Discussion 1

Examine the picture of the school principal, Ms Trunchbull. Compare what you are being taught about being a caring, responsible, critically reflective and accountable teacher who should support learning in diverse educational contexts to the aggressive displays by Ms Trunchbull. 

Ms Trunchbull is far from being a caring, critically reflective and accountable teacher who should support and nurture learning in diverse educational contexts. When we reflect from her background we discover that she abused Ms Honey from her childhood until adulthood. This symbolises that Ms Trunchbull is an aggressive person who hates little girls the most. As Ms Trunchbull was a headmistress she was supposed to lead by example. If you work with children you have to love, care and support them in school and also in the community as learning does not end in school it continues at home. In addition, it shows that Ms Trunchbull had no mutual relationship with the wormwoods family as in the novel there is no event where she visited the family and see how they are living as Matilda was her learner in her school. Ms Trunchbull does not have respect for learners and her staff as she treats them rough and shows no respect at all. She punishes the children as in her school

there was a place where those children who play foul where locked up in as like in jail. She abuses the children emotionally and physically by accusing them for things they have not done and pulls them with their hair. 

The unmentioned might of a woman

·        From whose point of view is the article written?

·        From a woman appreciating other women.

·        From a man who appreciates women.

·        What values and attitudes are reflected in the article about gender relationships?

·        Men are active participants while women are silent working who never complain.

·        Women are better than men.

·        Women are not celebrated enough.

·        Women involvements are not recognised.

·        Men controls women deciding for them what they should and shouldn’t wear.

·        Men are ignored.

·        Do you agree or disagree with the writer’s portrayal of men in the article? Why?

·        No, I highly disagree.

·        Men are not ignorance.

·        It is a man’s duty to decide what his wife wears in order to see that his wife dress properly and respectful like a married person.

·        Men are not only physically strong but also hard workers like women.

·        Do you find the writer’s style of writing effective? Why?

·        Very effective.

·        The article is in a poetic form.

·        Topic is clearly indicated on top of the article.

·        Linking words have been used.        

Weblogs as an emerging genre in higher education

What according to the author is the value of weblogs in higher education?

      Web blogs provide a platform for individual voices.

      Web blogs allow students to write their personal reflection about a particular event.

      Students acquire more information on web blogs of others.

      Web blogs serves as an alerts about an event or danger.

      Web blogs can stimulate student interest in larger notions of the social construction of information as well as presentation of self and make plagiarism less attractive.

      Web blogs can be used to explore the development of genre.

      Web blogs assist educators in conveying insights about identity and hypertext.

      Web blogs format help to organize the reader`s online experience, which can be of special assistant to students struggling with new material.

      Web blogs provide educators with an assortment of new strategies for using hyperlinks in the context of presentation of self.

      Web blogs provides specific content areas for students (Art, science and politics).

What has been your experience with blogs as a student?

      When I post something on my blog no one comment.

      Sometimes I forgot my blog password.

      I learnt from other people’s blogs.

      Blogs helps me as a foundation phase teacher in training to be technologically wise.

      Fewer people have blogs accounts when compared to Facebook accounts.

        Blogs kept me busy reading other peoples blogs most of the time.

      People respect your opinion when you post your views on your blog about something.

How can the effective use of blogs be improved in order to make them a meaningful learning tool for students?

      Blog posts should be original.

      A blog should offer a window into the author’s identity and community affiliations.

      A blog should take advantage of the medium to offer a sense of immediacy and intimacy.

      There should be an authentic purpose for maintaining the blog.

      Blogs should allow students to give voice to their passions.

      Students must post on their blogs every week even every day like in Facebook or twitter.

      Blogs invite feedback and collaborative work.

      Notifications of a new block in preferred subject matter.

      Create a discourse between student and teacher in an educational forum as well as connect the student with peers, mentors, and subject experts through a digital global network.

      Students should avoid plagiarism.

      Every student must have a blog account.

