My reflection on the process of blogging.

The thing that I will remember the most of blogging is that at first I was so afraid to post my thoughts and ideas on my blog, because I was so stuck on the idea that the whole world can see everything I post. After a while, I started to get used to it and it started to be fun.

I have actually learned that blogging can be used in a classroom and it connects with the idea that I would like to make learning fun for learners.

While I was blogging, the idea that social media can be used in the classroom stuck with me and I think I would definitely put it into practice and I started to look up ideas on how to make the classroom more fun with learning in mind.

I also found great ideas like the “I’m done jar” which I would like to post more about in the future. With that in mind, I would have liked to post videos of myself demonstrating or explaining certain things and mix vlogging (video blog) with blogging a little bit. 

If I could have started all over again, I would have put in more pictures and videos. I am going try my best to add more pictures and videos in the future to make my blog more enjoyable. 

At the beginning of my assignment, I have never had a blog or been a blogger and only knew children and classmate who had their own blog. Never in a lifetime would I have thought that I would do the “blogging thing”, but with this I have learned once again that I am never to old to learn and that a teacher can also learn from their learners.

This is all based on an assignment that I got for the subject “Communication in English”. 

Why I think it is necessary to integrate social media in the classroom.

Nowadays learners are up to date with all forms of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs and more. They claw to their phones as if their lives depend on it and most of the time learners are on their phones in the classroom, which puts this social media in a bad light with school, principals and teachers. Actually social media is not as bad as one would think. If it is used in the correct way, it could benefit both the teachers and the learners. The teacher can for instance post videos and learning materials on a blog to help learners or create a Facebook page where videos and learning material can be uploaded on and learners can go and like the page and be up to date. It can also help the teacher to remind the learners of their homework, tasks and other stuff that needs to be done. The teacher can also show videos that appear on blogs, you tube, Facebook to enrich their understanding on the subject or concept. If i'm going to be a teacher one day, I will definitely like to do this with my learners.

How teaching practice changed my idea on how I see myself as a “Teacher”.

At first when I started to give some lessons in the teaching practice period I wanted the learners to like me and work with me but is soon learned the ugly truth. That is that not all learners will like you, especially when you try to discipline them. Even when you give your all, there will still be learners that do not appreciate it at all and does not bother to do homework but on the upside, I have found that most of the learners do appreciate it, especially when you try to make learning and the class fun and more interactive. I knew that I was on the right path as a teacher when the learners thanked me at the end of the lesson that I gave. The experience I gained while on teaching practice was the best, I think it made me a better teacher in the sense that I am now more open minded to the problems that learners face each day, and that I now know what works and what does not work in the classroom. 

How I see myself as a teacher.

I see myself as a young teacher that wants to change the education system (South African education system) for the better.
I want the learners to stop seeing learning as boring. I want to teach the learning materials in different ways that will accommodate all learners and ‘hopefully’ improve their results in the process. 
In the end, I just want to be a great teacher for the learners.

Why I decided to START blogging.

I’m a teacher in the making. That is what I hear every day. Why you ask, because I’m currently a first year education student.

Yes I said it and I know what you’re thinking and yes, I still want to be a teacher.

It has been my dream for years and I know that there are also some of you that share the same dream with me, but sometimes life gets hard through all the studying, teaching practice periods and assignments that have to be done.

Even if you don’t want to be a teacher, you were influenced by a teacher at some point in your life or are still being influenced by one.

That is why I decided to blog about the life of a Teacher in the making.