27. Tourism Club inauguration

Every year, activities  are  organized for the trainees by  the Tourism Club which functions in the college.
Ms Sheena Jose, the Convenor of the Tourism Club  for the academic year 2018-19, got in touch with the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), Thrissur, to initiate the activities of the Tourism Club. So, on  27  September 2018  when the World Tourism Day is celebrated, the Tourism Club of the college for the current academic year was inaugurated.

In  the inaugural function organized in the Seminar Hall, Dr.C.Praveen,  Principal-in-charge of the college, presided and  recalled the  proposed theme of  The World Tourism Organization, (UNWTO) for 2018,  namely, ‘Tourism and Digital Transformation’  and reminded the students  of the  special role they have to play as teachers in future.

Mr.Jackson, the Public Relations Officer of  DTPC, Thrissur who inaugurated the Tourism Club (2018-19) of the college, screened  illustrative videos to  create an awareness of the scope and prospects  of tourism in Kerala. The emerging concept of Farm Tourism, Home Stay, the  love of tourists for   local cuisine, handicrafts and art forms  were also covered in a brief talk following the video presentation.   

Ms. Sheena Jose,  the Convenor of the Tourism Club observed that  for the last two years,  lack of availability of funds had reduced activities of the Tourism Club  of the college to a mere field trip. She expressed her hope that this year the programmes  organized  by the Tourism Club would not only be  different, but memorable too. 

Frames from the videos displayed during the session:

26. Workshop on Reading and Reflecting on Texts

The  introduction of a new paper on Language Across The Curriculum and  practical work related to Reading and Reflecting on Texts in the revised two-year BEd curriculum  has necessitated  sessions  in a Workshop mode for  sensitizing students to the nuances of different kinds of writing.

Thanks to the availability of Plan funds from the Directorate of Collegiate Education, Government of Kerala, it has become possible to  conduct a two-day Workshop to familiarize  the BEd trainees of the college with types of language use.

Dr.Niranjana KP, faculty of Farook Training College was the invited Resource Person for  the sessions engaged in the college auditorium on 27^th and 28^th September 2018.

25.Stress Clinik

Stress often turns out be the common response of individuals when faced with inconvenience in performing daily tasks. Studies have shown that failure to  properly address stress among students has serious consequences.

On Wednesday, 26 September  2018, a session entitled ‘Stress Clinik’ aimed at rediscovering happiness,  conceived  by Mr. Baby Mangalath and Ms. Jolly Thomas  of the Yoga Institute for Stress Management, Thrissur was organized in the college auditorium. 

The two hour long session  for an audience comprising first semester BEd and MEd students  was interspersed with lecture and physical activities. It  attempted to sensitize students with  factors that causes stress. The  control of breath  for stress reduction and strategies  for  tackling ones own anger  was covered in the lecture. The  Resource Persons also provided tips  for managing stress.

Snapshots of the session:

24.Damage assessment volunteers

Thirty-one students of the college, accompanied two teachers to Cherpu Panchayat, Thrissur, as part of the programme of the Government of Kerala, inviting student volunteers to assist the local bodies in assessment of houses damaged during the recent flood. The  students registered their names  and became a part of the  team volunteering in the  ‘Rebuild Kerala’ mission.

On arrival at the office of Cherpu Panchayat, the volunteers were briefed on how to use the ‘Rebuild Kerala’ App for flood damage assessment, prepared by the Kerala State IT Mission.

Once the App was registered, the students were each assigned houses in different wards of Cherpu Panchayat.  They were then accompanied by Ward Members or local residents  to the  houses where damage assessment had to be undertaken.

The  volunteers met the house owners/residents, collected details,  made an assessment of the damage of the  house, took snaps of the damage, geo tagged them and uploaded the assessment details.

A few volunteers completed the work on the same day the work was assigned (Saturday, 15 September 2018) and a few others had to  continue the work the following day too…

The  students who volunteered  in the  work  had a sense of fulfilment of having  joined hands in the  effort to rebuild their own  homeland.

