WEEK-05

Date- 28/09/22

Writing maths-

I have observed that the learners face difficulty in writing maths. During
revision tests, I have noticed that learners are not able to solve the
problems using the mathematical symbols but when they are asked it
verbally they understand it well and also respond by solving the problem. I
feel this is because the learners are not given much space to practise and
write the mathematical symbols and statements. As for the problem related
to fractions, I noticed that almost all learners knew that it would be solved
through division and also they got the correct answer but learners simply
wrote ‘12’ as an answer with no proper solution of it. I feel that it is very
important for learners to not know introduced to the symbols but make
them practice writing and solve problems using mathematical symbols and
statements.

Theorists like Bruner, Lesh, Dienes and Vergnaud focus on the importance
of mathematical symbols. The frameworks by the above-mentioned
theorists state that with concrete materials and real context situations, it is
very important for learners to know and learn mathematical symbols and
signifiers.

Date- 29/09/22
Written work and concrete materials

Most of the work today was written so I found that learners find difficulty in
working with the mathematical symbols at first time. This was the reason that I
decided to make the learners understand concepts using concrete materials at
first and then the written symbols. Some learners were able to understand
fractions with a collection of objects and paper folding but faced difficulty while
writing them on paper. For example, after completing a question in written form I
asked if they understood or not and they said ,” Ma’am samjh nhi aaya”, but
when I explained it using a collection of pencils they replied “Ma’am aa gya
samjh”, even before me completing the explanation. After observing this a couple
of times, I then explained every question with both written as well as concrete
symbols. I also felt that reinforcement is one of the major factors that encourage
learners as the one who would complete the question first would say, “ Ma’am
Mera ho gya” and I would appreciate them with “bhut ache”, the learners would
have a smile on face.

Inclusive classroom

I was given a substitution in class 1, there at first I asked them to colour which
everyone happily did and they got it checked by me they asked for stars in their
copies. Later I asked them to recite a poem which almost everyone did. A learner
in the class is mute and deaf but when he recited the poem although we couldn’t
hear him everyone clapped for him too, At that moment I felt so proud of the
learners for respecting their classmates so well. After this, I switched the class
with another intern and there I met with a girl, Jahnvi. Her friend complained
about her that she was abused. When I talked to her, she ignored me and kept
scribbling on the desk and laughed but later when I asked her why she was not
talking to me she said “ Tum mummy se sikhayat krogi” but when I denied thet iw
ont do that, she smiled and talked to me. I also tried to make her understand that
we should say things to others, which can make them sad.

Date- 30/09/22
In today’s reflection, I would mainly focus on the ‘Need for open-ended
questions in the teaching-learning process’. Mostly in Indian classrooms,
we see that the main emphasis is on memory-based or recall-based
questions and open-ended questions are often neglected. Even during my
school days, I observed that such questions were not a part of the
classroom and were seen as extra questions which were neglected as they
had no role in assessment through exams. Even sometimes when the
teacher asked the students to answer such questions students were unable
to do so as they had a fear that they might not be right there are several
online platforms which provide answers even to such open-ended
questions that are designed to promote divergent thinking, opportunities to
the learners to reflect, reason, think, imagine and share their own ideas by
speaking or writing. Although I try to incorporate such questions in the
teaching-learning process I feel there is some hesitation on the part of the
students to respond to such questions.

Date- 1/10/22
Use of Language

I have observed that almost all students face difficulty with language. Not only
Hindi but English too. Learners are not able to either pronounce the words or
spell them. I feel this is because they are involved less in language use and more
in memorising. That is the lessons are explained by the teacher and students are
asked to write down the text. However there is no space for allowing them to
write on their own as the latter allows them to think about the words, but for
copying the students tend to just copy the text which does not allow them to think
or explore about it. Therefore, learners are not involved in the meaningful use of
language. For example, the question answers that are experienced and
thought-based are also written on the board and are told to copy down. This
restricts the use of language by the learners. Also for the exams, the students
are expected to learn and write the same.

