My Supports

Everyone needs supports.  I have many supports. 

One support I have is my husband.  My husband diligently works to provide for me, and my children.  He sometimes works 80+ hours at the hospital to provide for us.  He undergoes stress so I don't have to.  His everlasting faith strengthens our family.  His humorous spirit makes us laugh and makes stressful situations seem minute.  My husband provides financial support and emotional support.  He also happens to be my "GUY" best friend.  I can tell him anything.   He loves me unconditionally and makes sure I know it. 

Another support I have is my best friend Rosa.  I have known Rosa since I was a child.  We grew up in the  same church and are best friends to this day.  She is my confidante when I need a female ear.  She is my spiritual sister.  God didn't give me a biological sister but gave me  a spiritual one.  I wouldn't know what I would do without her telling me to relax everything will be ok.  She has seen me go through many changes and is my child's Godmother.  She is a strong woman and I respect her opinion.

Another support I have is family, friends, and church.  Church serves as an outlet for frustration.  I can go to God when I feel I can't go to anyone.  God has been my cornerstone all my life and I wouldn't have anything without his grace and favor in my life.  My family has been amazing.  They have been a saving grace when I had my children and underwent an emergency C-section and needed someone to help me.  They cooked for me, babysat, cleaned, ironed and did everything I couldn't do for myself or my family.  They did it with a joyous heart and much love. 

Another support I have is a lot of the practical things such as my computer where I can communicate with others frequently and where I can complete my classwork.  Another practical support is my car.  I go everywhere in my car.  I don't know how I would do all that I do without it.  I can't picture myself riding a NYC bus or train with an infant and a toddler.


Wow, I didn't really want to think of any challenges.  But I figure one challenge I can write about is getting sick.  Rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family and if that was to happen to me it would limit all that I would be able to do.  How can I complete a computer course if I am in excruciating pain when I type?   How can I cook for my family, iron for my husband, drive my car, scrapbook with Rosa, bake cookies, and braid my daughter's hair?  I guess I would need my support on a daily basis.  I think I would probably have to hire a cleaning lady and get some more assistance on a daily basis for everyday house duties.  I would have to have my husband do more of the daily chores such as laundry and food shopping.  I would be more dependent on others which is something I wouldn't be happy about. I would probably need the support of a physician to manage my RA.  I would probably have to be on meds or even an exercise program.  My life would change because I would need more and different support.

My Connections to Play

Coloring

playing under their tent

Mark Twain
Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.

Plato
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Health Issue - Clean Drinking Water

I chose clean drinking water because clean water is a necessity for health.  When I lived in Dominica, West Indies, getting clean water was sometimes a problem especially during the rainy season.  I thank God that on campus we had water fountains that contained clean filtered water.  My husband and I would fill 3 gallon jugs from the campus water and carry them home.  I know the poorer locals didn't have access to clean water and at times my neighbor with young children would ask us to get water for her.  Some households had regular plumbing while others had to pump water from a well.  Some small towns would use the river to clean, bathe, and drink.  Their government was working on ways to obtain clean water for their people.

I chose to focus on the health issue of clean drinking water in Afghanistan.  This part of the world is of particular interest to me.  My heart goes out to the women and children who suffer at the hands of corrupt leaders - both political and religous.

 I can say that these issues will affect my future work because knowing and understanding these important issues will help me be sensitive to the needs of my students and their families.  

Clean, safe drinking water is a basic right. A right which over 1.2 billion people

around the world are denied. A lack of clean water affects sanitation, health, food supplies and preparation and economic development.

Afghanistan has a population of 22 million people, 70% of which is undernourished and one in four children die before the age of five.  Only 13% of people have access to improved water sources and the situation has worsened due to inadequate rainfall over the last two years causing the government to declare 12 districts drought-affected.

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/_content/documents/AFGHANISTAN.pdf 

Child Quotes

Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. First Lady  "Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. Barack Obama

Assessing Children

As teachers we know that it is important to assess our students.  We need to know what they entered the grade knowing and we need to know if progress is being made.  The problem therein lies with are we testing too much or too little?  Are we testing the right way? Should testing be individualized? I know through personal experience that students could understand a concept and the minute they hear the word exam, or assessment, they freeze and cannot function.  I remember I had a student who was so stressed out about city exams (he was already struggling) that he developed Alopecia (losing his hair). We need to assess our students but I think we rely too much on standardized exams.  I remember students who were at the top of the class and would do mediocre and kids who couldn't even read were passing exams because they guessed correctly.  I think we need to take everything with a grain of salt.  There needs to be a balance of state assessment, classroom assessment, and critical teacher evaluation of progress.


In Afghanistan, the Afghan war has destroyed the educational infrastructure, demolished school buildings, and has killed teachers.  There is a huge disparity between boys who go to schools and the number of girls.  Because of the Taliban, girls were not allowed to receive an education and currently the number of girls attending schools is lower than the number of boys who attend school.  Because of war, no records were available to assess students.  
http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/afghanistan/rapport_1.html 

Environmental Pollution

I choose environmental pollution.  I chose this because my husband’s cousin was lead poisioned when he was 2 years old.  He was developing as a normal 2 year old until this occurred.  This occurred when they were living in a private house and the pipes were very old.  This private house was very old and was filled with lead.  Later, they would be told to leave this residence as it would be condemned.   The lead in the pipes had contaminated the water.  He had initially gone into shock and would have seizures. Because of this tragic event he was given SSI until his 18^th birthday.  He was placed in special education because his learning ability was affected.  This is a link where you can read about how to prevent lead poisoning. 

 http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips.htm 

Pollution in Afghanistan - Air pollution

Air pollution in Kabul is severe.  Here people use lead gasoline, not unleaded like we use here in the states.  People burn tires to get warm and air pollution is rampant.  Here is a link to learn more about this issue.    

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99127084 

Health Issue - Clean Drinking Water

I chose clean drinking water because clean water is a necessity for health.  When I lived in Dominica, West Indies, getting clean water was sometimes a problem especially during the rainy season.  I thank God that on campus we had water fountains that contained clean filtered water.  My husband and I would fill 3 gallon jugs from the campus water and carry them home.  I know the poorer locals didn't have access to clean water and at times my neighbor with young children would ask us to get water for her.  Some households had regular plumbing while others had to pump water from a well.  Some small towns would use the river to clean, bathe, and drink.  Their government was working on ways to obtain clean water for their people.

I chose to focus on the health issue of clean drinking water in Afghanistan.  This part of the world is of particular interest to me.  My heart goes out to the women and children who suffer at the hands of corrupt leaders - both political and religous.

 I can say that these issues will affect my future work because I will be sensitive to the needs of these people.  



Children in Afghanistan trying to pump water from a well.

Clean, safe drinking water is a basic right. A right which over 1.2 billion people

around the world are denied. A lack of clean water affects sanitation, health, food

supplies and preparation and economic development.

Afghanistan has a population of 22 million people, 70% of which is undernourished and

one in four children die before the age of five.  Only 13% of people have access to improved

water sources and the situation has worsened due to inadequate rainfall over the last two

years causing the government to declare 12 districts drought-affected.

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/_content/documents/AFGHANISTAN.pdf