23.Session on NLP

A session on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) was organized in the college on 13 September 2018. Mr. Shivan Nenmanikara, head of Quriocity Finishing School, Thrissur, engaged the three-hour long session. The teacher trainees were introduced  to NLP- a new and emerging science on the structure of subjective experience.

Ms. Sheena Jose, faculty of the college, introduced the Resource Person. One of the trainees of the college, Ms.Amrutha  who attended  the session observed: “The session was an amalgamation of  both scientific and inspirational ideas….The students had an opportunity to participate and improve their confidence…” Mr. Muhammad Nasik, a BEd trainee of the college, thanked the Resource Person.

  

Programme Photos and report courtesy: Ms.Amrutha Santhosh

22.Workshop for MEd students

The Plan Fund for conducting Workshops and Seminars in the teacher training colleges in the State were sanctioned by the  Department of Collegiate Education, Thiruvananthapuram as early as July 2018. Hence, it was possible to  commence the first Workshop on Research Methodology and Inferential Statistics for the MEd students of the college in the second week of September.

Dr. Celine Pereria former Professor of the School of Pedagogical Sciences formally inaugurated the workshop and engaged the first session.   

Snapshots of  the inaugural function:

21.Flood relief assistance

 The local administration had sought the assistance of educational institutions  in Thrissur to actively take part in the flood relief operations.  The Indoor Stadium in Thrissur town where packing and sorting of  flood relief materials keep pouring in,  commences packing at 10 AM and goes on late into the night  and were badly in short of volunteers.

From 05 September, after college hours a few students of the college joined the team engaged in packing and sorting. Yesterday, 06 September 2018, many students in the college expressed a willingness to offer their services during daytime. 

Snapshots of students of the college engaged in the packing of relief materials.

20.Teachers’ Day

“Without them…we would have been lost…” This was precisely the message of the Teachers’ Day celebration and  the gist of  several speeches  delivered by students  who fondly recalled the ways in which  their ‘special’ teacher had made a difference in their lives…

While the thought chosen for  presentation during the morning assembly focused on student-teacher relationship, the  special debate  during the  afternoon  had  the topic: “Whether teaching is  a service or  a  mere job”…

During a special function organized by the students in the college auditorium, today afternoon, 05 September 2018,  the faculty of the college  were invited one by one to the stage, presented with a bouquet of flowers and a hand-designed card with an endearing message thanking them for the service they are rendering… thereby making it memorable for the teachers   present.

A video presentation on the life and contributions of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, the former President of India on whose memory Teachers’ Day is celebrated, followed. The screening of a short film on the life of an Engineering student whose teacher saves him from  hostile peers and  a short film from Thailand, based on the life of a Professor of Anatomy who donated his cadaver to  his own students, highlighted the values and ethics of the noble profession of a teacher… 

For the new batch of  teacher trainees who are yet to be initiated to the art of teaching,  the  day’s programmes served as a kind of lamp that sheds light on the path they have to tread in life as a teacher…

19.Health alert

The college is slowing  coming to grips with the onslaught of the deluge which swept through Thrissur district  damaging beyond repair the houses of quite a few students. Efforts  related to relief work and  assistance to students  who have been affected  have already been undertaken.

Close on the heels of one disaster,  many  residents of Thrissur are  living in fear of  getting afflicted by  fever.

The Govt. of Kerala has  offered  assistance of  several kinds. One such initiative is the invitation extended to the Department of Public Health, Chennai.

Today, 04 September 2018, Dr.K.Gopalarathnam (PhD), Senior Entomologist of the Department of Public Health, Chennai and a team of health workers visited the college and sensitized the students about the likely sources of diseases through mosquitoes and the necessary precautions to be taken.

Other members of the team included Sri. R.Samuel, Junior Etymologist Zonal Etymological Team (ZET) Vellore District, Sri Prabhu S, Health Inspector, Sri M.S.Sasi, District Malaria Officer, Mr. Abdul Jabbar, Biologist and Mr. Harshan, Field worker.