The Phase of Constructive Criticism

        Among the numerous stages of evolution of a successful teacher, the phase of attaining the ability to take in constructive criticism is crucial. The B.Ed curriculum incorporates criticism lessons for the teacher trainees with this vision.

        Today, we had our criticism lesson and I took the first stanza of the poem "From a Railway Carriage" by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, which is included in the SCERT text book for VIIIth standard students. My attempt was to recreate the excitement of a train journey in the classroom through a variety of audio and visual stimuli. The learners actively participated in the classroom activities. As it was a poem, the poetic devices like rhyme, simile and alliteration were also introduced and the learners quickly identified textual examples for the same.

        To ensure thorough understanding, I provided an activity. Numbered paper chits were distributed among the learners. From a set of numbered pictures related to the poem, the learners were asked to identify the picture with the number they already got. On the back side of each picture, a word was provided. The learners were then asked to find out the word that rhymes with the word they got, from the coaches of a cut out model toy train. When all the learners identified their coaches, they could start a mini toy train ride accompanied by appropriate sound effects generated using ICT. The learners seemed very much thrilled at the experience.

The Activity Time

"From a Railway Carriage"

  

    Following the class, there was a detailed review session by my peers and supervising teacher. As it was my first systematic attempt to manage a live classroom, the class definitely had some areas where I could make further improvements, which they suggested. The experience was totally constructive and it definitely boosted my confidence, besides serving as a yardstick for my future classes.       .