Movie Review: Fantastic Mr Fox

The movie is about a Fox that is named Mr Fox, the fox has human qualities. He is a family man and can do anything to ensure that his loved ones are safe and secured. In the movie we have Mr Fox (protagonist) his wife Mrs Fox, their one and only child Ash and the three farmers who are portrayed as antagonist, Boggis (chicken farmer), Bean (turkey-and-apple farmer) and Bunce (duck and goose farmer). It all start when Mr fox and his family move-in in their new home that was located not so far from the three farmers’ farms. The tension in the movie arouse when the farmers realised that Mr Fox is stealing from them and that is when they decided to take matters into their own hands in order to make Mr fox pay for his crimes.

In the movie, Mr Fox starts as a bird stealer, but later becomes a newspaper man. In the movie he does not have a job and bird stealing is not mentioned. In the movie Mrs Fox does not like the idea of Mr Fox stealing as she knows that it is dangerous, but in the book she supports him and even tells him what to bring. In the movie they only have one child named Ash, but in the book they have three children.  Badger and Mr Fox do not like each other in the movie, but are good friends in the book. All the animals have jobs /professions in the movie, but just ordinary animals in the book. Boggis eats 12 chicken in total in the movie, but only eats 9 in the book the family is visited by Kristofferson in the movie, but they don’t get any visitors in the book. In the movie they first live in a hole before moving to a tree house, but in the book they just live in a hole. In the movie, Mr Fox is assisted by Kylie when he steals from the farmers, but in the book he steals on his own. When they were digging while trying to run away from the digging farmers, Mrs Fox is assisting in the movie, but in the book only Mr Fox and the children dig as she is not feeling well. The movie is an effective adaptation of the book, even though there were few differences here and there but yet it still maintained and presented the interpretation of Dahl’s classic.

I really liked the movie because it shows a different side of males. Normally in societies, women/mothers are the ones who have to fend for their children and find food for them, but in the book Mr Fox is working hard to provide for his family. This shows that males also have a caring and nurturing side. I also like Mr Fox’s intelligence and ability to come up with solutions to every problem, like when he had to rescue Kristofferson. My favourite part of the movie was when all the animals used their different skills to come up with a plan to save Kristofferson. I like the fact that they all worked together, showing unity as it is said “divided we fall, united we stand”. This will teach children to be united and help each other, because “no man is and island”. I would recommend the movie because it is very educational, it has life teachings. Firstly, it teaches children not to be greedy like the farmers and share what they have with others. Secondly, it teaches children and even adults that crime does not pay (no dirty deeds goes unpunished) as we saw in the movie that Mr Fox lost his tale because of his crimes.  Lastly it encourages collaboration and team work as children grow they need to be expose to such teachings. 

My final school year at Ekulindeni Secondary School,Mpumalanga

My final school year at Ekulindeni Secondary School,Mpumalanga

Ekulindeni is a small town in the Gert Sibande Region, Chief Albert Luthuli in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Ekulindeni is a township that is surrounded by mountains and the great river Inkomanzi. My town is very attractive in terms of nature and it is well a developed community with adequate infrastructure and better service.

I did 7 subject in matric namely; Siswati HL, English FAL, Life Orientation, Mathematical Literacy, Business Studies, Economics and Tourism. I matriculated in 2014 in a school called Ekulindeni Secondary School. My school was named after the name of my town because it was the only secondary school in my  town, it was a boarding school which was later changed into a secondary school.

My school was not well developed in terms of technology, but there were facilities such as printers  and projectors. We did not have computer labs, we had to go to the public library when we wanted to do research for our assignments. We did not use technology that much,the only time we used projectors was during the winter classes (June/July holidays) and that was it.  

MY PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

     

                                       The builder of the nation

In this essay I will be discussing about my teaching philosophy. A teaching philosophy refers to a self-reflective statement that is shared publicly about the goals, mission and vision of each teacher. I am very honest, tolerant and hardworking, I lead by example. I consider Foundation Phase Teaching as a career that requires commitment and hard work, of which I am more than willing to be.

