Internship at Hilton 2015

Yesterday I was left to look after the grade 8 History class and I think I really enjoyed the lesson as we recapped on what had been discussed and learned in the past two lessons. The boys were very cooperative and so I allowed for the lesson to a bit more fun, discussing the differences between the American Indians of the 1840s and our curret society. The boys amazed me; in that they postulated really solid justifications of their observations and thoughts .

This particular lesson was very exciting, I actually felt like a grade 8 learner myself.  I learned a lot because I put myself in the same position as the learners and indulged in what the lesson had to offer. I particularly liked the introduction of the topic ; parts of speech. In this lesson parts of speech were paralled to a very familiar and easy to understand concept for the boys. It seems discussions and work supervision are the key aspects of learning management as they were a fundemental part of this English lesson.

This lesson was very insightful, as a variety of learning styles were accommodated and the learners were kept interested through a visual aspect of the lesson that was used to create imagery around the concept that was introduced. A discussion was used to assesss whether learning and understanding had taken place and to what extent.

Last week Saturday we played Clifton in Basketball and it was a good game overall, which we won 28-10 after having lost our first fixture as u15B. I really felt like we have a special connection with the boys and it was really heart-warming to see them full of joy after having achieved something as a team. I am particularly impressed by the level of participation pertaining to extra-curricular codes here at Hilton. The learners are always giving 100% attendance and participation; which can yield tantamount enthusiasm for the coach. 

Yesterday I visited the Art lesson with one of the grade 8 classes. As soon as I walked into the classroom I felt like my aesthetic awareness was awakened; through the display of artworks all around the class. The teacher was so passionate and enthusiastic about her subject. Classroom management was merely subject to the positive attitude and level of eargerness to learn from the learners, which made it very easy for the teacher to manage the class as well as discipline. This lesson was actually an introduction to Art in high school and what Art Education is. The teacher used a braistorming and questioning approach to try and define the demographics of the prior knowledge presented by the learners; in preparation for a systematic transition towards her lesson objectives ensuring that no learner is excluded in the process. I felt that this was a lesson where all the aspects of lesson planning were appropriately utilised and manipulated. Which then allowed for a smooth management of t...

I visited the Grade 9 History class today, I was very inspired more than anything. It seems that maintaining discipline in the class room is very much affected by your tone of voice as well as your body posture and the body language that you use whilst addressing the learners. There seems to be a very fine line between being taken seriously and being easily mistaken for someone who isnt sure of themselves. The instructional teaching approach works very well with the questioning and case study approach; as I was exposed to a combination of all three today.

This was the first grade 11 IsiZulu lesson i attended. The learners were doing "Ubuningi" as a revision activity. I learned that once the learners are familiar with your expectations and rules in terms of discipline, it really becomes easy to get straight into the lesson and let learning take place. There was a discussion about the activity done in class, in an attempt to see how much the learners remember and whether it was safe to move on. This was done through a series of questions that were asked and we came to a conclusion that the learners had not forgotten anything and it was safe to proceed.  I also learned something new in grammar, which is concerned with the correctness of a concept based on the rules taught in class and how it is normally applied in the real world. Being approachable and creating an atmosphere within which learning can flourish is really imperative. So lightenning up the atmosphere through general conversation can put the boys at ease. It is cr...