Printable chick fil a teacher appreciation

Hey so I’m a language assistant (not a teacher sorry!) but I make a lot of resources at home. I like to find jigsaws and print a black and white version to laminate and stick Velcro circles on to make a base then print another copy in colour to laminate, cut into jigsaw pieces and add Velcro to the back. I then put the jigsaw pieces in little transparent bags near the black and white base.
But how can I store them? For now they’re all shoved into storage drawers but I’d like a better and more organised way, possibly by theme (Halloween, animals etc.).
I’ll greatly appreciate any advice! The same applies to my flash cards, they’re all in transparent, labelled bags shoved into drawers which isn’t great.

Digital technology in the early years: The importance of everyday learning opportunities to build young children’s digital technology skills

This factsheet will support early childhood professionals to:

• broaden their understanding of the inclusion of digital technology in the early years
• explore effective strategies to embed play-based digital practices
• support children’s concept development of digital technologies

As a co-author of the Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Statement on young children and digital technologies, can you explain the rationale for creating this statement? How can it support educator practice with regards to building children’s digital technology skills?

The ECA Statement on young children and digital technologies was created to support adults to make decisions about technology use ‘with, by and for’ young children. Increased recognition in the sector that young children use a range of technologies at home and in their communities, for playing, communicating and accessing online content, suggested that digital learning in early childhood settings was timely. The statement highlights four main areas of children’s learning and development: relationships, health and wellbeing, citizenship, and play and pedagogy. It also invites educators to think about how they understand technologies and the role of technologies in the lives of children and families.
This includes thinking about what is known as ‘philosophy of technology’ (Gibbons 2010). Philosophy of technology is a body of knowledge that proposes different ways of thinking about the relationship between people and technologies. Just as there are theories of play and learning that educators can refer to, there are philosophies of technology educators can draw on to think about using technologies with children. Three of the main philosophies of technology are technological determinism, substantivism and critical constructivism. Technological determinism is the most commonly held view. This view suggests that technologies cause or determine what happens to people. Some people hold a negative view of determinism: for example, thinking that technologies reduce the quality of children’s imaginative play. Other people hold a positive view of determinism, believing that technologies support children to communicate with others. Substantivism considers how technologies shape practices, or what people do in their daily lives over time. Critical constructivism posits that technologies are always designed and used by people according to human values. This view suggests that people can make active choices about how and why they use technologies that are relevant to their lives, such as people using videoconferencing during the pandemic to connect with family and friends.

The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) refers to five Learning and Development Outcomes for children. Outcomes 4 and 5 explicitly mention the inclusion of digital technologies in children’s learning. What are some effective learning experiences that explore everyday opportunities to build children’s understanding and use of digital technologies?

Technologies are part of children’s lives; however, not all educators are comfortable with using technologies in children’s learning. Rather than focusing only on the technology in digital learning, think instead about the ways in which technology creates opportunities for meaning-making. For example, making meaning using technologies may involve taking photographs, creating videos or slideshows, co-sharing digital content, or coding with robotics. Meaning-making can also be about understanding how we live with and use technologies in our daily lives. Meaning-making for understanding does not have to involve using working technologies. Children can create their own non-working technologies from available materials (such as boxes, blocks or paper) to participate in sociodramatic play that provides opportunities for talking about how and why technologies are used. For example, children might make their own mobile phones and use these in their play to send messages to each other and take calls. Educators can help children in this play by inviting children to use technologies in ways that are respectful of relationships. Are the children having a pretend meal together? Can educators invite children to put their phones away while they eat? Or if children are taking pretend photographs of each other, educators can be sure to model asking for consent. Educators can also create representations of technologies that help children learn about the internet and how information and data are shared over a network: for example, using string to ‘connect’ non-working devices in a home or office corner to help children learn about the internet as a network of connected technologies. Children can ‘send’ messages, emails or content to each other as paper notes attached to the string. Educators can invite children to consider if they know who is sending them messages or where the content has come from. This provides children with an everyday opportunity to learn about the internet and safe online behaviours.

The VEYLDF states ‘Assessment is designed to discover what children know, understand, and can do’. What does this look like in terms of children’s trajectory of learning around digital technology? How might educators connect their observations of children engaging with digital technology to children’s learning and development across other domains?

Children are likely to follow a developmental trajectory when using technologies due to their experiences using technologies at home and in the community, with their family, friends and peers. Children’s experiences with technologies are variable and so they will come to early childhood education and care settings with a range of technological knowledge and skills. This can depend on the access children have to devices, reliable internet and opportunities for adult engagement during technological activity. Educators can observe how children build their capacity to use devices over time. This is important because some basic operational knowledge with technologies is required of children as they enter formal schooling. For example, do children know how to turn technologies on and off? Can children point, touch, swipe and resize using a tablet? Pre-school aged children may also exhibit technological language, such as download, upload, click and save, and will probably know the difference between still and moving images. This language helps children communicate and share information with other people, including family members and peers. When children use technologies, educators can also support connections with digital media or content that supports children’s identity. For example, which programs or games do children enjoy at home and how are these recognised in the classroom? This can be achieved by providing children with access to pretend technologies and apps, such as a cardboard box representing a touchscreen device, with cut-outs of their favourite applications. Other examples include learning about digital media interests alongside children, examining and sharing storylines, or providing opportunities for children to express digital media interests through more traditional play, such as box construction, drawing or painting. Using internet-connected technologies also provides opportunities for children and educators to access information to resource play and learning, such as through video content, or well-curated resources from reputable early learning providers in topic areas including science, mathematical thinking, history, music and visual or performing arts.

