Reflection

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      Believe it or not, becoming a blogger was never something I planned. Before I started this assignment I thought that I can learn nothing  from it. But after a few posts I see that blogging is also a way of expressing your thoughts and yourself. I also notice the positive effect it has having on my life.

      Blogging was forcing me to learn new life skills. Blogging helped me refine my grammatical skills, but far more importantly blogging has forced me to formulate arguments and communicate inspiration using the written word. Every time I publish something I take a risk. There is always going to be a sense of risk associated with good writing as it seeks to advance to a particular ideal.

      I also learn how to deal with criticism. Not all comments are positive. Not all reviews are positive. And not all links leading to this website are positive. But humbly learning from criticism is an important life skill that I am glad I am still learning on from blogging. Once a person begins writing about life and the thoughts that shape it then you must be observant. As a result from my post I learned to become more observant to the world around me in almost every way. I also started to read more and more because they say "Writers read".

    

      During this blogging period I have to promote my blog because there are hundreds of million of websites. Mt blog may provide valuable information to readers. But if nobody knows it exist,it isn't helping anybody. At some point, I am required to promote my work to others.

      Something for me that was very difficult during this blogging period is time management. Between studies, assignments, classes and rest or free time I did management to make time for my blog. The blogging did take a lot of my time because I have to take a lot of research so that when I post something it makes sense to everyone.

  

Social media in the classroom

Social media is an ingrained part of today's society. Our learners and students are constantly on blogs, Facebook, twitter etc.

Facebook is known as a place to post updates, announcements, photos and videos. That is all things that we likely to use in our classes anyway. I can create a Facebook group for each class, where I can post assignments, make announcements, and remind students about important deadlines. Parents can also access the site to monitor what is going on in my class.
A Facebook group also creates a space for students to ask and answer questions.

Like Facebook, Twitter offers a quick way to post class announcements and reminders as well as real time information on class field trips. Twitter also helps classes track information on a topic.
Twitter is made not only for reading, but also for responding. Encourage students to interact with other via Twitter by posting their favorite quote or facts from a particular lesson. To have them interact with experts by tweeting questions or comments. Many organizations offer Twitter chat sessions with which students can interact.

Student writing improves more they do it. Instead of traditional writing projects, blogs create great opportunities for students to write and display their writing on a larger scale. The topic ideas are endless. Students can reflect on lessons or field trips, document research for a larger project, or review movies, books, or audio recordings. Ask students to illustrate their thoughts with photos or videos. By having students read each other's blog posts, they will create a stronger community with one another, discovering shared experiences and reactions.

Like Facebook, YouTube is an excellent option for flipped classrooms in that students can watch lectures and resources before entering the classroom. We have all probably shown a YouTube clip or two to illustrate a point in the classroom. Students can also create their own material, instead of watching material created by others.

Since students are already using social media away from the classroom, integrating it into the classroom helps students learn best practices for social media and offers an interesting new twist on lessons.

Practical Teaching

Practical teaching forms a integral part of teacher training. Teaching practice is valued a very necessary part of teacher education for students to become competent teachers. Practical teaching gave me a real life experience to be in front in class and not sitting in the chairs en desk anymore. It feels strange for me to stand in front of the class that I was sitting in the previous year in matrix. Teaching practice learn me that not everything go as planned. It also learned me that everybody does make mistakes in life and that you have to learned from that mistakes that you make.
Practical teaching granted me teaching experience in the actual teaching and learning environment.

How I see myself as a teacher

I have my own beliefs that will effect my performance in class. I am still learning how to teach that's why I am a first year student, but most importantly I still have to learn from life. I think I can grow as a person as well as a teacher if I keep my mind open to new possibilities.

I will possess enormous impacts on the lives of students or learner I taught. As a future teacher, being able to shape the lives of the future generation, I desire to be a teacher that provides my learners or students with an enjoyable education experience. I want to make teaching fun but most importantly they still have to learn from me. Being a serious person, I believe that the atmosphere in my classroom that I will be teaching would be quite serious, but I want to be able to negotiate the level of seriousness in the class with some fun.

 

A Good Teacher

"A good teacher"

The reason I want to be a teacher is to make a difference in our education system. I want to give learners, students a chance to become knowledgeable when no one else give them a chance. I want to inspire others to reach their fullest potential and to learn from them in the process.
The good qualities of a teacher is a teacher must motivate, inspire and encourage students to strive for success. A teacher must lift up his learners when they are feeling down. A teacher must prepare his children for the real world. I feel that I will be a good teacher because I have many of that qualities and I have a passion for learning and sharing my knowledge.

INTRODUCTION

I am Shane de Jager. A first year student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology studying Education. I believe in that everyone has a different story to tell. I am a Mathematics, Accounting and Business Management education student who does not back from any challenge life throws at me. Becoming a teacher is not a easy and neither is being one. But one thing you always have to remember is that why you got into this into this because that will help you to stay focuses when those challenging days come around. Teaching is the most rewarding job out there and it is every day different.