What a semester! Each study unit was valuable to me, especially study unit 5 because it gave me so many ideas to use in one day in my own class. The blogs were challenging but fun. I had to hold on angrily and remind myself to complete it. Since I'm so good there in moss to procrastinate. There was nothing I did not find meaningful - I understood each concept / idea well and formed my own ideas as well. This module made me realize that one day I will definitely bring and apply music and the arts to my classroom every day. I know the learners will enjoy it more as well as learn more from it.

I want to say thank you for this module and for my teaching! I can not believe that we already find ourselves at the end of the year.

Planning a lesson as I have learned in these two years is one of the most important aspects of any lesson; it is what determines whether the lesson will be successful or not. When well planned, the learners will learn a lot from the lesson. As a teacher, you must therefore take the time to plan and prepare well.

What I found interesting this week and as a new person in this field, I have always wondered how to start a good lesson, and in this study unit I found the tips very useful. I have learned that it is not a good idea to start a lesson with 'today you will', but rather to start the lesson with an activity or something interesting that the learners will show interest in. I think this module gave me more valuable, useful and practical information to use one day in my classroom.

I also now realized that, as all children would rather play all the time, it is important to keep the aspect of learning in the foundation phase, to keep the lessons fun and creative, but in a way that they also learn something. So, for a foundation phase teacher, we need to be very creative and mindful of the method to be used. Therefore, it is important to plan and prepare well, because if the lesson is not presented in an interesting and fun way, the learners will not be interested. The teacher must determine in advance what the outcomes will be, what the purpose of the lesson will be, how the topic will be introduced, what the teacher will do, what the learners will do, what materials will be used before the lesson itself takes place.

I have always loved music and knowing that it can be used to teach is a bonus and something I can not wait to one day use as a teaching method.

I really enjoyed this module and it definitely inspired me to one day apply all these aspects in my class.

This week with the art integration I become aware of all the different ways in which one can incorporate art during lessons and the many benefits that it holds. 

I liked this study unit a lot, because if you think further about incorporating art into lessons, you realize that children need to have fun while learning, they need to be able to express themselves as they see fit in a certain environment. I think it's important for teachers to remember that yes, children should learn, but more importantly, it's still just small people who want to enjoy what they do and want to express their feelings and not be put in a box, or that robots are expected of them. What better way to do this than to incorporate different arts and music during lessons?

The value of integrating art into lessons is invaluable. Making lessons fun with art integration motivates the children during the lesson and with positive attitudes children will learn better. A big part is also the socialization that is so important to these little ones. Children can express themselves and what they understand in a way that makes sense to them. They are given the opportunity to 'let go' of normal routines in lessons and to demonstrate their abilities, emotions and knowledge.

By playing or singing specific songs, such as a welcome song in the morning, children will feel welcome and excited for the day. If a song is played after playtime, the kids will know it's time to clean up. By using body percussion, you can have a specific rhythm and beat that you play to get the children's attention and silence. After break, you can play a relaxing song to relax and calm the kids.

This week I learned there is more to playing than just playing. I learned about the different types of plays, the traditional, open and original play. With the contributions that the game makes to the development of the child, I did not realize the depth that the child's development plays. The different playing elements and all the different games that one can also play to engage music were also very interesting.

I mostly enjoyed all the videos with examples of different games to play. I liked 'Charlie over the ocean' the most.

Play is extremely important in the classroom. Children develop and learn by participating in play activities. Children improve their language, their social skills, their thinking skills and their physical development. All these improved skills then lead them to a better self-esteem.

By including play elements in a lesson, you can keep your kids engaged and motivated. Children remember nice things. By making a learning activity into a game, children learn unconsciously.

Examples of play in class can include letter formation with legos, hangman etc.

I never realized how many different elements and components there are for music nor that they can all fit 
together. I also did not know that harmony is not a musical element. I learned many activities that
 I could use in my class one day, such as using balls to explain rhythm to children. 
Music games, movement and listening activities are the 3 that stood out to me that immediately made me think. 
Not only does music help you with effective teaching 
but also with class management, to relieve stress after a test and even just to motivate the learners to work.

After doing the study unit, I realized again how important it is for children to learn about music from a 
young age. Learners need to learn the different music elements and experience it is good for them because 
they gain confidence through music. There are a variety of activities that the teacher can do with the 
learners to learn music elements. Learning music helps the learners with concentration and listening skills.
I look forward to learning more about the different approaches to music and how I can use it in my classroom 
one day. I also want to learn more about the different activities I can use.
LSKM is definitely a very educational module for me that I will definitely apply more in the future.

This module provides a much clearer explanation of the finer details of music. Music is so much more than just listening to a song on your phone. After learning about the elements of music, I experience music in a very different way. I learned to listen to music with much more attention while trying to listen to all the different elements.

Before this module I was not aware of how to read musical notes / symbols or that music was even grouped into different categories according to different sounds. Now I can identify different musical notes and even know which instrument is placed in which specific instrument group. I also learned about all the different music activities for learners in the classroom. The activities are so important, as I realized in study unit 1 what the benefits of music are and their influence on learners during their childhood.

LSKM is definitely a very educational module for me that I will definitely apply more in the future.

It was very interesting to me to see that music helps with cognitive development, and that music skills improve as the learners grow.
The thing that stood out the most to me this week was just once again how important it is to build relationships with learners in your class, but also to encourage them to build friendships and relationships with each other. I found the first study unit very informative. 

I think for Foundation Phase teachers it is very important to have knowledge of the development of the child, as well as the activities that the learners can do to promote the development.
It was very nice for me to ‘recap’ again and learn new things from the different theories of Erikson / Piaget and Vygotsky. It just made me realize once again how important social interaction between learners is and how important it is for teachers to build relationships with learners.
Last week's information was very informative, and I will definitely implement it in my class one day. The information helps us to realize how learners think and reason, and it can help us as foundation phase teachers to identify different things. 

Hi everyone. 

I am Maritha du Plooy, a single mother of a beautiful 9 year old girl. I reside in Lephalale, previously known as Ellisras. A small town famous for the mine and power stations, Medupi and Matimba. I graduated High School in 2007 and started working at Laerskool Bosveld Primary as a student and is now employed in the office as an administrator. I gave up my Education studies when I fell pregnant in 2012 and in 2019 I decided I have to fulfil my lifelong dream in becoming a teacher. The difference one person can make in a child's life is so admiring and fulfilling that I can not see myself working outside of the Education sector.