Reflection on my experience as a Physical Science Teacher during the internship period
REFLECTION ON MY EXPERIENCE AS A PHYSICAL SCIENCE
TEACHER DURING INTERNSHIP PERIOD
“Teaching is more than imparting
knowledge; it is inspiring change.
Learning is more than absorbing
facts; it is
acquiring understanding”
Teaching is an intricate and multifaceted profession that requires a deep understanding of subject matter
and pedagogy, complemented by a profound commitment to nurturing students. Teaching is a
rewarding job that offers an
opportunity to shape young minds. My teaching experience has been a journey of self-discovery and
growth, a continuous process of refining skills
and techniques to stimulate leaners effectively. Teaching is a two-way process. As I strive to impart knowledge
to my students, I also learned a great deal
from them. This reciprocal process of teaching and learning strengthened my knowledge in pedagogy, content,
technology etc. Teaching practice is an important
component of giving the opportunities for student teaches to join practice in schools, field studies or
school based experiences. The teaching practice
program aims to prepare the students to become quality teachers that equipped with teaching skills and
capabilities that will provide experience and
knowledge to meet the demands of being teacher
as profession.
As part of the B.Ed curriculum, we had four months of internship
programme in a school. I did my internship in Darul Uloom V H S S, Pullepady, Ernakulam, from 8th of August to 28th of November. I did my internship
under the guidance of Dr. Sr. Josephine Joseph and Sr. Rosy Tintu of St. Joseph College of Teacher Education
for Women, Ernakulam. Also, I got enough
support from the in-charge teachers, Mr. Lajid S, Headmaster and Mrs. Farheen Hassan and Mr. Ajeesh Jeevan of
Darul Uloom V H S S, Pullepady, Ernakulam.
I took both Physics and Chemistry for 8th and 9th
students. I took classes in one
division of 8th and 4
divisions of 9th. In total I took 16 periods with 35-40 minutes duration in a week.
Darul Uloom V H S S, Pullepady, Ernakulam is an aided school that has classes from KG section to 12th standard and Vocational School too. Since I was admitted to high school section, Mr. Lajid S was the headmaster of the school and there were three teachers for physical science. I took Chemistry classes under the guidance of Mrs Farheen Hassan and Physics classes under the guidance of Mr. Ajeesh Jeevan.
I
was very happy to go to the same school where I did my induction programme. I was familiar with the school background
and some students and there were
plenty of new faces too. Our teachers gave us necessary instructions about how to write the lesson plans, to write
achievement and diagnostic test, to
conduct programmes etc. Even though I was nervous to take 50 lesson plans that integrates both
content and technology. I learned about how
to prepare a unit plan and how to organise a chapter into various
sections. I started the lesson plans
from the chapters “Chemical Changes” and “Force” in 8th standard and “Motion and Laws of motion” and
“Redox reactions and rate of chemical
reactions” in 9th standard. Since the lesson plans are based on the constructivist approach, I used many
teaching aids to make my classes more effective.
I used demonstrations, live experiments, simulations etc. to transact my content to the learners
more easily. I also used questioning, group discussions,
activity cards, games etc. to make the classes more interesting and joyful. Preparing for classes helped to
learn more about today’s
technologies and how to
integrate the ICT in classrooms. I was surprised to see the student’s contributions to make the teaching and
learning process easier. The classes I got
were more like a heterogeneous class and there were students coming from different
communities, financial background, different places and they had different taste in subjects.
The students were very curious to learn science when I
showed them demonstrations, real examples and experiments. Their interest and curiousness
gave me the strength to stick on to
my strategies for teaching the subject. I always believe that a best
teacher should always cultivate love and interest
towards subjects among the learners and I think I could succeed in this task to a great extent. Activity based and
child centred classes really helped in the
smooth functioning of my classes and I was very much satisfied and happy with the results. Each day was learning
for me. I leaned about how to integrate new
technologies with my topics and how to tackle the student’s attention more easily.
Each lesson plan helped me to get the ideas about how to make the lesson plans better and how to transact it
easily. I loved the response that the students
gave me about my class and the materials that I use. Being a subject teacher, to generate a curiosity among
learners is something important and I was happy
to see that at least some students shows interest in learning physics and chemistry.
