I engaged 8C during the last period. We discussed 'A Shipwrecked Sailor'. Unlike the prior classes where we discussed this chapter, learners were more attentive. They actively took part in the classroom discussion and answered all comprehension questions correctly. I informed them about the achievement test on wednesday and asked them to prepare for it.

Modern Times🎞️

I engaged 9B during the fourth period. Since a workshop was being conducted for the members of little kites, science club and eco club, the number of learners present in the class was very low. We discussed the meeting of Gandhiji and Charlie Chaplin. We talked about industrial revolution, unemployment, self-sufficiency, swadeshi movement etc. In between the class, I screeened the factory scene taken from 'Modern Times. Learners laughed their heads off and a wave of energy came into the class. As the classroom activity, the learners were asked to imagine and write the conversation between Gandhi and Chaplin and present it before the class. The time management skills of most of the learners aren't satisfactory. They misspelled many words and messed up the grammar of sentences, which I feel is a serious problem. 2 groups were given chance to present the conversation. Issac sir had come to observe our class. He told me to improve my body language and movemeny and use a pointer while explaining or reading slides. 

I engaged 9B in the afternoon during the fifth period. We discussed the role of Indian women in the freedom struggle in Gandhiji's perspective. I screened a video by Swaddle where this topic is further explained. Video response sheets were given to learners that were meant to be filled up after watching the video. I played the video 2 times. Yet, the learners struggled to finish the activity. In spite of repeating the instructions, they listed the interesting things as words like Dandi March, freedom struggle, Sarojini Naidu etc. A group spelled independence as 'intipendence' which literally shocked me. 

Later, in the substitution period, I screened clips of Chaplin's films which made the class sunk into laughter.

A Ship'wreck'

I engaged 8C during the third period. We started the new unit Wings and Wheels. As an introduction to the unit, I asked them whether they've heard the name 'Robinson Crusoe' to which their answer was no. I gave a gist of his story and introduced 'The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'. I played the scene after the shipwreck taken from the movie adaptation of 'The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe' released in 1997. Since the class didn't has a working projector, it was difficult to take an ICT integrated lesson, especially when the content is a video. Learners were excited to see the movie and acted surprised when Crusoe took an egg and put it back because it was hatched. We discussed the initial part of 'A Shipwrecked Sailor'. The lesson was so difficult to comprehend since it had a lot of new words. I made use of pictures to explain words which I felt, helped the learners in comprehension.

I engaged 8C for another period in the afternoon. We discussed the next part of the lesson. While discussing the term 'Fatso', we held a discussion around bodyshaming. Learners gave varied inputs regarding their views and experiences. However, it concluded on the note that, we should love ourselves first and we'll emerge as individuals having positive feelings and love towards fellow beings. Learners seemed to have confusions  about the author and character. It took me atleast 4 or 5 attempts to clarify the confusion. The chapter is too tough to discuss because of the difficult words within each paragraph.

Karuthal♥

The day was full of variety and energy. Karuthal, a social awareness society based in Thiruvananthapuram took charge of the day for conducting a thoroughly engaging and informative session regarding various topics including child abuse,  cyber crime, addiction etc. Each session was curated specifically for the target audience which were the learners of standard 8, 9 and 10. The session which began with an icebreaking activity to sustain learners' attention took different unpredictable turns with time. The session was supported by puppet show, magic, rhymes, powerpoint presentation, documentaries and short video clips to explain the concepts being discussed. All the speakers were vibrant and friendly and got along with the learners really well. 

The session shed light on various forms of child abuse and reinforced the fact that it's not okay for people to make you feel uncomfortable. They were aksed to shout no and share their feeling with individuals whom they feel are trustworthy. The importance of being educated about safe practices in the cyberspace was also expounded.

Unlike all other awareness programmes I've been to, learners didn't complain about getting bored or sleepy. They actively contributed by sharing their concerns, answering the questions, showing their excitement, interacting without fear and sharing their feedback as well. The most unique aspect of the sessions was 'Thakkudu', a jovial puppet who interacted with the learners, left them laughing their heads off and won their hearts. It was so cute how the learners asked Thakkudu not to leave the school and to stay with them. 

Due to the programme, I couldn't engage the learners of 8C. My class with 9B during the fourth period went really smooth. After the discussions around the lesson, I asked them to write a short paragraph about their drean career. The answers blew my mind. There were all sorts of careers from kalari trainer to psychiatrist. But it's quite concerning that the learners misspelled many commonly used words including ambition, career, achieve etc.

Young Innovators Programme..⚙️💛

Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) is the State Government's think tank body tasked with promoting innovation in Kerala. In today's social realm of increasing significance of knowledge-based activities, innovation has turned out to be a social driver. Young Innovators Programme (YIP) is the flagship project of K-DISC designed to transform the vision of a knowledge society in a way that is suited to our State through the promotion of innovations that bring about equitable and sustainable development of Kerala and provide solutions for real-life problems, and which are socially and economically beneficial to the society at large.

The day marked the collaboration launch of YIP club and unicef. It was formally inaugurated by Shanavas S IAS, The Director of General Education. He expounded the significance of being active learners who are curious and creative. He asked the learners not to be passive recipients of information and instead be creators of innovations and knowledge. 

