Final Blog!!

Hi, everyone! I hope everyone is well? This was a hectic week, with tasks and tests. But luckily I can start seeing the end. Just two more weeks of hard work and this year will be done.

QUESTIONS:

Please share your story as an LSKM 221 student by comparing your knowledge, skills, experiences, abilities and attitude towards music education from the start of the semester to the end of the semester.

I always enjoyed doing music lessons with the little ones I work with, and with the Gr Rs, music is very much integrated during their lessons. Music is a big part of learning and teaching in my class. But I feel I did not have the confidence or knowledge of teaching music for higher grades. This module definitely equipped me to give music lesson for higher grades. I feel this module gave me the confidence to give a music lesson and taught me so more about benefits and integrating of music in your classroom.

What was your experience of the role of individual reflection as part of the teaching and learning process? Use the following prompts to reflect on your blogging experience and the role that individual reflection played (or not) in your teaching and learning experience this semester:

• What did you learn from your individual reflections?

I feel the individual reflections did help to reflect more on the outcomes of the study unit. I personally would rather do tests than reflections, because it is more time consuming. I am also already working with children for more than 20 years, so I think my experience do help me understand the work and certain concepts I already have been doing for years. I am a working mum and wife running a household so my time is spare. I understand the benefits of these reflections, but I would rather have done tests. The study units was well organized and written with wonderful examples and ideas. So it was easy to work through and get the learning outcomes of the study units.

• What did you find challenging?

I found time management a bit of a challenge as the reflections and forums did take some time to write if you really want to reflect on a study unit . But I feel I over come that challenge and learned how to manage my time by planning ahead, when I am going to do what in the time I have available. Unfortunately Eskom do not always work on my schedule.

• Did you find the individual reflections meaningful? Please motivate your answer.

Like I did mention previously I personally did not found it so meaningful, but I do understand for young students or contact students with no classroom experience the benefits from the reflections. The lector did put a lot of effort into the study units and gave plenty of resources for me to understand the work without needing to write a reflection.

• What would you change if you had the opportunity in future?

I not a person who looks back with regret and try to see everything in life as a reason to improve or better yourself. I think everything in this module did help me become a better teacher and was worth the effort.

Please share what you would change in the LSKM221 module if you had the opportunity. The following prompts can guide your reflection:

• What did you find interesting and meaningful?

The whole modules work was interesting and meaningful to give me the ways and means of teaching music in higher grades. The module also gave wonderful ideas and resources of integrating music in the classroom into other subjects.

• What challenged you, and what do you still struggle to understand?

I didn't find anything challenging as I feel that the content wasn't difficult and it was explained in great detail so it was easy to understand.

What didn’t you find valuable for your future teaching practice?

I didn't really find the group assignment valuable for my teaching. It is frustrating to delegate and plan an assignment with students who have different time schedules and lifes. I work every day with all different personalities colleges and we make it work ,by respecting what each and everyone bring to the table. But working on group assignments is just frustrating as you don’t really know each other or some students might have different work ethic than yourself.

All in all, I enjoyed LSKM 221 a lot more than I thought I would.  I further feel that I learnt a great deal more than I thought I would.  

So that is the end of this module.

Best wishes to everyone.

Esme.​​​​​​​

Blog: Unit 5

Esme Fourie 35566434

HI, everyone!

This week was a busy week. I do feel overwhelmed finalizing all my assignments and tasks for all the modules. Eskom did not help. With working, running a household and driving my kids around for after school activities, I only get to work at night time. And this week I lost about 8 hours of worktime due to loadshedding. Hopefully we will have a better week!

Study unit 5 gave me a better understanding of how to plan a music lesson plan. Also, what to keep in mind when you are planning your lesson. I liked the way the lector brought in the Bloom levels and what is needed to apply the levels into your lessons. I also learned more what is needed in a lesson plan from the introduction stage until the conclusion phase. It was really an eyeopener reading through all the ideas that was provided in all the different music concept lessons. I became aware of how to identify and evaluate appropriate assessment strategies for music as part of life skills in foundation phase. I was also reminded when planning a lesson and assessment to accommodate the learners various needs and abilities and always to create a safe, welcoming environment for learning for all learners.

What could the possible reasons be that assessment is neglected in Performing Arts and Music in the Foundation Phase?

I think one of the major reasons for teachers in the foundation phase not using performing arts and music in their lessons is because teachers teaching today is overwhelmed with work and need to teach the academically curriculum first and foremost. I  also think certain teachers might lack the confidence and training to teach arts and music and certain schools might not have the resources or space for these lessons.