According to Goodman, Children tend to learn a language at best when they

meaningfully use it. But in this culture of copying, though the language is
meaningful and in context, it is not used by learners rather it is just rote
memorised to write in exams and they do not focus on the meaning of it as well.
Also, theorists like Vygotsky believe that practice by learner is required for
language but here there is no practice just copying of text.

WEEK-06

Days- 16, 17 and 18

Dtate- 12/10/22, 14/10/22 and 15/10/22
REVISION WEEK STARTED
Maths- using examples from the environment

I have observed that when maths is taught using children’s immediate

environment they tend to understand it better. As I had to revise the concept of
angles with the learners, I felt they just rote memorised the mathematical
problems which were given to them but they failed to answer the different
questions related to it. The learners knew that two straight lines- one horizontal
and vertical form a right angle but when I asked them to tell examples from the
classroom the learners could not. So to explain it better I used the example of
window panes, blackboard and door frames to show and explain about a right
angle to which the learners responded well. Along with this explaining to learners
about acute and obtuse angles using fingers and then with newspaper straws
helped me a lot to make them understand the concept.

It is very important to use and connect the learner's environment to the maths as
the concept becomes familiar to them and they start to think about it. Theorists
like Bruner, Lesh and Vergnaud focus on the use of situations as they help in
making the concept relatively easier and familiar to the learners so they
understand it better.

Sharing experiences

Today I taught three subjects Maths, EVS and language and it was satisfactory to
me. I felt I could do it every day if I managed the time accordingly. Also, I felt
today was the most interactive session I had because from birds in flocks to
healthy and unhealthy food to glucose, learners shared their experiences in all.
For language, we discussed the story of Flying Together and the birds that live in
flocks to which almost complete class participated by sharing their experience
about the birds they saw. However I felt that it was prominent when learners are
provided with some concrete material that help them relate to the concept for
example, learners shared about the glucose drip when I showed them pictures
about it, this somehow acts as a scaffolding too as they get the complete
knowledge about the same. A learner told, “Ma’am hamre papa ka operation hua
tha tb dekha tha hmne, yeh energy k liye hota hai na”, another said ,” ma’am
hme ek baar typhoid hua tha tb hme aisa hi lga tha, dvai jaisa chdta hai na yeh”,
another shared “ ma’am hmari behen ko lga tha yeh” and almost everyone told
that they have seen it in hospital. It was surprising that the learners who rarely
spoke in class shared their experiences with glucose. Along with this, learners
also told how they use to bring gluconate-D in summer to be hydrated. Learners
also tried to put their previous knowledge in with accordance to new information
while discussing the Digestive system someone said,” Ma’am khana iss pipe se
pet m jata h or phr neeche”, another told,” ma’am khana pachane me liver bhi
help krta hai na”. Later we discussed more about food and the day ended well.

WEEK-07

Days- 19 and 20
Date- 19/10/22 and 20/10/22

As it was a revision plan I wanted to give the opportunity to learners to read

on their own. So I asked them to share their views and experiences first.
4-5 students responded in the time provided. I appreciated the efforts.
It was good to see the efforts of the students. During the discussion,
learners were Sharing their responses comfortably.
In the beginning, I shared my experiences from daily life.
I guess this made learners comfortable. They started sharing about
themselves too and were telling me what activities they do in different
seasons and what things they use in different seasons.
Engagement in the classroom activities by the learners has increased and
now they are trying to discuss their doubts with me by asking me questions,
some who don’t participate and speak in the classroom have started to take
interest in the activity where learners have to fill the worksheet of reflection
symmetry, they were excited to do that because it included completing
figures and when I gave them the worksheet to fill colours in the butterfly,
they were happy and the scope of group learning is increasing where
learners have started to listen to each other and let others speak first which
is ideal to promote peer learning in the students and also helps them to
learn and understand with each other.
Other things that I feel I need to be more open in my feedback and
motivate the students who respond and they should feel like there’s no one
judging them based on their responses. They should be able to appreciate
that there are
no right or no wrong answers. As learnt even in LAC, my focus should be
on learners’ expression in the initial grades and not on correcting them to
an extent where learners stop expressing themselves or begin
copying from varied sources available. Initially, even if the learners are not
grammatically correct it is fine as this is new for them because they usually
do not get opportunities to express their creativity and
imagination. Pointing out too many mistakes will only demotivate the
learner. I will try to conduct a similar activity of story composition in Hindi as
well to understand if students participate in Hindi or if they do not
participate there as well. This will help me understand if they are not
comfortable in English only or if there is some other issue which I have to
find out.