The VEYLDF identifies eight Practice Principles that illustrate the most effective ways for all early childhood professionals to support children's learning and development. One of these Practice Principles is ‘Partnerships with Families’. What are some effective strategies to engage families in discussions about digital technologies and young children?

Families are central to children’s learning and development. When educators engage in discussion about technologies with families, they can help adult caregivers facilitate positive digital learning opportunities for children at home. The VEYLDF states ‘Early childhood professionals … actively engage families and children in planning for ongoing learning and development in the service, at home and in the local community’ (VEYLDF, p. 9). Many organisations in Australia are involved in promoting and supporting young children’s safe and productive engagement with technologies, with tip sheets, videos, infographics and games. Educators can invite families to use these materials with children to explore topics such as staying safe online, being active with technologies, using technologies to support social relationships, and fostering children’s digital play.

What would be some final key messages for educators who want to support children’s digital skills and understanding?

Two key messages are important for educators thinking about supporting children’s digital skills and understandings. The first message is to start involving children in digital opportunities that feel achievable within the service. Not all services have access to technologies and not all educators feel comfortable using technologies with children. Programming can involve using non-working technologies in children’s play, such as using a block in pretend play as a mobile phone, or teachers creating representational technologies for children to use in the home corner (for example, printed life-size copies of tablet devices). Working technologies do not need to be complicated. While coding, robotics, digital microscopes and augmented reality provide highly engaging learning opportunities, children can also learn from educators modelling appropriate technology use on more accessible technologies, such as touchscreen: for example, by asking permission to take photographs or fact-checking information online. It may also be helpful for services to complete a technology audit – such as the eSafety checklist for early learning services – to see which technologies are available for children and where these might be integrated with ongoing learning opportunities in the service. For example, digital music can be incorporated into rest times, or children can be provided with opportunities to create digital drawings alongside traditional mark making.
The second message is to understand that young children today are part of a digital world. At any one time there are more than 8000 satellites around the earth that are sending and communicating information and data. It is becoming harder and harder to isolate children from technologies because so much of the world is now digital. It may be more helpful to think intentionally about supporting children to live within a digital world. The VEYLDF states ‘Early childhood professionals … use intentional teaching strategies that are always purposeful and may be pre-planned or spontaneous, to support achievement of well-considered and identified goals’ (VEYLDF, p. 15). This shifts the pedagogical focus from trying to keep children away from technologies to thinking about the purposeful use of technologies with children, allowing children to develop the knowledge and skills they require to participate in a digital world.

Questioning and listening

Asking questions and then listening to the answers can propel children’s learning, and it is this approach that is at the heart of an inquiry model. Questioning and listening are essential in any learning relationship, and they are both part of an active process where you do not just listen and question children but also interpret, respond to and make meaning of their thinking and learning processes.
The pedagogical strategy of listening can provide educators with a new framework in which to consider their role in children’s learning and development. When educators look deeply at what holds children’s attention, the result is that children and adults are able to recognise capabilities and qualities in each other.
Do not always rely on asking questions and trying to provoke answers as a way of engaging with children. Educators who give children the time, space and resources to think long and deeply are often rewarded with rich responses.

‘The right question at the right time can move children to peaks in their thinking that result in significant steps forward and real intellectual excitement. Although it is almost impossible for an adult to know exactly the right time to ask a specific question of a specific child – especially for a teacher who is concerned with 30 or more children – children can raise the right question for themselves if the setting is right.’ (Millikan, et al 2014, p. 69)

The value of questioning cannot be overstated, particularly when working with a pedagogy of inquiry. You need to consider what directions you are leading children with your questions, as well as what type of questions you ask children. Are they ‘thick’ questions or ‘thin’ questions? That is, are they questions that are open ended and encourage children to think broadly or do they close off children’s thinking?

Wonder and uncertainty

Wonder and uncertainty are necessary dispositions for learning. Both of these dispositions are considered important when working with a pedagogy of inquiry. As Moss says, ‘Such learning is also more likely to happen and be welcomed when wonder or amazement are valued’ (Moss 2019, p. 74).
Rich learning opportunities can happen when you include these dispositions in your daily practice. This is not a closed-off, linear way of working but rather one that allows you to remain open to the ideas of children, their families and your colleagues.
When you work with dispositions of wonder and uncertainty, it encourages a flexible way of thinking and working in which hypotheses might be made but are also subject to change. This is not an approach that has pre-determined outcomes.