Please explain how you would advocate for and heighten awareness about the importance of assessment when speaking with your HOD about your concerns in this regard.

I think the teachers need to be educated about the importance and the ways and means music and art can enhance the child’s development, then they will understand how it will benefit the learner.

You need to have a  some well planned out discussion points to bring to the conversation where you can educated the HOD about the importance of arts and music. You need to have your facts and resources supporting your facts.

If the school does not have the resources, you can come up with plans and ideas to incorporate the community or find a sponsorship. You can also or make use of recycled material in these classes and start a program to collect recycled items.

You can also give ideas and educate teachers how to integrate music into other lessons, so that the child will still be expose to music and art .You need to bring the point across that performing arts and music can only be beneficial towards children and it has a positive impact in their daily life.

Ok guys I hope you have a great week.

Till the last Blog. Esme.

Study unit 4 : Blog

Hallo , everyone.

This week was a bit of a struggle, I tested positive and was really sick for a few days ,but luckily feeling better. My study work fell behind a bit , so I am trying to catch up this week.

Individual reflection

Some people might say that arts integration is a waste of time in Foundation Phase education. Please explain how you would respond to such a statement by explaining your view on arts integration in the Foundation Phase.

 If someone give this statement, I would disagree. Arts integration encourages teaching and learning strategies which address outcomes in various subjects at the same time while encouraging learners to determine their understanding of concepts and skills through art. Art can be integrated in all areas in your classroom, from classroom management to conquering certain concepts in different subjects. In arts integration learners can be actively part of the learning experience and certain concepts that was difficult for them to gasp, learners might find easier to understand. It is also proven that art integration has many benefits for the learners like improving their reading and language development, better understanding of maths ideas and concepts ,improving their cognitive skills, giving learners motivation to learn and teaching leaners effective social behaviour. Therefore art integration in Foundation phase is definitely not a waste of time.

Which aspects of study unit 4 did you find the most interesting and challenging?  Please use the following prompts to reflect on your experience:

What did you find interesting? Please explain why.

In my grade R class, music as always been apart of the classroom and integrated in language, life skills and math’s. I found it interesting to see how you can integrate music also in gr 1-3 in all their subjects. I had an understanding that art can integrate in higher grades, but the learning material gave me more ideas and insight how you can make it part of your lessons and teaching methods and I found it very interesting.

What did you find challenging? Please explain why.

I did not find anything challenging in this study unit. The study unit was well- written and easy to understand. Working through the study content was interesting and made me excited to integrate more art in my lessons.

Ok, guys. Hope you all are still well and coping.

Till next time.

Greetings Esme.

Individual reflection:  Unit 3 Blog

Hi everyone:

The weeks are flying by and it feels I am always trying to keep up with everything. But at the end everything gets done, one thing at a time.

Unit 3 was an interesting unit about play. Most of the information and learning material was known to me due to my  previous studies in Educare. But it was nice to work through the material and refresh my memory.

Please analyse the scenario above by using the following prompts as guidelines:

What possibly made some learners uncomfortable during these activities? Why were some learners uncomfortable?

The boy was uncomfortable of the Zulu song he did not understand. When learners do not understand the content or concept being taught during a lesson they may withdraw from the lesson and not actively take part, in his case he felt embarrass that he did not know the song and it made him unhappy. The girl felt uncomfortable dancing in front of boys due to her religious upbringing. It is something that is probably frowned on in her religion and she might not be accustomed to it and not part of her belief system.

Can you think of ways to address these issues in future? What will you change?

In the future I would explain the songs words and from what culture it is taken from and have a discussion on that culture. If there is children of that culture in your classroom you can involve them in the discussion. Also, I will explain the outcomes of the lesson. Learners will feel more comfortable if they understand the concept of teaching and probably take part in the lesson and find it enjoyable and fun. When explaining the lesson, I will also ask if anyone is uncomfortable doing any of the activities. I will listen to their reasons and find solutions to overcome it. In the situation of the girl where it is due to religion reasons you have understand and give her options to make the activity comfortably for her. You can for instance split boys and girls or give her an option to take part differently without feeling left out.

How can we accommodate diverse learner profiles in our classrooms? What must we beware of?

You always have to be aware of all the different learners background in your classroom and their religion and culture beliefs. The best way to prevent any uncomfortable learners or situations is to take these learners backgrounds is consideration when you do your lesson planning and try to accommodate all learners that they feel part of the class and activity. Your classroom and teaching must represent different cultures and religions. You have to create a safe environment for learners where they can freely express themselves and know they are appreciated and important.