Days- 21 and 22
Date- 21/10/22 and 22/10/22
Revision is to revisit the concepts again but often in schools, it is seen as a
mock test or a preparation for the exam and hence, it contains questions of
a similar pattern. This is what I experienced during my own school days as
well. During this internship, I had previously revised two chapters under the
theme of food with the learners and when I reflect on the differences
between the two ways of revision I can clearly list down a few of them. I
had not included only the worksheets or quizzes but I had incorporated
different activities to develop skills of observation, classification,
communication and the values of curiosity, critical thinking, and
open-mindedness of the learners which is an integral part of EVS
teaching-learning. I believe EVS learning can be assessed more by such
activities where learners share their observations, think critically, do
classification, etc. instead of just expecting them to answer questions which
they often rote-memorize to get a good score in exams. I feel another
difference was that I was revising so that learners revisit the concepts
under the theme of food and not to prepare them to answer questions in
the exam. Sometimes, there might be some issues at the learner's end due
to which she/he may not have been able to attend certain classes and
through revision that learner would also be able to understand the concepts
better instead of getting left out.
Thus, the requirement is to move away from the conventional nature of
revision where revision is seen as similar to a mock test based on the
syllabus. It should consist of not only worksheets but also activities which
might not be development activities but enrichment or assessment activities
which do not have questions that require rote memorization but give
opportunities to learners to share responses based on their own
observations and lived experiences which would help them
to better understand and revisit the concept when they would be able to link
it with their own life.
Revision would otherwise become a mechanical activity which the young
learners might find monotonous and boring and eventually lose their
interest and hence this nature of revision would not align with an integral
aim of education which is to create an environment of joyful learning with
engaging activities for the learners.

WEEK-08

Days- 23 and 24
Date- 27/10/22, 28/10/22 and 29/10/22
INVIGILATION DUTY and EXAM WEEK

WEEK-09

Days- 25,26 and 27

Date- 2/11/22, 3/11/22 and 4/11/22
INVIGILATION DUTY and EXAM WEEK

Day- 28
Date- 5/11/22
DISCUSSION OF QUESTION PAPER

WEEK-10

Days- 29 and 30
Date- 9/11/22 and 10/11/22
The main issue which I observed during these days was the lack of clear
requisite knowledge. As I Took a video to revisit the concept of grouping
into 10s and ones but when I asked the learners to Split 31 into 10s and
once. I got a response 10 + 10 + 1 and similarly, I got some more
responses like. This made me realize that the previous concepts of these
learners are not built properly. Similarly, I observed this issue in language
classes as well in which when I asked learners for reading,
Some learners try to read properly But some students have problems with
the sounds of words. Phoenix which probably may have occurred due to
a lack of understanding of various phoenix sounds learned in previous
classes.
During these days, in mathematics, I continued with multiplication and
division. As I observed in the last class That learners are unable to group
into 10s and ones so I made a video in which I build up a table of 10 By
showing groups of 10s followed by a self-made video of making a
multiplication grid and Finding patterns in the multiplication
grid. This activity was done to engage learners in Logical Thinking. In EVS,
I started a new theme, which is travel and shelter. I started up the class by
activating their Schema for uses of travel in their day-to-day life. Through
discussion, learners were able to interact with their environment and
understand the importance of shelter in our life. I also had a storytelling
video to sensitize learners towards the significance towards shelter. In
language classes, I encouraged learners to read a poem and a story
from Their book which engage them in reading skills. Many learners tried to
read and read very well. Also, We had a discussion on seasons and we
discussed the winter season. Learners shared their Experiences of the
winter season and related their experiences with the poet’s experience
given in the Poem. Also, we played a guessing game in English class on
animals. We have some riddles on Animals in which learners participated
actively and enjoyed the activity. This encouraged their reading, writing and
thinking skills.

