REFLECTION ON MY TEACHING EXPERIENCE DURING THE INTERNSHIP  PERIOD

INTRODUCTION

Internship period are the most exciting and challenging period of the entire B.Ed. course. It is the first step of a student teacher towards his/her career as a teacher. It exclusively brings out the inherent teacher in you. These days gave us a chance to experience all the activities and duties that a teacher are meant to be done in a school which includes teaching lessons, conducting examinations, evaluations, co-curricular activities, arts festival, sports, exhibitions etc. The main intend to give the student teacher the necessary knowledge and abilities to meet the various requirements of the school students. It provides excellent opportunity for the prospective teacher to learn to teach, acquire all the necessary understandings, skills, attitudes and appreciations in a real school situation.

DESCRIPTION

Internship period started on 8 August,2023. I was allotted to the same school that I went during the induction period, CCPLM Anglo Indian High School, Perumanoor. I got the portions to be taken for these 4 months earlier itself from my concern teacher Bincy mam who was incharge of physics in class 8 and chemistry in class 9. I am supposed to take physics classes for VIII D, VIII E and chemistry for classes IX A, IX B, IX C. I prepared lesson plans based on the portions allotted to me. 8 th standard students are new for me since students of 9 th were familiar from the induction period. I started my classes from the very first day onwards, since their onam exams were scheduled on the next week. Some portions were left to be completed before the exams and I started the classes with that. For class VIII, I completed chapter Force upto contact and non-contact forces and for class IX upto balancing of equations from chapter Redox reactions and Rate of chemical reactions for exams.

                                                          In the beginning, I felt some difficulty in maintaining the classes especially in class IX. They didn’t responded positively at the earlier days. Also it was a hurry burry for completing the portions for the exams. I slowly create a rapport with the students and learn how to manage them. Bincy mam supported me throughout the internship period. Everyday she will come and sit in the class, which gave me  support and confidence and also made easier to handle the class. I am really blessed to have bincy mam as my teacher who played an important role in the smooth completion of my internship.

Onam exams started from August 16 and the trainees got the opportunity to assist the teachers in the exam hall. That was a great experience for all of us. We distribute the papers, cleared doubts and maintain discipline in the exam hall. I personally felt these as a great opportunity and experiences. I got 5 set of answer sheets from both physics and chemistry and I completed checking it in vacation with help of answer key. Through this I could understand the level of students on the subject matter and also in which area they faces a difficulty.

We had a wonderful onam celebration at school. For the first time I celebrated onam in school as a teacher. It was a memorable and happiest onam for me. We helped students to put ‘pookalam’, enjoyed singing onam songs and we had a  delicious onam sadya where students itself bring different dishes from their home. Had a great time with the students and teachers there.

School reopens on September 4 and regular classes started as usual. On 5th September, we trainees took the initiative to conduct assembly with a small speech as a part of Teacher’s day. We prepared a small speech for the students explaining the story behind this day and a small greeting for the teachers. Teachers appreciated us for that initiative.

First round of evaluation of my class was done on 8th September. Sr.Rosy Tintu visited the school to evaluate my class. I arranged class for 9th standard on 5th period. I prepared the lesson plan for the topic ‘Oxidation and Reduction’ from the chapter ‘Redox reactions and Rate of chemical reactions’. After the class sister gave valuable suggestions and remarks also write comments on the class perfoma. Sister also pointed my strengths and gave positive feedback also which helped me to boost my confidence level. Students responded really well in the class.

Science fair, Work experience, Science exhibition, Maths exhibition, Social science exhibition were conducted in the school on September 12 & 13. We trainees got the opportunity to experience and understand the inner talents of the students. They actively participated in different items and gave good contributions to it. We helped to conduct it smoothly. Teachers select the students with high performance for sub district competition and also gave prizes for the winners.