I strive to structure my teaching around my student’s needs, rather than mine. My personal goal for my future classroom is to indulge students and watch them grow to their fullest potential. Therefore, group work is the key to having a successful class and is something I value the most, especially with Foundation Phase students. The impact of group work, when students help each other, changes each person and transforms the class as a whole while developing their social and emotional well-being. In my classroom, I want my learners to have freedom of expression that allows them to express their own point of view or perspective. I want to provide my learners with an environment that is conducive for learning. My purpose is to nurture them to be critically inquisitive individuals and to help them develop cognitively, emotionally, socially, and physically.

I see the process of teaching and learning as a partnership or contract that binds both the teacher and a learner. Both the teacher and the learner have a common goal that they want to achieve, they both want to achieve their missions and visions. The process of teaching and learning is a nation building process that will benefit the teacher, learner, community and the country as a whole. The teaching and learning process is very much vital, because nowadays education is very much important, it is the key to success. “The teacher is the mediator of learning” as it is stated as one of the collective role of a teacher in the (Government Gazette 15 July 2011), the teacher ensure that all the needs of the students’ are satisfied and no one should be discriminated against any form of discrimination anyhow. In the process of learning and teaching, the teacher is responsible for providing the learners with knowledge while learners are responsible learning.     

Teaching Foundation Phase children is a task that cannot be taken for granted. It is full of challenges and responsibilities. However, it is also filled with excitement and joy. I strongly believe that all children are more than capable of learning, if they have the right motivation and direction from us (teachers). I see myself as a teacher that will be very inspirational to the learners, because in most cases children are more likely to look up to their teachers. I will play the role of mentoring them and bringing out the best on the little ones at an early age, I will push them to reach their full potential. I will provide my learners with learning materials that will help them learn and achieve their goals. I also want to create a classroom that is a safe learning environment. Furthermore I also see myself as a parent since I will be monitoring them during learning and teaching as well as teaching them between wrong and right.

I believe that my students have duties to me, to their fellow students, and to themselves as much as I have duties to them. I think and believe that these duties help me in fulfilling my duties to them. So, I believe that it is the students' role and responsibility to be tolerant of different point of views. Students should be active participants in their education. By being active, I mean that students should contribute to classroom discussions by not only answering questions posed by the teacher, but also answer questions asked/raised by their peers. Students should feel free to ask questions, or express their own ideas about a subject, n. This allow students to gain more knowledge about their learning and education. Furthermore it is also a learner’s role to come prepared for class and to work hard for their success, by being prepared I mean that they should always be willing to learn and eager to gain the knowledge that I pass on to them. “The child can do so much under the guidance of the adult (teacher) or collaborating with peers” (Vygotsky 1978:89). Learners have to socialize with each other throughout all the corners of classroom.

Optimal learning takes place in an environment that is conducive for learning and teaching. Both the teacher and the learner should be on a state of mind that is functional, because learning and teaching requires emotional, social and spiritual well-being. Learners with learning barriers should not be discriminated against any form of discrimination but, should be acknowledged and dealt with in a ethical manner that will benefit both the teacher and the learner. Furthermore it is every individuals’ right to receive basic education whether they are faced with intrinsic or extrinsic learning barriers. The learning environment should be accommodative to people with physical challenges and disabilities.

I as a person have my own values and things that I value the most. I value caring as it is an important aspect that underpins my teaching practice. I am a caring person and I care about the feelings of other people. As I will be working with children it is therefore my duty to take of them. I also value equality and I believe that through education we can be able to achieve and eliminate inequality and the socio-economic issues that this country is facing.

In conclusion, from the above discussion it is clear that I will be a reflective teacher who is non-discriminatory. I declare to adhere to the competences set by the South African Council for Educators. Foundation phase is an important stage in a child’s life, it is therefore my duty to give them that very good foundation.    

References

• Conly, L, De Beer, J, Dumbar-krige, H, Du Plessis, E, Gravett, S, Lomofsky, L, November, I, Osman, R, Petersen, Robinson, Van der Merwe, M. 2010. Becoming a teacher. Philippa van Aardt: South Africa