Final Blog Post

I can’t believe this year is almost over. I really feel like this was a successful year!

I enjoyed this module a lot. I loved to learn about music education and it really made me see education in a different way.

As teacher I am definitely going to use this type of education in my future classroom. Before this module I did not know the importance of music education and I’m glad that I am aware of it now.

I had a great experience with the blog posts that we had to write. It made me focus on the study units separately and it made me think even harder about what we are actually learning. I found it a bit challenging in the beginning to try and understand why and how we have to incorporate music in the educational system, as it is not something that I have learnt in or out of school.

The assignments were very fun. I enjoyed it but sometimes struggled a bit, especially with the slogan assignment, as I am not a creative person by nature. I did learn a lot though and it challenged me to work on skills I do not necessarily work on often. The lecturer did a great job by explaining every study unit and each assignment had clear instructions. I am very grateful for that.

What a great, but crazy year this was! I am grateful that we had Ms Rina Francis as our lector for LSKM 221. She truly is a great educator for educators.

I am looking forward to using the skills she taught us in my future classroom!  

Study Unit 5

Good day teachers!

We only have a few weeks left until the end of the semester… what a year this was!

I enjoy this module a lot. We always learn something new and interesting, something that can challenge us as future teachers.

Let’s get into the last module.

Assessing creative outcomes of students is very difficult. Art has to be continuously assessed to determine the learners progress and improvement of the subject. Not all teachers are able to assess art correctly in Foundation phase. Some reasons for this can be the following:

• Teachers are not familiar with art, the planning of it and the correct assessing of it.
• There can be a lack of resources in the classroom as well as the school to assess art.
• Different teachers can have different opinions when it comes to art.
• Some teachers believe that art is not a necessary subject and do not put in much effort in the subject.

I personally believe that it is important to not only incorporate art in the Foundation phase, but also assess it thoroughly and correctly. Schools are not always aware of it, but it is important that we as teachers ensure that we do not neglect art in our classroom.

As a teacher I will bring forth ideas and different strategies to integrate art in other subjects, which will be assessed. I will do research and put in effort to learn how to create the perfect art-lesson plan. I will be more than willing to help other teachers create their lesson plans and also guide them to assess it in the correct manner.

I will definitely have to do my own research beforehand to be able to do so, but I will be more than willing to put in the effort.

I personally enjoy arts and music and I would love to teach it to my future students as good as possible.

I enjoyed this study unit and as usual I learnt a lot!

I hope you guys have a great week.

Good luck with the last stretch of the semester!

Hi everyone!

Life keeps on getting busier by the day. I’m going to be honest… it is very tough to work, study and play hockey at the same time. I really have to plan my week thoroughly to make sure that I get everything done and it drains me sometimes, but I keep on making it work.

During the study of Study unit 3 I have learned a lot about playing and the effect it has on children in school. It is clear that children learn through play. Play is very important for the development of a child,

There are different types of play used to teach children.

• Free play
• Guided play
• Directed play
• Social play
• Play with objects
• Sociodramtic play
• Vygotsky on play

I really enjoyed this study unit. I learned a lot about the different types of play and I found it very interesting. I will definitely incorporate most types of play in my future classroom.

When learners participate in these different types of play, they automatically learn new and different skills and concepts. Play is important for early childhood development. Learners develop their social skills and are able to build on their relationships when participating in different types of play. Skills that can be developed by playing are; emotional-, social-, language- and creativity skills.

Musical play is very important as it has a huge impact on the development of children. Musical play can be done by singing songs and dancing to songs, etcetera. It is a fun way of teaching and children will always enjoy it. It creates an environment in the classroom where children can build on their relationships and work on their social skills. Intellectual and language skills are also developed during music play.

I believe that it is important to try and incorporate all types of play in your classroom so that the learners are able to develop all the necessary skills.

Have a good week!

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It has been a busy few weeks. I am really struggling to keep up with my studies, work, hockey coaching and hockey practice. Luckily, I managed to make a little time to work through study unit two.

I really enjoyed study unit two and its content. This content is all new to me, but I would like to learn more about it. I believe that contemporary music is very important because it contains all types of music. This will lead to the teachers keeping on track with the newest music trends. Learners are familiar with contemporary music because they hear it on a daily basis. Students will definitely prefer a variety of music and music that they are familiar with.

I really think that the lecturer made study unit two very interesting and that the examples given were very inclusive. I don’t necessarily have any suggestions on how this study unit could have been more inclusive. I am very happy with how the lecturer presented it and I appreciate the fact that everything is clear. I am still busy with assignment 2, but I am enjoying it so far! It is a different assignment than usual… a fun and interesting assignment.

Children come from different backgrounds, different cultures and different environments. I, as teacher, will make sure that I do the research necessary to understand my students in their own, unique way. I believe that music can be used to find common ground between different learners.

Good luck with all the tests and assignments!

Janke du Plessis: 30019400

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My name is Janke du Plessis. I am a second-year student and I am currently living and working at Laerskool Eikestad in Stellenbosch, Western Cape. I’ve always had a passion for children. Ever since I was young, I loved helping my little brother with his homework. God has given me an amazing gift to work with little children. I understand them, I have compassion for them and I strive to teach them. I have a passion for numerous things. One of my greatest passions are, as you can guess… children. I love animals dearly and I love any type of adventurous activities. I have a passion for nature and the farm.

I am honestly not quite ready for this upcoming semester. I have a lot on my plate, since I am working at a school, tutoring in the afternoons and coaching and playing hockey. I struggle to make time for my studies and I know that is something that I’ll have to work on. I am excited to see what LSKM 211 will teach me this semester. I really hope that this will be an insightful subject, a subject that I can use in my daily teaching career.

This past week has been quite hectic. I was really busy with work and at the same time trying to figure out how to plan this semester of studies. Luckily, I have started with some tasks, but I really struggled as I was very tired in the evenings. I am so glad that I have a “study buddy” that I can work with, talk with and that she just keeps me motivated. She encourages me to work even though I do not necessarily have the time and she helps me to plan my week so that I’ll be able to get everything done. I would’ve struggled during my studies if I did not have her. Even though we don’t live near each other, she is good to and for me.

The new thing that I became aware of while working through this study unit is the fact that we as teachers are able to apply different learning theories to music teaching and development… something I was not really familiar with. The most significant concept in this study unit was the concept of rhythm. It was interesting because of the fact that we do not only use rhythm when playing music, but also during the teaching of new words and reading sentences.

To meet the holistic development needs of learners, I will choose music education. I believe that when a child engages in music activities it leads to the holistic development of the child. When using music education in the classroom, you’ll also be able to develop the learners’ physical development by letting them dance to music. The learners will then be able to better their fine- and gross motor skills. It will also have an influence on their personal development, like boosting their self-confidence, discovering their unique abilities and interacting with other students in the classroom.

I believe that music education is very important for the holistic development of a foundation phase child. Children grow and find themselves a lot during this stage of their life. It is our job as teachers to help the learners achieve and succeed in this phase that they are in. We should educate ourselves to better and different learning techniques, techniques that interests your learners, techniques that better your learners and techniques that can be fun and educational at the same time. I believe that music education can be one of these techniques.

I am excited to learn more about education during the study of LSKM 211. I already have an interest in the subject and I have a strong feeling that I will be a wiser teacher after this semester.