Top tips for working with a pedagogy of inquiry

• Read, listen or watch something that might shift your thinking or that supports you to develop a growth mindset. Learn something new to bring back into your work with children. This does not need to be related to early learning. Learn something that fires up your neural pathways. An educator’s area of interest or enthusiasm can have an inherent trickle-down positive impact on children.
• Adults can often anticipate difficulties and resolve them for children, and this does not give children the opportunity to think for themselves and provide solutions. Educators should aim to create a culture of ideas rather than a culture that provides all of the answers.
• Design your environments carefully, with attention paid to the intentional use of resources, materials and provocations, and provide children with extended periods of time to re-visit these.
• Educators need to follow children’s footprints – that is, the directions of their learning. This is only possible through a process of reviewing and reflecting on your documentation materials. It can be useful to consider what you know, what you don’t yet know and what you would like to find out more about. Gathering clues about children and then asking rich, deep questions adds great value to the development of any inquiry project.
• Give children time to be curious, to wonder, and to discuss and adjust or change their opinions.

This fact sheet was developed by the Early Years Unit at VCAA

This fact sheet was developed by the Early Years Unit at the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and supports information presented in the VCAA on-demand webinar ‘A pedagogy of inquiry to support integrated teaching and learning approaches’. Watch A pedagogy of inquiry to support integrated teaching and learning approaches webinar video.

References

Duckworth, E 1996, The having of wonderful ideas and other essays on teaching and learning, Teachers College Press, New York
Edwards, C, Gandini, L and Forman, G (eds.) 2012, The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation, 3rd edn, Praeger, Santa Barbera
Moss, P 2019, Alternative Narratives in Early Childhood, Routledge, Oxfordshire
Touhill, L 2012, ‘Inquiry-based Learning’, NQS PLP e-Newsletter, No. 45

Using the VEYLDF to inform your practice

As part of the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law) and the National Quality Standards, the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) is an approved learning framework. As an approved learning framework, it has the potential to make you a better educator and your practice more contemporary.
The VEYLDF allows us to reflect on learning and development outcomes for children. As educators, we can reflect on our own practice in supporting all children by considering if our work aligns with the Practice Principles. The VEYLDF provides us opportunities to inform our pedagogical decisions and to critique or challenge our existing practices.
The VEYLDF also provides a shared language and understanding for all early childhood professionals and can inform conversations with families, colleagues and other professionals working with young children.

Additional resources that might be useful

Download copies of VCAA early years resources.
Keep up to date with new resources and professional learning opportunities by subscribing to the VCAA Early Years Alert.
A pedagogy of inquiry to support integrated teaching and learning approaches
Download the fact sheet

‘The hands lead us to learning’: Enhancing and extending children’s fine motor development through playful learning experiences

This fact sheet is for educators who want to better understand:

• how educators can think more broadly and deeply about fine motor development in infants and children
• the interplay between fine motor development occurring in play and in relationships with adults, caregivers and peers
• the importance of routines as learning experiences with embedded fine motor learning opportunities.

Introduction

Children’s fine motor skill development – that is, their ability to use their hands – is strongly connected to their play.
Infants’ efforts at motor control commence early. An example of this is the infant who actively reaches towards the face of a person who is physically close to them and engaged in a responsive and attuned relationship with them; the adult, carer or older sibling is perhaps smiling and ‘cooing’ while they are focusing their gaze on the face of the child, who reaches out towards their face.
We understand, in general terms, that the progression of motor development occurs from the centre of the body to the periphery, known as proximodistal progression, or from larger motor control to finer movements. However, over time we have gained a more balanced and nuanced understanding of motor development and we can now see early fine motor development before trunk control is consolidated. Gross motor development leading to core stability and support remains foundational, but earlier attention is now given to fine motor endeavours of infants, with an appreciation that ‘the hands lead us to to learning’.
We understand that gross motor development and fine motor development occur simultaneously and in the context of responsive relationships and purposeful learning spaces. Adults engaging in contingent and attuned interactions with infants provide ‘serve and return’ opportunities and rich responsive learning experiences. Children actively engage, using their growing fine motor dexterity and strength alongside their learning in other developmental domains such as language and cognitive capabilities. It is the interplay between these supportive relationships and children’s growing capabilities that fosters children’s wellbeing. This is now understood to increase the likelihood that infants will confidently explore their world and this exploration is in large part through their hands.

Can you explain the relationship between gross motor skill development and fine motor skill development? How does one support the other?

