TEACHING PRACTICE PHASE I: WEEK 2

TEACHING PRACTICE WEEK 2: 21.07.2025 (MONDAY) TO 26.07.2025 (SATURDAY)

REFLECTION ON SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

MONDAY - 21.07.2025

I reached the school by around 9:10 a.m., signed the attendance register, and proceeded to the assigned room. Shortly after, I went for disciplinary duty in the corridors, and by 9:25 a.m., I attended the teacher’s prayer session. Following the school prayer, I returned to the assigned room. In the first hour, a Moon Day Celebration was held. As part of the celebration, quiz competitions were conducted in each class, and winners were selected from every class. Additionally, students from the Upper Primary (UP) section brought model rockets for display, and the best ones were selected as winners. During the third period, my option teacher, Sreedevi Miss, visited the school for class observation. I handled the class for 8B, which is my concerned class. For the observation class, I started with the first chapter of Class 8 Basic Science: "Let's Cultivate and Reap Goodness", focusing on the topic: "Types of Plant Nutrients and Necessity for Applying Fertilizers for Plant Growth". After the session, she shared her suggestions and valuable feedback for improvement. During the lunch break, we helped serve the midday meal to the students. In the sixth period, a final quiz competition was held among the earlier class-wise winners, and the overall winners were selected from this round. I also had a substitution duty in Class 6A during this period. I conducted a short quiz program in class based on recent current affairs, simplified to the children's level, which the students enjoyed and actively participated in. As usual, karate classes and other regular co-curricular activities were going on at the end of the day. After school dispersal, we signed the attendance register and left the school by around 4:30 p.m.

TUESDAY - 22.07.2025

Today was a holiday for all the schools, so I had no class. I spent the day at home completing my college work.

WEDNESDAY - 23.07.2025

Today I reached the school by around 9.10 a.m. After signing the register, I went for my disciplinary duty in the school corridor. Then I returned to the teacher's staff room to attend the teacher's prayer. After the school prayer, we went back to the allotted room. Today, during the first period, the school conducted a Newspaper Day Inauguration. Students from the Upper Primary section were taken to the mini auditorium to attend the inaugural function. Today, all six of us from our college had an observation class conducted by the general teacher, Revathi Miss. I had my observation during the second period in my concerned class 8 B, for which I took a topic from the first chapter of Class 8 Basic Science: "Let's Cultivate and Reap Goodness". The topic I handled was “Types of Fertilizers – Their Features, Advantages, and Disadvantages.” After my class, the teacher shared her suggestions, highlighting both the positives and areas of improvement in my teaching. Once all four observations were completed, she wished us all good luck and left. During the afternoon, we served the midday meal to the students. I had no other classes scheduled in the afternoon session, so I spent my time completing my college-related work. As usual, after school dispersal, karate classes were going on. By around 4:30 p.m., we signed the attendance register and left the school campus.

THURSDAY - 24.07.2025

Today was a holiday for all the schools, so I had no class. I spent the day at home completing my college work.

FRIDAY - 25.07.2025

Today I reached the school by around 9.00 a.m. After signing the register, I went for my disciplinary duty in the school corridor. Then I returned to the teacher's staff room to attend the teacher's prayer. After the school prayer, we went back to the allotted room. During the first period, I had a substitution class in 5A, where I engaged the students in a vocabulary game to help improve their language skills. In the second period, I had a substitution in Class 6B, where I conducted a current affairs quiz suitable for the children’s level. In the third period, I had another substitution in Class 7C. The concerned subject teacher provided a Malayalam note and instructed me to write it on the blackboard for students to copy, which I did accordingly. During the afternoon, we served the midday meal to the students. I had no other classes scheduled in the afternoon session, so I utilized the time to complete my college-related work. After school dispersal, karate classes were going on. By around 4:30 p.m., we signed the attendance register and left the school campus.