THE ICT BARRIERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS.

ICT  barriers in South African schools must be dealt with now because later may never come. It was difficult for me to do projects, assignments and other stuffs because at my school at Hlabangemehlo  High School they have computers but we were not allowed to use the computer lab due to valid reasons. Books don`t give enough information and it is time consuming to search for a certain book at the library but the internet makes things easy to find every information that you need and it is straight to the point unlike books.

Crime in our communities hinder schools to open their computer labs because they fear that if they opens their computer labs some computers may disappear and it is very expensive to replace a computer. Most people in South Africa are computer illiterates and there is a shortage of computer people at schools. In Rural areas it very difficult for scholars that lives there like me when i was doing my matric in 2014 there were no computer centres around my area i had to travel about 3KM to a place where it was the only one that has a computer centre. When you arrives there you finds that there are only five computers in that room operating and i had to waits hours for my  turn to come and do what i wants to do and i did`t even knew how to open a computer and i became a laughing stock in front of everyone in that room because people are people they laugh you when you are down but when you rise and be above them they starts to dislike you.

THIS IS A PROBLEM SOLVER 

My final school year at Hlabangemehlo High School in Mpumalanga province.

My school is situated in Nhlazatshe number three. This area is not well developed economically and the infrastructure is very bad in Nhlazatshe number three. There is a high rates of crime in this area due to high rates of unemployment and poverty. There is a high level of substance abuse in this area due to poverty, peer pressure, wanting to fit in, low self-esteem, unemployment, lack of knowledge about the dangers associated with the use of drugs, family problems and stress. This area is associated with lots of pollution and this affects the lives of the community as they will acquire diseases from the dirty environment that they live in. Approximately 45% of the people living in Nhlazatshe number three rely on grant from the government to survive as some have disabilities and some are older. About 35% of the community are not well employed as some are bricklayers, roads cleaners, house maids and tuck shop owners. About 25% of the community are well employed as some are doctors, nurses, teachers, miners and policemen and policewomen.

At Hlabangemehlo High School I was doing the following subjects, History, Life Orientation, Life sciences, Geography, Mathematical Literacy, and SiSwati as a home language and English as a First Additional Language. My class teacher was Mr Zwane , he was my Mathematical Literacy teacher and neighbour in Nhlazatshe number four. My History teacher was Mr Tinobayana, my Life orientation teacher was Mr Nhlapho , my Life Sciences teacher was Mr Mnisi , my Geography teacher was Ms Magagula , my SiSwati teacher was Mr Nkosi and my English teacher was Mr Zwane. My principal was Mr Nhlopho V.E. He was and still is a very strict principal in Hlabangemehlo High School. He always used to say, ‘‘gets your matric certificates with your Bachelor`s Degree and that will be your bread when you go to University that will be your butter and you will enjoy a buttered bread the rest of your live``. When I was doing my grade eleven I thought matric was very difficult but when I got there in matric it was not that much difficult as I thought. Matric just requires hard work, dedication, ambitious students, perseverance and sacrifices.

I matriculated in 2014 at Hlabangemehlo High School. I didn't enjoy 2014 a lots because all my efforts was on my studies as I was a grade 12 student everyone was looking good results on me, the community, classmates, teachers, friends and church members. I cared, loved and respected all my teachers and my classmates as they always did the same to me. I remember my matric year 2014 because it was my last year at school with my friends as finishing school divided us as some went to universities, colleges and others went to work in different places in 2015. Some of my classmates I will not see them for the rest of my life and some of them will not see me for the rest of their lives but life goes on as I met new friends,roommate, classmates and lecturers at TECsiyabuswa (UMP). All my grade 12 teachers and my principal did their best they can to help me gets good results in my matric and I also worked very hard as they used to say that God helps those who helps themselves. I felt the pain of studying that why I felt the game of passing my matric as they used to say that no pain no game.

A PORTION OF HLABANGEMEHLO HIGH SCHOOL