When we consider that gross motor skill development and fine motor skill development occur simultaneously, we can see the importance of early childhood professionals providing positive and responsive interactions and relationships throughout the day. The way the early childhood professional engages with the infant or young child provides opportunities to progress development.
The early childhood professional who ensures regular ‘tummy time’ is providing opportunity for infants to strengthen muscles, leading to greater core stability. This core stability is foundational to the later skills of sitting up, crawling and walking. These are important skills indeed, however, there is a need to balance this ‘tummy time’ with opportunities for the infant to be positioned on their back, or in a supported sitting position, where they are freely able to explore with their hands.
Thinking of fine motor development at its beginning stages helps us to actively create opportunities for children to explore with their hands. This in turn promotes children’s sense of agency and wellbeing, which is often associated with using their hands. The more children actively do, the more they feel that they can build, create, explore and express themselves.
We are often quite mindful of assessing children’s physical skills progression. Learning experiences, including playful routine times, provide golden opportunities to assess children’s sequential fine motor development from reaching and releasing, from palmer grasping to pincer gripping and so on. Progression along trajectories of learning (including motor skill learning) becomes apparent and provides the basis for tailored learning experiences.
It is important to consider children who require additional support with gross and fine motor skills. Thoughtful planning ensures we set up environments in which all children can feel confident in developing their gross and fine motor skills and feel a sense of agency and control. As we delight in their endeavours, with thoughtful planning we can build children’s sense of wellbeing, identity and connection to their world. Children become able to confidently explore and engage with social and physical environments through relationships and play.

What kind of playful fine motor learning experiences should educators consider when setting up early learning environments for children three to five years old? What are some effective playful strategies for supporting fine motor development?

Three to five years is a fabulous age for more complex play scenarios, with children using multiple learning domains simultaneously and in increasingly sophisticated ways. Again, ‘the hands lead us to learning’ and this is expressed in so much more than just writing and drawing. Indeed, children are extending and consolidating an increasing range of skills at this age.
The work of researchers Susan Knox (2008), and Karen Stagnitti and Louise Jellie (2006), can be used here to consider planning for play in reference to four elements: Space management, Materials management, Pretend play and Participation. This research, while based in occupational therapy, aligns well with the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) and places children’s wellbeing at the centre of play. Practitioners are encouraged to consider how to promote participation by all children, inclusive of all abilities, through careful consideration of the environment, materials and pretend-play opportunities. This research provides a thorough and holistic view of children’s learning, recognising that children bring increasing cognition, language, social skills, fine motor development, creativity and agency to their play. Child-led play is key, but the educator must also consider how to promote play opportunities that take children beyond their most frequented play spaces. This requires a more creative use of learning environments, inviting children to participate in spaces and skills they may not have previously sought out independently.
One example is to set up a restaurant, where children are invited to navigate the space and engage with a variety of fine motor skills during a complex pretend-play scenario. This embeds learning in meaningful ways, with multiple learning areas at play. Children can take on various characters while engaging, negotiating and problem-solving. Fine motor skills are practised purposefully as children take written orders, write or draw a menu, cut up paper to make money, set up a cash register, dress up as waiters, pour drinks, prepare food and set up tables. The opportunities are endless and can be tailored to children’s interest and skills to provide challenge, practice and delight. For example, bi-manual skills are promoted in this scenario when opening containers and stirring bowls of food, where hands undertake different tasks at once – one hand holding and stabilising while the other hand turns or stirs.
Educators need only a creative mind in planning for all four elements, and the learning opportunities are endless (‘Early childhood professionals … use intentional teaching strategies that are always purposeful and may be pre-planned or spontaneous, to support achievement of well considered and identified goals’ [VEYLDF p. 15]). Inclusive thinking may see this play space provided outdoors, inviting in children who may be less likely to engage indoors (intentional support strategies also promote equitable participation in play for all children and meaningful ways to demonstrate learning [VEYLDF p. 12]).
A creative and inclusive approach asks us to consider the environment in numerous ways, offering a wide variety of materials, setting up play spaces that invite self-management and challenge, and following the increasingly complex play scripts or pretend-play scenarios of young children.

What are some everyday routines for children that might provide opportunities for supporting fine motor development?

Routines and transition times offer a wealth of fine motor experience and abundant opportunities for promoting children’s agency and self-responsibility. Additionally, they are highly repetitive daily experiences – treasures for practising fine motor skills. Encouraging independent skill development during these times, with warmth and high expectations for children, can turn a range of daily tasks into important learning rituals.
These rituals connect children to their peers and to their space, building confidence, connection and wellbeing. Children’s active participation provides many and varied fine motor movements at different times, such as taking care of their belongings at entry and departure times, dressing and undressing, setting up for meals, toileting and setting up play or rest areas.
Regular communication with families allows the progression in children’s skills to be shared between educators and families. This can reveal collaborative opportunities across home and the early years setting, and align our expectations for children. Playful and routine practice opportunities abound, with partnership between educators and families building children’s confidence and capacities (VEYLDF p. 9).

‘To play or not to play’: The role of the adult in understanding and collaborating in children’s play

This fact sheet is for educators who want to better understand:

• the role of the adult in supporting children’s learning and development through play
• how to build reciprocal relationships where children and adults are co-contributors to the creative process.

When we think about play within the early learning context, we often think of it as being ‘fun’ and occurring naturally – it is often referred to as being universally understood. Is this the case, or is it more complicated than that?

