I am teaching the Grade 5 to 9 learners English FAL at Morgenzon Landbou Akademie since the beginning of 2015. In the very small farming community of Morgenzon, Mpumalanga, it has only been a pleasure to have these children sharing their work in class. I had so much fun reading their poems that I thought these gems should be shared on my blog. The following poems are from the Grade 6 class and with their consent they agreed on sharing the top three poems with the world...I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Bear in mind that they are Afrikaans speaking children...

Martiens Jansen van Vuuren, ...Man

Funnyman Funnyman
Has a lot of money man
Always thinks he's smart man
Thinks he has no fright man

I wish I could understand him...

Has a lot of friends man
Very, very strong man
Sometimes very mean man

What is wrong with him?

Jan-Hendrik Zwarts, Schools

Schools, schools
I think it's for fools

No one likes it there
Just the stinky air

Learning I don't like
'cause it's better to ride my bike

At school most people are bad
and some are making me very sad

Weekends are the best
And holidays for rest

Schools, schools, schools
I still think it's for fools

Nathan Spath, Rugby

Rugby is nice
Rugby is cool
Rugby is not for a fool

Rugby is great
'Cause you play
With your mate

Rugby is passion
Not fashion

Morné Kuhn, Sticks

Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But dirt bikes do it even better

New beginnings

The Grade R class of 2014

A few things happen in your mind,soul and body when you graduate and become a teacher for the first time at the age of 52...but the most wondrous of all...is the feeling of being blessed with the tiny bodies, minds and spirits of the future...never in a million years would I have testified to the awesome feeling of...just belonging...just being blessed...just enjoying the fruit of all that you have learnt in the reflection of eyes that follow your every move...my new Grade R class at Morgenzon Landbou Akademie, Mpumalanga!

To mould our future leaders according to Scripture an Education Department is no minor task...everything is new: people skills (thanks Suzanne), managing the classroom (thank you Lee), Language, life and social skills (thank you Sandra), Math skills (thank you Peter) but most of all independent research skills (thank you Cornerstone Christian College)!

I love the vibe of the classroom and know that the Lord is present in all I do, say and act...Bless all teachers who feel the same calling as I do!

Praise the Lord!

An exercise to keep a sharp mind!

They label this an Anti-Alzheimer exercise to keep a sharp mind! Fascinating!

       
CAN YOU SEE 10 FACES IN THIS TREE?
 
 

     
     
        
         
THERE'S A FACE IN HERE. CAN YOU SEE IT? 
 
 
 

     
     
       
        
       
        CAN YOU SEE THE BABY? 
 
 
 

     
     
       
        
         
CAN YOU SEE THE KISSING COUPLE? 
 
 

     
     
     
      


CAN YOU SEE THE THREE WOMEN? 
      

At which stage of life are you according to Erik Erikson?

Erik Erikson (a psychologist who studied with Freud) proposed a theory of psychosocial development that describes  tasks to be accomplished at different stages of life. He offered a basic framework for understanding the needs of young people in relation to the society in which they grow, learn, and later make their contributions. His psychosocial theory emphasises the emergence of the self, the search for identity, the individual's relationships with others, and the role of culture throughout life. He regarded development to be an interdependent series of stages, each with its particular goals, concerns, accomplishments, and dangers. A suggestion of a developmental crisis in the individual's life brings conflict between positive and potentially unhealthy alternatives. The way in which the individual resolves each crisis influences resolution of future crisis and has a lasting effect on that person's self-image and view of society (Woolfolk, 2010).

There are eight stages or as he calls them 'the eight ages of man', from pre-school to elementary and middle school to beyond the school years.

I want to remind my fellow graduating mates that they are going to contend with stage 6 to stage 8 and I wish them luck in their future endevours:

Stage 6 - Intimacy versus isolation - young adulthood - love relationships
               The young adult must develop intimate relationships or suffer feelings of isolation;

Stage 7 - Generativity versus stagnation - middle adulthood - parenting/mentoring
               Each adult must find some way to satisfy and support the next generation;

Stage 8 - Ego versus despair - late adulthood - reflection on and acceptance of one's life
               The culmination is a sense of acceptance of oneself and a sense of fulfillment.