Due to the event, I couldn't engage the learners of 8C. I had a class with 9B during the last period. We started discussing the second unit Winds of Change. I asked them about their dreams and how the dreams of great personalities like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa from differed from ours. Later, I gave them 5 clues about Gandhiji and asked them to guess the person and write the first word they are reminded of when they think about him. Learners correctly identified Gandhi and wrote words like Ahimsa, Satyagraha, freedom etc. on the sticky notes. The class and learner engagement was satisfactory. I was again convinced about the need to incorporate variety to the teaching-learning process.

The Shipwreck

 

We're the World

I engaged 8C during the third period. We discussed We're the World. I asked the learners to recollect instances from their life whe  they witnessed moments where people came together for a common cause for the sake of mankind and prioritized the society. As they had experienced the covid pandemic and the great flood really early in their life, they had many memories to share. It was warm to listen to learners talking about how these times of darkness influenced them.

The learners were asked to read the song and identify the themes being discussed. Later we held a democratic discussion around the song and its message. Most of the learners participated in the discussion and gave their inputs. Many of them had thoughts to share, but the language seemed to be a barrier. I encouraged and gave then scaffolding so that they could what's going on within them. Yet, some of them told their views in mother tongue which I translated into English simultaneously.

Due to the parents meeting, I missed my class with 9B during the sixth period.

The Nobel Prize Ceremony..🎖️

I engaged 9 B during the fourth and fifth periods. I had planned an activity lesson for them based on Debts of Gratitude including a certificate of appreciation and an announcement. To be honest, I had second thoughts regarding whether to do this or not since the learners weren't very cooperative. However, I ended up deciding to give it a try. I had taken handouts of the template of announcement and certificate for each group. I played the videos about the basic details of The Nobel Prize and of Malala Yousafzai being invited to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Learners were asked to curate an announcement and a certificate of apprecication in their groups. Later, they were asked to recreate the Nobel Prize Ceremony. Each group was asked to select an announcer, an awardee and Selma Lagerlof from their group in order to do this. To my surprise, each and every one of them contributed towards the lesson. They practiced the ceremony and even made pay cheque to give along with the certificate. It was heartening to see. 

I had prepared a banner using canva welcoming all to the Nobel Prize Ceremony and played the award function music in the background. It went so well. Every group added an element of novelty while recreating the ceremony. I understood how textual activities can be transformed into learning experiences that learners would absolutely love. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/172_Um07acFRgw2-DNXaXx2GMWlMtiblP

Later, we discussed phrases used to express gratitude and the concept of gratitude card. Learners were asked to make gratitude cards as an assignment.

Housefull

I engaged 8C during the third period. We discussed the steps to write the appreciation of a poem using a chart. Various steps including introduction, summary, structure, literary devices and conclusion were explained. Learners were told the points to keep in mind while writing an appreciation and what makes an ideal appreciation. Later, the literary devices used in the poem 'Taj Mahal' were discussed. After giving a brief overview of various literary devices, learners were asked to identify instances of simile, metaphor, personfication etc. from the poem and write them down on the activity cards. For the first time since the beginning of my internship, all 44 learners were present.It got quite difficult to arrange them as four groups and the class management got a bit more difficult. After the completion of the task, the answers of the learners were read out and reinforced. The corrective feedbacks were also given to which the learners responded positively. I conducted a retest for the absentees of the previous classes as well.

I engaged 8C for another period in the afternoon. We started discussing We're the World co-authored by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie Jr. As an introduction to the song, I showed the video of The Great Famine that shook Africa in 1983-85. I explained the intensity and death toll of the famine as well. But I was taken aback by the response of learners towards the video. The laughed at an African child crying for food! I tried to stop them. But they didn't seem to empathize with the child onscreen. I felt helpless and disappointed at witnessing the lack of empathy and conpassion in the learners. I ended up talking about empathy for about 5 minutes so that they change their attitude. Then, I played the original version of the song using a bluetooth speaker and discussed the initial lines of it. Juvanna and Rukmini volunteered and sang the song before the class.

02/07/2024

I engaged 9B during the fourth period. We discussed the grammar concept, compound adjectives. Most of the learners seemed to lack basic understanding regarding the parts of speech. They knew that parts of speech exist, but didn't know what noun, verb, adjective or adverb really meant.

Before discussing about compound adjectives, I had to give a brief orientation regarding parts of speech and their usage. As far as compound adjectives are concerned, theren't wasn't anything bulky to learn. Learners understood the concept faster than I expected them to and created sentences using the compound adjectives like sharp-tongued, long-lasting, kind-hearted etc. Many learners seemed interested in learning new words and enthusiastically wrote the new words on their notebooks. When asked about it many of them opined that they loved learning new words and phrases.

During the last period, I engaged 8C. We discussed the final part of the poem, Taj Mahal. The imagery and other literary devices in the poem were discussed. The learners were asking doubts completely unrelated to the poem. It was hard to balance the lesson and these questions. However,  the learners told that they understood the fact that art is immortal and love and grief are really powerful emotions.

01/07/2024

I engaged 8C during the third period. We discussed the initial part of Taj Mahal by Tagore. As the introduction, we held a discussion around the seven wonders of world. Pictures of the seven wonders were shown, following which leaerners were asked to try and recall the name of each. Towards the end of this, I told them the love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz. Learners were full of doubts regarding their family history, which I was unable to clarify completely. We discussed the first stanza and wrote answers to the textual questions.

In the afternoon, I engaged 9B. We discussed various poetic devices and how they can be identified. Learners were more responsive and actively engaged in all the tasks given. We also discussed how poetic devices add to the quality and beauty of a poem. Learners were encouraged to create sentences with similes and other literary devices.