SATURDAY - 26.07.2025

Due to the continuous holidays given in the previous days, Saturday was declared a working day and followed Thursday’s timetable. I reached the school by around 9:00 a.m., signed the register, and went to the allotted room. I then proceeded for disciplinary duty in the corridors and attended the teacher’s prayer session. After the school prayer, I returned to the allotted room. During the second period, I had a substitution in Class 6C, where I engaged the students in a vocabulary word game to help improve their language skills. By the same period, we were informed that the DEO (District Educational Officer) Mr Ajayakumar D had visited the school. We were asked to move around the corridors to ensure student discipline and to check whether any class was unattended. If any class did not have a teacher, we were expected to take charge of it. Soon after, the DEO arranged a staff meeting and instructed us, the teacher trainees, to manage different classes across the school. I was assigned to Class 6B for the third and fourth periods. During this time, I conducted a mixed vocabulary activity. I spelled out some difficult Malayalam words, selected students to write them on the blackboard, and also asked the students to find challenging English words from their English and Basic Science textbooks. The students responded enthusiastically, making it a productive and engaging session. In the afternoon, we served the midday meal to the students. After the lunch break, the DEO conducted a short meeting specifically for the teacher trainees. He asked us several questions, shared valuable information and suggestions, and wished us all good luck before concluding the session. Soon after the meeting, I had a class with my concerned class, 8B, where I began teaching the fourth topic from the first chapter of Class 8 Basic Science: Let’s Cultivate and Reap Goodness. The topic was "Soil Testing, Irrigation, and Fertigation". During the seventh period, I had a substitution in Class 6A, where I once again conducted a vocabulary game to improve the students’ word skills. After the school dispersal, we observed the karate classes going on as usual. By around 4:30 p.m., we signed the register and left the school campus.

CURRICULAR AND CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

During this week, I have taken three topics from the first chapter, Let's Cultivate and Reap Goodness. The topics are as follows: "Types of Plant Nutrients and Necessity for Applying Fertilizers for Plant Growth; Types of Fertilizers – Their Features, Advantages, and Disadvantages; Soil Testing, Irrigation, and Fertigation". As part of the co-curricular activities, Moon day celebration was conducted on Monday and a Newspaper day innaguration was conducted on wednesday in the morning sessions of respective days. In addition, karate and other practices were held every day after 4 p.m. on the school campus. I have also completed writing the reflective journal for this week.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

The District Educational Officer visited our school and conducted meetings for both the teachers and teacher trainees, held during the morning and afternoon sessions respectively. As part of the Moon Day celebration, quiz competitions were conducted in two stages. Additionally, a model preparation competition was organized for the Upper Primary (UP) students, and winners were selected from each event. On Wednesday, a Newspaper Day Inauguration was held in the presence of all the UP students. During all weekdays, the school also conducts "karate" and other extracurricular practices for students after 4 p.m.

SUGGESTIONS BY OPTION TEACHER

Lesson template: Good

Positives: Good classroom interaction procedure. Well accommodated prerequisites. Components and space is provided adequately for prerequisite checking & self activity.

Negatives: Try to provide some more opportunities to write their own explanation in science diary(in activities).

Set induction: Good

Positives: Developed a good rapport and a conducive environment. Check the intellectual curiosity and interest. Checked and accommodated prerequisites very well.

Negatives: Give some more time for writing to get response at times. Try to repeat all necessary response you need to develop the lesson.

Development of lesson: Good

Positives: Very good classroom interaction. Give close to drive forward the lesson. Higher order thinking skill development provision is noted. Good sound. Voice modulation is apartment and definite. Thought provoking questions were used to drive forward the lesson. Scaffolding noted well. Given adequate space for self construction of knowledge. Eye contact and individual attention was noted well. Good presentation, systematic. Reinforcement frequently is given. Very good interactive section. Lot of clues, prompts, interesting examples were used to develop each minor concepts.

Negatives: Set students to stand on one side of ICT aid display to read out it. Be careful about time management while describing your topic or content. Teacher movement could be improved more. Ask students to come forward and read out the slide. Time management was poor. Fertiliser application activity were not well developed.

AV aid: Good

Positives: Introduction slide was good. Eye appealing and used well to introduce the lesson by using to get thought provoking answers and elicited interest. Concept One: Developing slide was good with prompt questions. Concept 2: Types of nutrients and its difference table slide were good and effective, and participatory opportunity provision is well identified. 3: Fertiliser application Slide Good & adequate one.

Negatives: Strength of students were not noted at first. Unit name was only noted. Topic name was not noted. Blackboard usage was there but failed to introduce plant nutrients, its definition, terms, etc. At right time of development. ICT slides bile projected on wall were not so much legible or clear.

Learning experiences: Very good

Positives: Read purposeful, meaningful, age appropriate, real life oriented, participatory.

Mastery of subject matter: Very good

Positives: Supplementary knowledge was adequate, very good. Adequate amount of current knowledge, thorough and deep condone knowledge and know how to deliver as per objectives.

Learner involvement: Very good

Positives: Self construction of knowledge is given space, initiativeness and autonomy is given opportunities, very good participation and engagement.

Class management: Very good

Positives: And that all students both attending and non attending ones. Individual attention and eye contact is provided well. Students were Self disciplined well.

Negatives: Call students by names by asking their names only.

Closure of the lesson: Satisfactory

Positives: Summarized almost all essential poems. Review was done well, pointed out important ones.

Negatives: Poor time management made or restricted the smooth process of closing your lesson.