Another important task that I performed was to conduct an achievement test and diagnostic test. I conducted achievement test for the 8th grade students based on the chapters “Chemical Changes” and “Metals”. This practical wok taught me many things about how to conduct an exam, how to set the blue print, question paper, answer key and how to evaluate. This work also helped me to reflect on my teaching skills, whether it worked or not. I am very happy that almost 30 students wrote the exam and the result was satisfactory. As a teacher, this result made me happy. I could also find the strengths and weaknesses of the learner in different areas of the subject. I found the difficult areas and gave the remedial section for the learners and based on that I conducted the diagnostic test too. I was happy that I could rectify the doubts of the learners and help them to improve. Also I learned about how to prepare the self-assessment tools for the learners. I prepared the tool for the class of 8th based on the chapter force. Students’ feedback is a teacher’s real evaluation for themselves. By evaluating this tool I was extremely happy to see that the students really enjoy my ways of teaching and they understood the concepts well. As part of the practical work of pedagogy, we also had to prepare two classes based on language across curriculum. This was a beautiful experience to teach the leaners about how to integrate the language with the subject. Students also really enjoyed the classes while doing the KWL chart and Think-pair-share activity etc. This work also realised me the importance played by the language in content transaction and how important is to learn the language properly to teach the students. I organised two club activities related to science. The first one was the poster designing competition related to ozone day and the students really cooperated. Students who were weak in academics really brought some amazing creative posters and this helped me to understand the uniqueness of each learner. The second work was to organize the science fair of the school. My task was to give the ideas to the students and help them to create their wok and to present it in the school. I was surprised to see that the learners really enjoy these kinds of practical woks and they liked to learn though experiments and realities. Students were energetic and they took my help to transact their ideas properly. The students interest in learning science though these practical works encouraged me to integrate the same practical approach like experimentation and demonstration in the classroom for transacting the contents. These work helped me to also realise about how to host an event related to our subject and to ensure the learners participation. It helped me to understand the individual differences of the learners and their uniqueness. It made me to understand about the importance of the integration of the practical to the theories.
A best teacher
is an all-rounder. The teacher
should not only teach the
subject, but help in the all-round development of the learners. As part of the internship programme, I had
to take two value education classes for
the learners and the topic that I chose was respect and honesty. I used many ICT materials to make the classes more
effective. I felt fortunate to impart the values
to the young generation and I felt the relevance of the same in today’s world. Another work that I did was an
action research. I found the students lack of
concentration in learning science among the grade 9 students and I did the action research based on the same. I was happy to see that the students’ concentration level keeps on increasing
when I gave them some demonstrations, experiments,
discussions, games, activities etc. I could also see that change in their responses too. Another work was to
take the classes based on health, physical
education and yoga. Students really enjoyed these sections and they were very enthusiastic to do physical
education and yoga. I was feeling fortunate to give them the yoga classes
because it was their first time in doing yoga.
It also helped me to take these few simple yogasanas while teaching science to increase their concentration
level. I also took classes on the cultural heritage of India and organised an extempore competition about the topic Brotherhood.
The students were really interested in the art forms and they had many experiences to share
also.
A
class will be more effective when the teacher understands the learners, their interests, strengths
and weaknesses. A classroom is about inclusiveness.
There will be different types of learners. I conducted a case study as the practical work of Psychology and my
case had issues in learning and he has
learning disabilities. But his mind set and will power really surprised me and I helped him to understand the subject more. I could
establish a friendly rapport with my
case and I could make small changes in him
to learn the subject. I was
happy and proud about myself while conducting the case study and I could also understand the different
types of learners and students in the classroom.
The internship programme really helped me to get a real classroom experience as well as a school experience. I got many opportunities to understand the role played by the teachers in a school. Also this helped me to showcase my talents too. I organised some activities in school also I helped the staffs of the school during the conduct of the school youth festival, district level youth festival, school science fair and sports.
The
four months of internship program in Darul Uloom V H S S, Pullepady was an amazing and an unforgettable experience. I
had many beautiful moments as a
teacher of this school. My teaching practice has been a profound journey of learning and growth. My initial teaching
days were filled with nervousness and
curiosity. Later I overcome these fears and enhanced my strengths to teach my students, to manage the classrooms etc. I
also realised that a teacher is an
all-rounder, from transacting the contents to fostering curiosity in the minds of the learners and to inspire
them in learning. The heterogeneous classroom
and the diverse learners brought a motivation within me to find new technologies and the different yet vibrant
teaching- learning materials. I also realised
the importance of valuing and considering the individualities and the uniqueness of the learners. I learned many
aspects regarding my conduct in a school.
This short period taught me many things and each is a lesson for me. I look forward to more opportunities for
self-improvement and to make a positive and
good impact among on my students. This taught me about how to tackle the problems in a classroom and to evolve
from each situation. I am really grateful to
God Almighty, my parents, teaching and non-teaching staff of the college and school, friends and my students for
giving me such a beautiful experience. This experience
really motivates and encourages me to be a better and a good teacher for my future students.
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