Ok, guys until next time.

Greetings. Esme.

Study unit 2:

Hello, everybody!

I must say this semester feels a bit overwhelming. The work load just keeps coming and I am struggling to juggle work, home, kids and studies. But I try to keep calm and take a day at a time.

What new things did you become aware of when working through this study unit’s content?

Working through this study unit I came aware that music concepts can easily be taught in fun en easy ways to the learners. I became aware of the different music concepts, what it is and how to teach it to the learners. Working through the content I gained a better understanding how music lessons in Foundation phase work.

What concept/element/idea was most significant for you in this study unit?

I learned that music consists out different concepts like beat, meter ,rhythm, tempo, pitch, intensity, quality and texture .Children need to be encourage to use all their senses and body during music lessons. There are also different types of music activities like musical games , moving and using your body as an instrument ,instrument playing, singing, dramatization etc. I learned how to incorporate this one day in my classroom.

Individual reflection

1. As a Foundation Phase teacher, you have to choose between utilizing indigenous African music, Western Art music or contemporary commercial music (including popular music and film music) in your classes. Which would you choose? Please motivate your answer.

I feel you can’t really chose only one form of music to incorporate in your lessons. Children need to be expose to all genre of music. Certain lesson where you want to achieve certain outcomes always acquire a different music. For instance, contemporary music is great to use, cause children might know the music and take more active part in your lesson ,but most contemporary music have a 4 beat. You want to expose them to 3 beats music as well which you will find more in classical music.  Teaching them of different music instruments you also have to let them hear the different music made by the instruments which can vary from orchestral instruments to African instruments. Every child is different in your class and comes from  different backgrounds and you might be the only person that will every expose him/her to a certain genre of music.

2. Do you think that the examples and content offered in SU 2 are inclusive? Please motivate your answer.

Yes, I think so. The video examples were informing and explain the music concepts. It was interesting learning of different material and things you can use in a music lesson. The study unit made me aware of the different elements in music and included a lot of valuable information to incorporate in the classroom.

3. What suggestions do you have for making the content more inclusive? Please provide examples of how the content and activities presented in SU 2 could be changed or adapted to be more inclusive

I personally don’t think any content need to be change in study unit 2.The information was well formulated and easily understood. The videos were interesting to watch to see the theory convey into practical.

Ok, till next time!

Hope everyone have a blessed week.

Esme.v

Study Unit 1:

Hallo, everyone!

This week was a busy week for me, between work and kids, but I am grateful that we all are healthy and well. I try to up to date with all my modules ,but  I feel this semester is a bit overwhelming with all the task assigned. But I try to stay positive and take it day for day and I believe I will also get through this semester.

I enjoyed working through the content of this unit. The theories of Vygotsky, Erikson and Piaget was discussed. It is always more interesting when the theories are made practical and how you use it in class and how it helps develop the child in the classroom at a certain development stage or age. I already learned about these theories in previous modules ,but it was nice to see how it intertwined with music and teaching music.

Music can easily put irrelevant in a classroom, but in this unit the importance of incorporating music in your class and the benefits for the child is discussed. Music activities can promote children’s holistic development.  

Through my years working with children from babies to 6 years, I always enjoyed doing music games  and lessons with them and saw how they enjoyed it and expressed them self through music. I feel confident giving lessons for the younger child, but I feel I still need to learn so much more to give a successful music lesson  for Gr 1 to Gr 3, so that the child gets the optical development through music.

Both music and physical education play important roles in the holistic development of the young learner, but if I had to choose, I will choose to incorporate music education. There is so many benefits of bringing music in the classroom. Music helps develop motor skills, self-esteem, coordination and self - discipline. Learners who participate in music, develop abstract thinking and creativity. Studies have shown that learners also do better in their math’s, language, listening skills and memory who are musically trained. The learners also participate with their peers during a music lesson and will therefore learn about socially acceptable behavior like taking turns, how to respect others’ feelings and conflict management. Music helps the child develop emotional and cognitive. It will build the child’s  self-esteem and personality and gives him a place where he can express himself freely and creatively. I feel that physical education and development can also brought into a music lesson. So, the child will still be expose to it.

I’ve learned a lot of new information regarding how children can benefit from music in the different ages and stages of their lives. I will take the concept of the importance of music in the classroom for the development of the child to heart and surely into teaching practice.

Until the next post.

Esme.