Assessment and evaluation: Satisfactory

Positives: Your chain processed and asking procedure was interesting. Formative evaluation done throughout the lesson. As per objectives. Provided helpful scaffolding.

Negatives: Was expired when you done this activity.

SUGGESTIONS BY GENERAL TEACHER

POSITIVES

* I had a clear and loud voice throughout the class.

* I used a very interesting and captivating introduction to begin the topic.

* I used colour chalks effectively while writing on the blackboard.

* I interacted with every student, ensuring active participation.

* The teacher gave an overall positive impression of my class.

* Though I lacked reinforcement at the very beginning, I provided better reinforcement once the activity started.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

* I forgot to write the subject name (Basic Science) on the blackboard, though I wrote the unit and topic name.

* While interacting with students, when they all responded together, I faced difficulty managing the class.

* The chart was overcrowded and could have been better spaced.

* The font size on the chart was too small, making it hard for students at the back to read. Writing larger and clearer would improve visibility.

Reflection on the DEO visit

On the day of the DEO’s visit, Mr. Ajaya Kumar D, the District Educational Officer, arrived at our school during the second period. After lunch break, he held a special interactive meeting with all teacher trainees from both our college and KUCTE Anchal, in the mini auditorium. The session began with him warmly inquiring about the colleges we represented. He then moved into a reflective conversation by asking if we felt afraid to take classes in front of our concerned teachers. While most of us replied confidently, he stressed the importance of receiving feedback from our school mentors. He confirmed with the HM that we were submitting our lesson plans to the concerned teachers regularly and advised us to maintain this practice. He emphasized that school mentors, being experienced, can provide valuable suggestions to improve our future classes. Next, he questioned us about the type of lesson plans we were preparing—whether they followed the old method or the new one. When we answered “new type,” he prompted further clarity. We explained that we followed an activity-oriented approach which encourages active student participation over traditional lecture methods. He appreciated this approach but also cautioned that activities should not be imaginary or forced. Instead, they must be linked to students’ daily life experiences—from small tasks like drinking tea or jogging, so that students can understand concepts better and relate to them more naturally. To reinforce this, he asked subject-specific questions, including how to teach topics like compound and mixture in Physical Science using life-based activities. We responded and also received constructive suggestions from him. Then, he asked why we are referred to as "teacher trainees" and not "teachers." We responded by saying we are still in training. He explained that though we are practicing in schools, we should act like teachers, not trainees—because this is the time to shape our identity and make the most of the opportunity. He also spoke on the importance of teacher-student connection. He shared that students’ love or dislike for a subject often depends not on the subject’s difficulty but on how the teacher teaches and interacts with the students. A good teacher can make even a difficult subject enjoyable, while a poor connection may make even simple topics seem dull. He encouraged us to become such teachers who create a positive influence so that students genuinely miss us when we leave, rather than being indifferent. Finally, he made a soft suggestion regarding dress code. He observed that wearing churidars made us appear more like students and recommended wearing saris to present a more professional and bold image, which could command more respect from students. However, he clarified that this was just a suggestion, not a directive, and that if the HM preferred it, we could follow it. He concluded the meeting by wishing us all the best, encouraged us to stay focused, keep updating ourselves, and continue being committed to lesson planning and teaching. It was a highly motivating and thought-provoking session that gave us many useful insights to improve ourselves as future educators.

OVERALL REFLECTION ON CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE

I took class for my concerned class, 8B, and began with the first topic from the Class 8 Basic Science textbook, Let’s Cultivate and Reap Goodness. The first topic was "Types of Plant Nutrients and Necessity for Applying Fertilizers for Plant Growth". This was an observation class, for which I prepared an ICT-enabled lesson. I included slides with descriptions, images, and visuals to support the content delivery. During the class, I observed that the slides were not very clear, especially for the students sitting at the back, as they found it difficult to read the content. However, I felt the class was engaging. The students were energetic, responded actively to questions, and even asked relevant queries. The major challenge I faced was managing the time effectively. On Wednesday, I had another observation class from the same chapter. The topic was "Types of Fertilizers – Features, Advantages, and Disadvantages." For this session, I used description charts, cutouts, and activity cards to support the learning process. The class was highly interactive, and I received great cooperation from the students, which made the session even more enjoyable. On Saturday, I took the third topic, which was "Soil Testing, Irrigation, and Fertigation." During this class, my concerned teacher, Reshma Miss, sat with me and observed the session. After a while, she asked me to continue and left the classroom, allowing me to carry on independently. It was a pleasant and enriching experience, and overall, I feel this week was filled with valuable learning moments and growth.

PHOTO GALLERY

OBSERVATION CLASS