Children’s play encompasses many ways of being and becoming. Play is linked to fun, but this is just one way of being and does not speak to the complexity of play. Fun is fleeting. Parts of play can be joyful, frustrating, exciting, annoying, challenging, hilarious and, at times, uncomfortable. Play includes many emotions and experiences. Sometimes children are excluded from other children’s play – is this fun? What children are doing in play is complex – navigating limbs, expressing ideas, listening to others, creating novel worlds and negotiating with peers. Therefore, the emotions and feelings that children experience are varied.
Children are experimenting with and expressing their worlds, and the collaborative activity of play requires many skills. Ebbeck and Waniganayake (2016) tell us that in play ‘children are constructing an identity – who they are, what they know and what their joys and fears are, as well as their sense of belonging to a family and a community’ (p. 3). This understanding captures the richness of play, which is not limited to one way of being. Seeing children’s play as multifaceted allows educators to holistically understand children in the early childhood context.
Play is a universal activity that children engage in, as reflected in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989). But while there are similarities that occur in children’s play across the world, when we look at and hear what children are doing and expressing in their play, we see that it is also informed by their culture. For example, in dramatic play, being ‘Bluey’ or making cakes in the sand pit are activities that are directly taken from the child’s day-to-day culture. The people, places, objects, practices and rituals in the child’s culture fuel their play, and play is thus an expression that reflects the culture the play is taking place within.
Children bring into the early childhood setting individual, family and community experiences that reflect their culture, giving educators a rich tapestry to understand the child’s perspective of their world. Roopnarine’s (2011) quote is helpful to understand the links between play and culture: ‘A fundamental problem with universal claims about play is that they basically ignore contrasting realities of childhood experiences and cultural forces that may help shape caregivers ideas about play and early learning, and children’s role in their own play.’ (p. 20)

Given that there are many different theories that inform our approaches to children’s learning and development, does the role of the adult vary in supporting children’s development in play?

Theories can inform teaching practice, as being able to hold other ideas and perspectives allows us to see things differently. Theory is helpful for understanding the world around us, and in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) context, theories can inform and change our practice.
Developmental theories are varied and vast, and contemporary framings have become quite different from the more foundational knowledge, reflecting the diversity of our societies. The field is not stuck on linear and fixed stages. Practitioners work with the children in their care, taking into consideration their contexts, environments and families, and using various theories and research to inform their practice.
Teaching practice varies, and theory and research can assist educators’ practice. For example, contemporary theories remind us that children’s play is not simply something that happens naturally; these theories consider group dynamics, equity, social justice, advantage and disadvantage, and the way power moves between the players. They also explore the ways that understanding children’s lives outside the early childhood setting can inform teaching and program planning. Contemporary theories can open us up to other views, and while many of these have existed for a very long time, they haven’t always been prioritised to think about children, context, difference and learning.

How can we ensure that the play opportunities we create for children help build collaborative and reciprocal relationships between adult and child?

The following diagram from page 15 of the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) shows the three aspects of integrated teaching and learning, and holds great clues about the educator’s role in children’s play.
📷
This diagram can be used by educators and teams to reflect on their practice. Guided play and learning prioritise the educator responding to spontaneous learning opportunities. Reciprocal two-way exchanges create a balance of children guiding adults, and adults guiding children in dialogue and action. This becomes an improvisation that follows unknown paths, opening up opportunities to collaborate by creating something that did not exist before. When adults are playful with children, multiple perspectives are valued in the collaborative space.
Thinking of educators as co-contributors to the creative process of play speaks to the notion of responding to children’s interests. However, it is useful to adapt this slightly to instead think about responding to the child’s learning. Interests can be transient and surface-level; focusing on children’s learning is more expansive and process-orientated, as learning involves both thinking and enacting through play. This way of working asks educators to respond to spontaneous opportunities that arise, and play affords this responsive practice. Play is a relational activity between children and place, children and objects, children and children, and between children and adults.
Educators are respectfully cognisant of not wanting to take over too much control of children’s play, and when they improvise with children, finding a balance of following and leading, they can incorporate multiple children’s ideas and wonderings in the embodied play narratives. When teachers make use of children’s expertise, it supports children’s agency as their decisions influence the current events within the play. The playful interactions between the educator and children are fluid and unpredictable, mirroring drama pedagogue’s use of an improvised inquiry. Of course, we would not advocate that the educator enters children’s play all the time; this does not align philosophically with play and the ECEC context. However, at times, being a co-player with children speaks to a responsive pedagogy where creative collaborations can occur in play.

What is the relationship between play and learning?