(Taken from Educational Psychology, Anita Woolfolk, Eleventh Edition, Pearson).

I am at the glorious Stage 8 and it is really all coming together for me. I am enjoying life. I have had all my dreams come true and am proud to have been part of the Cornerstone Institute family where grace and blessings follow you with each E-mail they send you.

May God's grace and blessings be upon you and yours!

We often underestimate learners...

What learners like in their teachers...

(Getting practical. A guide to teaching and learning. Saide. 3rd Edition. Criticos, Long, Mays.et al)

Challenging the very nature of reality!

DESCARTES' EVIL GENIUS (Joel Levy, A bee in a cathedral. And 99 other scientific analogies.)

If you were nothing more than a brain in a vat of fluid, wired up to a computer that simulated reality for you, would you be able to tell?

In 1641 French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) posed an argument that challenges the very nature of reality, posing the ultimate doubt about the universe, 'Suppose', he wrote, 'some evil genius not less powerful than deceitful, has employed his whole energies in deceiving me; I shall consider that... all ... external things are but illusions and dreams of which this genius has availed himself to lay traps for my credulity.' In other words, if the only means we have to determine the nature and existence of reality is the information that arrives in the mind via senses, it is possible that we could be deceived via these senses.

The modern version of this sceptical dilemma is the 'brain in a vat' problem. If you are not really a person with a body, walking around and interacting with reality, but actually just a brain suspended in a vat, fed a simulation of reality by a powerful computer, there would be no way to tell the difference.

This conceit forms the basis of the film The Matrix.

Interesting stuff to know:

The cerebrum - the outer part of the brain - is thought to be the seat of the conscious mind. If the cerebrum's wrinkles were all unfolded, it would cover four pieces of A4 paper.

The mind can have extraordinary powers over the body. Hindu holy men, known as saddhus, can consciously slow their heart rates to just two beats a minute and stay under water for up to six minutes.

Some Tibetan monks practise a skill known as tumo, where they learn to raise the temperature of their fingers and toes by up to 8°C (15°F), simply by an effort of will.

You spend the equivalent of 122 days asleep every year - that's about a third of your life.

The dolphin and the echidna are the only mammals that do not have REM sleep (as far as researchers can tell).

Newborn babies spend up to 70% of their sleep time in REM sleep.

From conception humans design their own reality with input from parents, family and the world. If our heavenly Father would have been our single input, how amazing could reality have been?

Math Science and Technology (MST) Report from the DoBE October 2013

The DoBE has released a report on MST and I view it as a good read for those who are interested in these learning areas and what the government is planning for the future as solutions and recommendations.

http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=O26UtU9j3bg%3d&tabid=358&mid=1301

I can underpin the seriousness of a country at loss for good ideas on how to stop this critical challenge we have in South Africa. The time has come to refrain from blaming each other and pull together as a nation to seek solutions - especially the public sector is viewed as a solution to this challenge.

Annette Lovemore of the Democratic Alliance (DA):
"No matter what dedicated maths, science and technology structure Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga decides to develop within her department, she must take cognisance of the fact that successful teachers have succeeded largely despite her department, and not because of it. She must draw on their expertise. Their excellence must be recognised and duplicated many fold." [Politicsweb. Accessed 29/10/2013]

As teachers we have the responsibility to share our fresh knowledge on Classroom Management and Praxis, Educational Psychology, and Instructional Methods with those teachers who haven't studied for a while and might be a bit rusty on these issues. I have recommended good reading books too:

The Educator as Mediator of Learning. Nieman & Monyai, 2006.

Remain positive and remember that teachers have an extra accountability factor, before God, when it comes to children.