Refection on Teaching Experience

                                                         MY TEACHING EXPERIENCE

“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honor for me.” These are the words of A.P.J Abdul Kalam. These words always touched my heart and as I am an aspiring teacher, I also want to be a good teacher who touches the minds of students. My internship program at St. Joseph C.G.H.S.S, Tripunithura was really a wonderful and crucial training experience for me to develop online teaching competencies and many other skills that a teacher must possess.

            My induction program was done in the same school in the offline mode for a duration of 1 month. Due to the Covid Pandemic situation, I had 4 months internship in the online mode. The internship started on 22nd August 2020 and lasted till 20th January 2021. As an aspiring teacher, these days were a transition period for me, a journey from a mere student to half teacher. The time has come when online education should be and teachers are trained effectively. This is not a future technology but it has already come therefore we must adapt ourselves in this field. Any new technology, in the beginning, is usually challenging and it is high time we should accept challenges.

          When teachers effectively integrate technology into subject areas, teachers grow into roles of adviser, content expert, and coach. Technology helps make teaching and learning more meaningful and fun. After the internship days, I could learn and apply various pedagogical strategies and ICT techniques in my class. Initially, the preparation of the lesson plan was much time-consuming. After some days, I felt preparing and writing lesson plans become easier day by day. I tried to incorporate several activities, games, videos, quizzes, simulations and integrated ICT using various online tools and techniques to make my class interesting and enjoyable. Also, I could learn new and advanced assessment techniques in the teaching field and incorporate them into my class using various ICT tools.

            The most important lesson I learned is that I need to be flexible. Sometimes, there may be network connectivity problems. So as a student teacher, I must always be flexible in my teaching pattern and also should be prepared as much as possible. I could prepare innovative e-learning materials and video lessons and submitted them to schools. I got much effective feedback from the teacher in the charge of school Mrs. Sreevidhya miss. She guided, supported, and advised me things that I could improve my teaching skills. I could also get effective feedback from the peer during peer teaching.

          I find that this time of the internship period is the best time to explore ourselves and to put theory into practice and also experiment with a new and innovative method of teaching. I could improve my pedagogical skills, communication skills, and technological skills and thus increase my confidence level. And thus I feel transformed into a techno pedagogue who uses knowledge and skills to inspire and mold students for the next generation. I am really grateful to God Almighty. I am also grateful to our Josephine sister,  the school teacher in charge Mrs. Sreevidhya miss for guiding, advising and supporting me so as to complete the internship successfully.

 

                                                                                        Liya Rose