When adults engage in play with children, they can incorporate formative assessment to develop their understandings of the children and inform their planning. Socio-dramatic play is one way children express their imagination. When educators are with children, they are hearing and seeing children’s imaginations enacted, giving rich information about their learning. In play, children are also blocking out other distractions to problem-solve in the moment, and taking on other perspectives, both from other players and in their own role-play. These are all skills that are linked to our executive function, which is the ‘process of how we learn’ (Yogman et al. 2018, p. 6).
When educators are respectfully engaging with children in play, they are part of the collaboration, co-creating something that is novel and only exists between the people in this activity. If educators are only observing from the outside, how can they understand this process? When educators are part of children’s play, they are in the heart of the learning, and it can open up opportunities for understanding children’s working theories and learning processes. What the educator notes when they engage in the play can be documented as part of the planning cycle, and analysed so that understanding the child’s learning within play is extended through planning.

Gift Ideas For My Teacher. Help!
Hey guys!! So I’m looking for a gift to give my English teacher (he’s in his late 30’s-early 40’s), and I was told that his all-time favourite book is “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.
One of his peers said that he might enjoy any book written by McCarthy. Do you guys have any recommendations on which of his books is similar to “The Road”? Or just any of his books you believe is very good.
If you have another book/author in mind, I wouldn’t mind too. If you believe it’s good and an English teacher will like it.
I was also told he liked graphic novels, but only those similar to Watchmen and Wolverine. If you have any recommendations for that as well, it will be greatly appreciated.
I’m kinda clueless about these, so I need your help! Thank you.
Much love!! :)

Gift Ideas For My Teacher. Help!
Hey guys!! So I’m looking for a gift to give my English teacher (he’s in his late 30’s-early 40’s), and I was told that his all-time favourite book is “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.
One of his peers said that he might enjoy any book written by McCarthy. Do you guys have any recommendations on which of his books is similar to “The Road”? Or just any of his books you believe is very good.
If you have another book/author in mind, I wouldn’t mind too. If you believe it’s good and an English teacher will like it.
I was also told he liked graphic novels, but only those similar to Watchmen and Wolverine. If you have any recommendations for that as well, it will be greatly appreciated.
I’m kinda clueless about these, so I need your help! Thank you.
Much love!! :)

Hey guys!! So I’m looking for a gift to give my English teacher (he’s in his late 30’s-early 40’s), and I was told that his all-time favourite book is “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.
One of his peers said that he might enjoy any book written by McCarthy. Do you guys have any recommendations on which of his books is similar to “The Road”? Or just any of his books you believe is very good.
If you have another book/author in mind, I wouldn’t mind too. If you believe it’s good and an English teacher will like it.
I was also told he liked graphic novels, but only those similar to Watchmen and Wolverine. If you have any recommendations for that as well, it will be greatly appreciated.
I’m kinda clueless about these, so I need your help! Thank you.
Much love!! :)

So back in April during my daughter’s parent teacher conference I was made aware that my daughter was basically failing math and ELA and was being considered for grade retention( 4th grade) but nothing at the time was set in stone or decided . Just for context her teachers always brag and boast about how she is a model student as she never gets in trouble, never has to be talked to twice, sweet, kind etc but she just can’t grasp the math and ELA in this grade.
She goes to a charter school which has a college prep curriculum and up until this grade my daughter had no issues with the work or grades. But this year she would come home with her school work and cry and complain that it was hard and she didn’t understand it and honestly the work is soooooo different then what I was taught so I could barely understand it myself to help her. Well I received news this week that they will be moving forward with the retention and I am feeling like such a shit parent and a failure and I feel so bad for letting this happen. I have yet to tell her the news as she was looking forward to attending the “stepping up “ ceremony for 4th graders going to 5th grade. And now I am worried for what’s to come for the next school year; I worry that she will continue to have trouble understanding the work and I worry that staying back with affect her socially. Sorry for the rant but if anyone could offer advice I’d appreciate it!

I am in desperate need of advice.
I have been dating this guy since late February of this year. When we first met, we instantly clicked. He is sweet/caring, has a good job (he is a teacher), and we have a lot in similar (only children, grew up in the same area, etc). I really felt like it was too good to be true.
Within a couple of weeks of dating, I discovered that he was still “dating” his ex-girlfriend when he asked me to be his. When I confronted him about it, he claimed that, she was very unstable and he no longer felt anything towards her. He was afraid that he’d break up with her and she’d pull some “suicidal” type of thing. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and put that situation behind us.
He came to visit me today at my office and left his Apple Watch charging on my desk. Since his Apple Watch does not have a passcode, I decided to snoop. I found the weirdest pictures in his “favorites” album. Pictures of Princess Peach naked, female characters from Sonic the Hedgehog, even Isabelle from Animal Crossing. I felt sick after finding these pictures. There’s even pictures of like Asian characters who appear to pregnant. This makes sense since he has a breeding kink.
I am not sure how to move forward after finding this, should I tell him? I just feel like he is a really good liar. The first time I slept over his house, I found a sticker of Isabelle from ACNH with boobs on his Nintendo Switch. I confronted him right then and there. He claimed that he lost a bet with his college roommate and had to place the sticker on his Switch. After seeing this, I highly doubt it is true.
Should I tell him that I found the pictures? Should I break up with him?
Any advice is appreciated.