WEEK-11
Days- 32 and 33
Date- 16/11/22 and 17/11/22
On Leave on Wednesday

Days- 34 and 35
Date- 18/11/22 and 19/11/22
Nature of the EVS project
An integral component in the EVS evaluation was the project for 5 marks
out of a total of 25 marks. In the project, learners were given two choices
and they could choose one of the two topics for their project. One choice
was "Types of birds" and the other choice was "Our helpers". For the
the project, learners had to stick pictures of the birds/helpers and write their
names on chart paper or coloured scrapbook.
While reflecting on the nature of the EVS project, firstly it took me back to
my school days as I remember doing similar types of projects in my own
school days where I used to buy a picture chart or picture book containing
the pictures required for the project which used to be easily available in the
nearby stationery shop and then my role as a student used to be just cut
the pictures and stick them on the chart paper or scrapbook, read the name
from the picture chart/book and write it below the pasted picture even if I
did not know much about some pictures also.
Another reflection was based on materials required as for an economically
well-to-do family spending ₹40-₹50 or more for a project might not be a big
deal and instead they would try to spend extra to get better material but for
a learner coming from a low economic background
spending money on the project might not seem relevant to his/her parents
and especially when most of the students in the class come from the weak
economic background then we can design the project in a manner that it
does not hamper learning by the learners and at the same time does not
burden the parents with an additional expenditure.
Lastly, I also felt that there was not much to develop the scientific process
skills, attitudes and values of learners as the project just required sticking
pictures and writing names. Learners do
have curiosity and different observations which need to be channelized in
the right direction and that would make the project more meaningful.
Instead of just asking to paste pictures and name the birds or helpers,
learners could be provided opportunities where they get a chance to
explore their environment which would develop process skills of
observation, communication, classification etc along with scientific values
and attitudes of honesty, curiosity, objectivity etc.
While reflecting on the project, I also thought that it is comparatively easy to
reflect and give suggestions. However, it is a bit challenging to design the
project and support your suggestions with an example so I decided to think
of examples and came up with the following ideas:
India has many festivals while there are many festivals which are
celebrated by people belonging to specific regions like Chhath Pooja,
Ugadi, Durga Puja etc. so a project could be built around one particular
regional festival or a less common festival celebrated by the learner.
The learner could be asked to draw what he/she likes the most about that
festival and write about how it is celebrated in a few lines. Some prompts
could be given- why is it celebrated, with whom do they celebrate, what
special food items are prepared, do they celebrate at home
or they go to some particular place etc. This they could do on a plain white
sheet. This would help them share their own observations, communicate
with elders to know more about that festival and hence, get to know more
about their culture. The teacher could thereafter share the projects in the
class group and each learner would be able to appreciate the diversity in
festivals celebrated.
Similarly, another could be a drawing and recipe of a special dish belonging
to their hometown. Again some prompts could be given like which utensils
are used, how does it taste, how much time it takes to cook etc. There are
some very common food items that are generally discussed
in NCERT textbooks but when a learner shares about a special dish
belonging to their hometown then they get to know more about it themself
from their elders and they can also observe different sub-concepts of theme
food which they learn in the classroom like raw ingredients, utensils used,
cooking method, taste and connect it with Mathematics concepts of
time. This could again be shared with other learners so that they can
appreciate the diversity of food items in India.
These project ideas would not lead to expenditure and would also help in
developing scientific process skills and attitudes