Along with taking the classes, I carried out the other activities to be done as the part of the B.Ed. curriculum. Peer evaluation was a practical work to be done during the internship. It is to evaluate the class of any two peers during this period. I evaluate Swathi.M from Malayalam optional and Sandra Soosan Aby from Natural science optional of our college. That was really a great experience. It helped me to reflect myself and also to gave feedback to my peers about their classes. Similarly they also observed my class and gave valuable suggestions and feedback.

As a part of the science club activities, we took the initiative to conduct a science and poster competition in accordance with Ozone day, September 16. We prepared questions related to Ozone and general science and also asked pupil to make the poster related to Ozone day. Students actively participated in both the activities. Bincy mam and Sindhu mam were the in charge of science club. We had the immense support from their side. We arranged medals and certificates for the winners. Principal distributed it in the assembly. Principal and teachers appreciated us for the conduct of this program and we felt really happy. We added this work as our practical work Club Activities in the school.

Since we had the internship days in between August and November, we could experience all the school activities. School youth festival was held on September 21 & 23. It was my personal favourite program in the school. We had allotted many duties like anchoring, certificate distribution, judging panel etc. On 21st off stage items were conducted and students beautifully showcased their talents. On 23rd on stage items were held, Their showed a great competition for group items like Thiruvathira,Oppana,Nadanpattu and Skit. As a whole it was a great experience for me. It was my first experience that not participating in anything and took initiative as a different role this time.

Other practical works like Action research, Case study were done on these days. I research on the topic “Lack of interest in doing chemistry homeworks for 9th grade students”. I conducted pre-test and post-test for class IX C and found improvement in my research. I started doing my case study from the 3rd week of august itself. I selected the student who is not at all interested in studies and misbehaves to the teachers. I used various methods like interview, questionnaire, projective test, sociogram for collecting the data. Through this practical I felt we can understand those students who have a learning disability more deeply and we can provide any help with our limits. I continued my case study till the last month of internship and I could create a good connection with that student.

I had taken physical education classes and yoga classes for the students of class VIII. Our incharge Ceby mam visited our school on 14th September to watch the aerobic class and yoga class. I felt really proud that I hadn’t gone for any yoga classes and aerobic classes and I didn’t know much about them. But now I could teach a group of students on this. Its really a great experience for me. Also I had taken health education classes for class VIII. I took classes on the topics “Balanced diet” and “Menstrual hygiene”. I think its really important to give such classes for students of this age. They are unaware of how could we maintain a healthy life. And I can see their interest in such topics and classes. They asked various doubts too.

By the month of September, I completed almost half the number of lesson plans and I am happy that I improved a lot. I learn to manage the class and try to bring constructivism in the class. I conducted unit test after completing a unit and try to reflect myself and assess the students achievement. In substitution hours I used the time to manage the discipline in the class and also I took that time to take my other practicals like Value education classes, Health education classes, Aerobics and Yoga classes.At the end of October,I almost completed 40 of the lesson plans and I conducted achievement test for class VIII D from the two chapters that I taught in physics, Force and Magnetism. Majority of the students performed really well and I selected 10 students who scored below 10 for the diagnostic test. I prepared some questions from the area Magnetic field where majority of the students felt difficulty to answer. From the diagnostic test I found the area of weakness and provided a remedial class for them. After that I could see the improvement in their scores and I felt really happy for the same.

By the end of Nov 20 I had completed my 50 lesson plans and I used to give notes and revisions till the last day of the internship. I am happy that I could complete the portions on time. We had a small farewell function organised by our beloved students on the last, Nov 27. My eyes were filled with tears and joy. It was a surreal experience of 4 months. Genuinely I don’t want to leave that school. I enjoyed and learned from my first experience as a teacher.

Internship period helped me to evaluate and reflect on myself. It gives a clear picture about the role of a teacher and it’s a great opportunity to learn from our mistakes. CCPLM Anglo Indian High School provided that opportunity and Iam happy that I could utilise it as good as possible.

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