There's not much info available that's tailored to us Glynn scholars, so I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts. I've hear great things about Sullivan and awful ones about Deborah Tor. Right now, I'm registering for the Honors Seminar (required) and Honors Philosophy for the fall semester. Are there teachers besides Sullivan who are good for the honors seminar? Is it a dumb idea to do honors phil w/ minimal phil knowledge, or is it introductory? Also, Montero or Audi? General advice also appreciated!

Hey folks, I work as a substitute teacher and my partner works for a non-profit. We bought tickets to go to the first Disneyland Pride, but I don’t get paid until the end of June. On top of that the A/C went out.
If you can help with travel costs I’d appreciate it. As it stands my partner is gonna go solo, but I’d like to be there.
Happy Pride! And thanks for supporting the LGBTQ people in your life!

First off just because they hired somebody so there asses don't get burned by doing something that hurts some sort of community doesn't mean there woke. Second if they where even remotely close to woke why is chick fil a still closed on Sundays. I feel bad for eating there even though I know they supposedly stop donating their money to anti LGBTQ+ programs back in 2019 because I don't know what other things we don't know about. BUT DAMN IT THE CAN MAKE A DAMN GOOD SPICY CHICKEN SANDWICH

I can't believe I'm writing a chanceme post...
Demographics: Male, Asian, Bay Area💦, middle class (not to be confused with "upper middle class"), semi competitive hs (half the school sweats, the other half is dependent on weed)
Hooks: 5ft 11, could pass as 6ft🥵. Has had two girlfriends (non-programmers)
(Basically no hooks that I can reveal to my conservative parents lol)
Intended Major(s): CS and (Journalism/Linguistics/Anthropology/just see my ECs and tell me) *Interdisciplinary suggestions highly preferred.*
ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1570 SAT first try💪, never going back to that life😎
UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.0/4.5W, probably gonna go higher in first sem senior w/ courseload
Coursework🤓: AP Euro (5) This year -- Calc BC, Physics 1, Lang, APUSH, CS. Next year -- Lit, Gov, Physics C E/M, Physics C Mechanics, Statistics, DE Math at community college. (educational industrial complex is actually abusing me, California Community Colleges real ones🥶)
Awards:

1. Probably NMSF with 224 selection index🤓
2. Scholastic National Gold + American Voices Award (I appeal to boomers 👍)
3. 2x Schoolwide award for highest AMC score in class of '24, trolled on AIME though so shut up we'll stop here👍
4. FRC Robotics won Division at worlds, top 24 in world as semifinalists
5. FRC Robotics team won a regional (to get to worlds duh🤖)
6. Silver Medal in some national essay contest (eloquence ✨)
7. Placed in another journalism essay contest with scholarship🤑🤑🤑🤑
8. Congressional appreciation for writing (i love the government btw🥰)
9. Qualed for some US Geography Nationals (I read maps and wikipedia for fun)
10. USACO Silver (have missed Gold by small margin several times, rage quit)

Extracurriculars: sorted by time commitment

1. Robotics (Captain-elect, strategy lead this year): We beat several cracked teams at Worlds to win Division and become semifinalists. We also run a middle school club and I helped fundraise like $100,000. Also got played by TWO robotics girls😭
2. Internship at a T10 (the kind that gets a2c kids sweating): Combined CS and journalism, got to work with very cool prof. No parental connections (i wish...).
3. Internship at a local magazine: wrote 10 articles so far, the circulation is 150,000 readers and one of my articles was front page so this means clout🥶🥶🥶
4. Partnership with public library, taught my own course there about misinformation online, wrote some articles and book reviews for them
5. School Tutoring Program (next year President): 50 tutors; I volunteered ~50 hours over 3 years.
6. Math and Coding Clubs (next year President): 50 total members, hosted first ever hackathon at school. Hosted a math competition for sweats as well. Trained for comps, oversaw record number AIME qualifiers (now don't ask how many that is, OK?)😄
7. School Newspaper Staff Member (Senior News Editor next year): Wrote a bunch of articles, automated a lot of website stuff using a pretty complicated algorithm
8. Advisory board for Congressperson: I basically just helped research policy related to data science. Quite chaotic.
9. Research project detecting bias in news: Won no awards, got 0 bitches. Will improve it in summer. I did get 94% accuracy though.
10. Summer job teaching code: It's a scam, kids this young shouldn't be learning to code 😭
11. Stanford SHTEM program -- might not go if I get something better to do, but I'm leaning towards this b/c its free.
12. Wikipedia editor -- None of the above, I mean none of it, would have been done without wikipedia. God bless that site I will donate to it as long as it exists.

Essays/LORs/Other:
Bro idk how good essay will be but my english teacher says im a good writer and she usually very mean.
LOR:
AP Calculus BC teacher: 7/10 she advises math club so def likes and knows me but there's no SUPER special relationship nor am I the best student academically in her class.
Sophomore English honors teacher: 7/10, definitely a personal relationship because he's very young and I relate to him on many levels, I was also the best student in his class. He challenged me to eat 6 burgers in one sitting, and I'll do it this summer. However, I haven't had his class for one year, plus he doesn't have any experience in writing LOR.

