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Picture taken on my camera in class              material: clay          

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In our class with Anna, we got this wonderful opportunity to play with clay. Earth has a naturally occurring substance named clay. Clay as a material offers endless possibilities for play to you. As an adult, I enjoyed when I was allowed to play with play. As you can see in the picture, I had my hands in the clay where I twisted it, folded it, pressed it, and made a plethora of shapes with it not only this but also 'Clay moves, wobbles, weeps, sticks, shrinks, dries, extends, gestures, melts, trickles, sits, tears, breaks, collapses, rises, attaches, shudders, rests, accumulates' (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016, p. 56).

Clay is a material that allows you to enjoy open-ended play as well as it gives children the opportunity to express themselves. When we were playing with clay as adults, we all made something that was unique, and which showed that all of us are ongoing learners. Some made a ball out of clay whereas the others made a rope. I made a little pot in which I added stars and moons. Usually, when we think of stars and moons we usually think of the Universe and Galaxy but I wanted to think something out of the box. To that, I added my stars and moon in a pot. This shows how learning and materials go hand in hand and 'can evoke memories, narrate stories, invite actions, and communicate ideas' (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016, p. 01)

As an educator, I never used clay in my centre with children. I was very hesitant to use clay in class before but after playing with clay myself as an educator, I learned how versatile clay is. It is one of the best materials for a child not only adding to a child's cognitive development but also boosting their problem-solving skills.

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Picture taken on camera for assessment 2

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In this unit, we learned the significance of loose parts and distinct types of materials offering a variety of play. One of the most commonly used and hence a creative material is paper. Of course, paper is a basic source of our lives. We write on it, Paint, draw, doodle, make cards, and whatnot! For assessment 2, I thought that I would use clay as a natural resource in my assessment, but I got out of it on the day of submission. Now is the time to think about what else can be used in my background for aquatic life and also what else can be used except for clay to make it look more filled. The simple yet creative answer that my brain gave to me was 'PAPER'. I started to write words such as 'Rubbish here' on paper. The other material which I used to make it more attractive was colors,i.e, paint. I painted the words, outlined them, and cut them. This is how flexible paper is.

Then to fill my aquarium, I used paper fish, ferns, and aquatic plants. It added more colors and materials for my assessment. I believe, whatever way one uses a paper - it fails to disappoint and 'When we take paper into the studio to pay close attention to it, we ﬁnd that nothing about it is static and everything is in motion' (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016, p. 026).

I struggled as well when I was cutting one of the fish - the paper turned itself through the air and I failed. But I kept working with it and that practice with the paper made me curious. My curiosity was on the fact that how can a single material offer so many ways and possibilities. This shows that 'When young children draw, they create representations of their experiences, observations, theories, and emotions. Their images tell stories and communicate particular perspectives' (Pelo, 2016, p. 131).

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Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Encounters with materials in early childhood education. Taylor & Francis Group.

Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (Eds.). (2011). The hundred languages of children : The reggio emilia experience in transformation. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

Pelo, A. (2016). The language of art : Inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings. Redleaf Press.

https://youtube.com/shorts/nlDReB_Bfzo

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Before and After perspectives:

As an educator, I was not sure whether to play with clay with children or not. But now I would want my children to play with clay. I would provide them with the material and without any instructions given I would let them explore the material. They will feel, touch, reshape, feel the texture, and will do anything they want with it. Also, it will provide them with the opportunity to express their feelings with material. They will also re-construct, de-construct, communicate with friends, and learn problem-solving skills.

As clay is a naturally occurring substance, it allows the play to be sustainable and allows us to save our environment for future generations. Children will learn that play can happen with distinct naturally occurring substances and will learn the importance of saving the environment.

This incident shows that as an educator, how my perspectives changed when I got indulged with new material and how even Educators remain in the process of being 'Ongoing learners' throughout life.

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Teaching journey before and after this unit

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Teaching journey before and after this unit

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This shows what my journey as an educator is before this unit and after this unit. I would also like to mention one of the readings that inspired me through this unit was The Hundred Languages of Children : The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation. This book demonstrated the meaning of Pedagogical documentation. This elaborative documentation starts with active listening and then embedding a kind of thinking with different learning ideas, one's learning as well as teaching method, and most importantly relationships building thought process. This is more meaning-making and represents how 'Teachers around the world have begun to use pedagogical documentation as an important device for the construction of an ethical relationship with the “Other” and the world' (Edwards et al. 2011, p. 226)

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Scaffolding our learning with different materials

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Scaffolding our learning with different materials

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Light serves as an incredibly powerful tool. While doing my assessment 2, I got to know the significance of light. I'm not particularly active on social media, and I don't excel at taking photos. However, for creating a stop-motion video, your photos serve as a significant component. I quite a few times failed to click the accurate pictures. While I was clicking pictures, sometimes I faced the issue of shadow, whereas on the other end sometimes it was dull light that made it look not so great. Then I decided to click pictures with natural lighting. In that, I decided to combine the natural lighting in my room to combine with my phone's flashlight.

Light as a material holds a lot of strength. So, it was all on me whether to make my assessment look attractive or whether to fail in light angles and add dull pictures. I decided no matter how many tries it would take, I had to get the best shots. Perhaps, it is ‘materials that “speak back” to children in agentic ways, extending and broadening the important body of knowledge on Reggio Emilia–inspired practices (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2016, p. 04). My endless number of tries made my video connect to the audience.

The light was a whole new material for me to use as an educator, It enhanced my knowledge in many ways.