WEEK-12

Days- 36 and 37
Date-23/11/22 and 24/11/22
The class was connected with the previous class. Students were feeling
somewhere connected and were responding actively. Around 8 to 10
students actively participated in all the activities and questions asked
of them. I also put a session on asking doubts, which means I give them
time that they can ask any query they have. The class was very interesting
as in our maths class I asked students to trace their hands and also any
other objects around them. Students were actively participating in this
activity. As it was fun learning. From this, I was trying to clarify the concept
of different types of shapes in their mind. I was encouraging children at
different points by doing it (activities)by myself too. Then through a video, I
make them understand how many different types of objects are around us.
Also, they know the concept before but I was just scaffolding them. I make
them understand the concept of shapes with different activities for example
by sending them worksheets and videos and audio as well.
English class also recite a poem and also carries children to recite the
same poem by sending their audio or video. I ask children some follow-up
questions and interview questions to do their assessment in a fun way.
Also, we took a revised of some difficult words and the good thing was that
I didn’t tell them the meaning I just asked them to make a guess of the
Hindi meaning of any word by using that English word in a sentence of
our day-to-day life also try to reflect the same from the dictionary we were
making. The students were able to tell the exact meaning of
that word. And that was a very good thing as the children were
understanding and learning by themselves. As they were learning from
their environment by themselves. And the children also asked me many
questions from me and they were showing their interest in the classroom
and were doing active participation.

Days- 38 and 39
Date-25/11/22 and 26/11/22
'Importance of incorporating stories in Maths lessons'.
Mathematics being a subject which leads to anxiety in many learners
makes it even more challenging to plan the activities that make the subject
more interesting and relatable for the learners. Due to this reason, I try to
incorporate variable tasks consisting of concrete materials, visuals,
contextual situations, etc. but I believe stories make a wonderful resource if
chosen appropriately. For today's class, I chose the story "अम्मा घर कब
लौटे गी?" where learners could observe different activities done by and while
reading they read the time in words and they observe the clock in the
background which represents time so overall, this helps them in
understanding how they can read, represent and relate time with their daily
life activities. Similarly, while exploring different stories related to Maths, I
came across various stories which I can use in future plans for different
themes which will help learners in appreciating the use of Mathematics in
our daily lives. I do incorporate stories while teaching other subjects as well
but what makes Mathematics different is that I personally have my school
time experiences of being taught Mathematics through various resources
but never through stories. Stories were seen as a part of language
classes or sometimes, even in EVS but rarely in Mathematics. Also, the
prescribed books sometimes had stories for EVS but very rarely for
Mathematics. Even in NCERT Mathematics textbooks, there are many
contextual situations but rarely it has stories. Another thing after the
selection of the story is its placement in the lesson so that the lesson
proceeds smoothly. I have observed that stories related to Mathematics
have multiple sub-concepts. For this reason, I use stories with new
concepts for enhancement of the concept being
taught and stories that are very basic for the introduction of the concept.
For the development of the concept, I prefer self-made videos using
concrete materials or visuals and use stories or other available open-ended
resources related to the concept once the concept is developed.
The use of appropriate stories and placing them in a logical sequence in
the plan not only makes the Mathematics concepts more relatable to daily
life but also helps in making, Mathematics more interesting as young
learners find stories interesting so in a way, they are learning Mathematics
without realising that they are learning Mathematics.

WEEK-13

Days- 40.41 and 42

Date- 30/11/22, 1/12/22 and 2/12/22
Student-student interactions-
Hands-on activities and interactive classes not only require students to
engage with the activities but also to effectively interact, communicate and
collaborate with their classmates. For example, in some questions, one
learner had a different approach to solving a problem and thus making her
explain it to other classmates helped not only her to form her thoughts
better but her classmates as well learned something different in a lot more
fun way. Vygotsky and other psychologists have said that learners can form
a ZPD with each other where they learn from each other and this also helps
them develop their 21st-century skills. thus Effective communication
between students is just as important as communication between a teacher
and student. It can enhance the learning process. When students discuss
and share ideas, they gain a deeper understanding of the material. It also
helps them to learn from one another and clarify any misunderstandings. If
they communicate effectively, it builds collaboration between them. They
are more likely to work together and support one another, which fosters a
more positive and supportive learning environment. This also improves
their social skills. It helps them to develop effective listening and speaking
skills, as well as respect for others' opinions. This can help them to build
strong relationships and work well in teams. This also makes class
inclusive and encourages diversity, they are more likely to appreciate and
understand different perspectives and backgrounds. When students work
together to solve a problem, they learn to communicate effectively and
consider different perspectives. This can lead to more effective and creative
problem-solving.

WEEK-14

Days- 43,44, 45 and 46

Date- 7/12/22, 8/12/22. 9/12/22 and 10/12/22

Resource room activities and displays.