I have a vague understanding on the word meta so plz tell me if this fits with a diffrent flare
This morning I woke up and went on youtube and saw the video for techno. I watched it and was crying like a baby while my sister giggled because she didnt even know i was awake until she heard me crying. at the end of the video all she heard was
*crying*
CHICK-FIL-A??? *more crying*
I had gotten a chick-fil-a add right after the video. I thought it was pretty funny after the fact.
PS: i am in no way trying to be rude or insensitive i just thought it would be funny to share, maybe cheer peopple up. plz lemme know if it comes across that way and ill take it down.

So I typically keep a journal of when I have vertigo attacks and the barometric pressure. Well I stopped because I forgot all about having MD. FFwd to May 2023, I sign up for Hello Fresh and man it was DELICIOUS!!!! I can't even boil hotdogs, so I was shocked at the meals I were able to crank out. Only thing I know is I'm having back to back severe, vertigo attacks...even 1 drop attack. Stopped the meals and now I'm normal again slight buzz from Tinnitus, but overall I'm back. Have any of you experienced this with Hello Fresh or any particular food chains? I know Chick-Fil-A is out of my mind too. Also, Otolith is doing a vertigo study if anyone desires to join. Stay vertical my friends.

At the end of next year, the graduating class (my class ;) is having a huge week-long trip. It’s a traditional thing that happens every year, same time and same place. However, the school suddenly made a weird announcement about the hotel rooms that we’d be using. While in previous years there was a limit of four people per regular-sized room, when we’re going there will be a limit of three (but two is also an option for $200 more) per suite. There’s two large beds and a fold-out couch in these suites, so 5 or 6 people should definitely be able to fit into a single room, especially if 4 were able to fit into a comparatively smaller room in years before.
Not only is this stupid conceptually, but it also causes monetary issues among quite a few people. While many who go to my school are fairly well off, this trip is still a massive expense that becomes even larger when the price of the new, bigger rooms is added, plus the fact that we can split the cost among a maximum of two others. Keep in mind as well that next year many of us will be heading off to college, so we need to save as much money as we possibly can. Plus, why give us bigger rooms if we’re not gonna be using 60% of their space?
This also brings up a social problem: many people have friend groups that are more than three people. Of course, there’s always the idea of rooming next to each other, but if you take into account things like curfew then it’s not really the same as properly sharing a room with your buddies. Because of this (and also partially the money aspect), a few friends of mine told me that they’re considering not going, because this new policy detracts so much from what is supposed to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The reasons behind this change were never explained properly and seem utterly moronic to me, so I want to create a petition and have it signed by as many people in my class as possible. However, I don’t know how (or even if this is feasible/worth it). Should it be online, like on change.org, or on paper? Who do I present it to (student council, teachers, principal, counseloadvisor)? How do I spread the word? Should I start campaigning now, with only a week of school left, or should I wait until next year starts up? Can I get in trouble for this? I’m completely clueless going into it.
The room payments are due fairly late into next year, so I’ve got quite a bit of time to figure things out and maybe convince my school to make a change to the number of people allowed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

At the end of next year, the graduating class (my class ;) is having a huge week-long trip. It’s a traditional thing that happens every year, same time and same place. However, the school suddenly made a weird announcement about the hotel rooms that we’d be using. While in previous years there was a limit of four people per regular-sized room, when we’re going there will be a limit of three (but two is also an option for $200 more) per suite. There’s two large beds and a fold-out couch in these suites, so 5 or 6 people should definitely be able to fit into a single room, especially if 4 were able to fit into a comparatively smaller room in years before.
Not only is this stupid conceptually, but it also causes monetary issues among quite a few people. While many who go to my school are fairly well off, this trip is still a massive expense that becomes even larger when the price of the new, bigger rooms is added, plus the fact that we can split the cost among a maximum of two others. Keep in mind as well that next year many of us will be heading off to college, so we need to save as much money as we possibly can. Plus, why give us bigger rooms if we’re not gonna be using 60% of their space?
This also brings up a social problem: many people have friend groups that are more than three people. Of course, there’s always the idea of rooming next to each other, but if you take into account things like curfew then it’s not really the same as properly sharing a room with your buddies. Because of this (and also partially the money aspect), a few friends of mine told me that they’re considering not going, because this new policy detracts so much from what is supposed to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The reasons behind this change were never explained properly and seem utterly moronic to me, so I want to create a petition and have it signed by as many people in my class as possible. However, I don’t know how (or even if this is feasible/worth it). Should it be online, like on change.org, or on paper? Who do I present it to (student council, teachers, principal, counseloadvisor)? How do I spread the word? Should I start campaigning now, with only a week of school left, or should I wait until next year starts up? Can I get in trouble for this? I’m completely clueless going into it.
The room payments are due fairly late into next year, so I’ve got quite a bit of time to figure things out and maybe convince my school to make a change to the number of people allowed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.