Teaching Practice Phase 2: Day 13

The day began with morning duty in the seventh-grade class, where Veena accompanied me. I conducted a class on the poem 'Taj Mahal' for 8F students during the second period. Since the poetic diction was discussed in the previous class, the learners were able to easily answer the questions raised regarding the comprehension and appreciation of the poem. Poetic devices were new to them, except simile, that too for a minority of pupils. Therefore, I gave examples outside the context of the lesson to make them internalise the concepts. Once they grasped the concepts, they themselves pointed out other instances from the poem related to simile, alliteration and assonance. They could also tell the rhyming words. Due to time constraints, I could not give them the planned activity in class. So, I asked them to do it individually at home. The learners could assimilate the poetic devices quicker than I expected them to. During the lunch break time, I joined my fellow trainees Gayatri and Veena to monitor a poster making competition held for learners associated with Literary Week. The topic for the competition was 'Varayum Porulum' (roughly, translated as 'Drawing and Essence'). The learners came up with moving artistic pieces. 

I engaged three substitution periods for 5D class today, one in the forenoon and two consecutive periods in afternoon. In the forenoon session, the learners were immersed in studying for the next period's Basic Science test paper and I allowed them to prepare for the test silently. However, during the fifth period, the class became a bit noisy.Since it was Malayalam subject period for them, I asked the learners to come to the front of the class and recite a poem in their text turnwise. Since the poem was already taught to them, learners showed readiness and was restless while waiting for their turns for the recital. Most learners recited melodiously, adding their own tunes to the poetic lines. Later they asked whether they could sing cinematic songs and I agreed to it. What ensued was a series of song,dance and action song performances, showcased individually and in groups. The class remained disciplined during the performances. The class turned out interesting and entertaining. Though performed in impromptu fashion, the performances were well organised and engaging. As usual, we performed line duty and left.