FINAL BLOG POST

Hi everyone.  Wow, how did we get to this point so quickly, when the whole semester felt like it would never end?

I cannot believe we are halfway through this degree, and as many of you can relate, this year has been the toughest so far.  The workload tripled from last year, there was more peer assessment, with one module being ONLY peer assessment and we shared many frustrations on our WhatsApp groups.  We also motivated and supported each other and that my friends, is what is going to make us great teachers!  We are warriors and we have worked ourselves into completing a challenging year successfully and I salute all 2nd-year students from 2021.  Cheers to 2022!

My LSKM Story

I love music.  I come from a family of singers and my fondest memories, that I will treasure forever, is when my grandfather used to play his guitar and sing to us while we were lying down on the “stoep”.  We would fall asleep and he would leave us there the whole night.  My second memory is my mother singing my favorite song, Sweet Music Man – Kenny Rogers, on my wedding day.  For as long as a can remember, music has played a big part in my personal life.  This doesn’t mean I can dance though, haha!

When we started this semester, I had no idea what LSKM was going to be about.  One tends to always think of PE, Creative Arts, and Personal and Social Wellbeing, but never did I imagine that we would be covering music.  I was a bit lost in the beginning, as I couldn’t wrap my mind around incorporating music into the classroom.  For me, music has always been fun, like playing.  I didn’t have music in school, except for being part of the school choir for a short while, so as an academic subject, Nah that was something for the older children who were pursuing a career in music.  Well, that shows how naïve I was.

Where I am sitting today, I can say with pride that I know how to incorporate music into arts, maths, language, PE, and all the different lessons that there are and will be in the future.  My mind has been blown away by this interesting module.  All I can say now is, BRING IT ON! I AM READY!

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM MY OWN INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS?

I learned how to blog and enjoy doing it.  I was nervous in the beginning.  I didn’t know if I was understanding the instructions correctly, or if I was being too ‘out there, but after asking our lovely lecturer during a zoom meeting if I was doing it wrong and she replied ‘There is no wrong way, I relaxed and just started to enjoy the process and be myself.

I learned how to share my thoughts on this module collaboratively and remotely and learn from others and see the module from their perspective.  There weren’t enough hours in the day to comment on everyone’s blogs, sometimes there wasn’t enough time to even comment on a few, but I did make the effort of reading a few and thoroughly enjoyed reflecting on their views and comparing them to my own.

I learned how to incorporate music in the classroom and most importantly, how to incorporate it into other subjects too.

I learned that no matter how unsure you are, doing your best and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, yields the best results.

I learned that open and clear communication is necessary to learning.

I learned to apply the knowledge that I have gained in this module to real-life experiences.

I now possess sound academic knowledge and understanding of music in education, specifically foundation phase education.

WHAT DID I FIND CHALLENGING?

All of the above were not challenging.  Yes, I felt unsure at times, but that was due to my overthinking and not the content of the work.  The Theoretical Framework was challenging for me.

DID I FIND THE INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS MEANINGFUL?

Definitely yes!  It was so nice reading about other students’ personal experiences of music in their younger years and seeing how they developed throughout the semester into very knowledgeable future teachers.  Reading others’ opinions and views made it possible for me to critically analyze and reflect on my own views and opinions and broaden my horizons, so to speak.

WHAT WOULD I CHANGE IF I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY IN THE FUTURE?

I would not change anything about this module, semester, collaborative forum, or blogs.  I enjoyed every minute of this learning experience and hope to connect with my peers again next year.

WHAT DID I FIND INTERESTING AND MEANINGFUL?

In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of this module and music is how it stimulates the brain and teaches a variety of sounds and lyrics, thus exposing students to a large amount of vocabulary in a short period. Through the study of music, students also learn about other languages, which provides a foundation for their ability to understand and communicate in other languages.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME, AND WHAT DO I STILL STRUGGLE TO UNDERSTAND?

I found the music elements a bit challenging to apply.  I understand what they are, but putting them into action was the challenging part as some of them were similar to me.  It took a while but I am feeling more confident in my ability and skill as a future teacher transferring this knowledge to the learners.

The most challenging for me was the Theoretical framework for arts integration in the Foundation Phase.  That was a tough nut to crack and one I will keep working on.

WHAT DIDN’T I FIND VALUABLE FOR THE FUTURE TEACHING PRACTICE?

Everything in this module is valuable information for teaching practice.  The music elements, the theoretical framework, the implicit and explicit manner of integrating music in the classroom.  How to plan a successful lesson and pay attention to time management, music suitability as well as age-appropriate activities.  Learning how to incorporate music into other subjects is one of the most valuable information in my opinion.

As sad as it is, this is my final blog as a 2^nd year LSKM student.  Thank you to our lecturer, Miss Rina Francis.  You have communicated openly with us from the beginning, our module started on time, we had all the necessary information right from the start and you made effort to have zoom meetings with us where we could discuss and clarify uncertainties.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with you this year. 

All my peers and new friends, God speed for the upcoming exams.  You will do great!

Have a blessed summer vacation, Merry Christmas, Geseënde Kersfees, UKhisimusi omuhle, Le be le keresemese e monate and Krismesi emnandi, and happy new year!!

 

That’s me for the last time 

Cheryl