My Supports

Factors within my daily environment that are supportive to me:

Emotional support from loved ones

• My close friends and family have made such a huge impact in my life. I can go to them when I'm happy and want to share with them exciting or happy news. I can count on them when I am feeling sad or upset about something that happened at work or in my personal life. I can even just vent to them when I am having a bad day. They help keep me sane and give me advice when needed. They also help snap me back into a positive frame of mind when I'm not looking at the positive side of things. 
• My co-workers are also some of my best friends for this very reason. Like I have stated before in previous posts, I try to surround myself with positive, happy people so that I can remain that way myself. And I appreciate having people in my life that can help me keep that goal and stay focused on it, and hold me accountable as well.
• My faith: I can't even think of my life without thinking about my faith in God. I was brought up in a church that was welcoming to all and supportive of everyone in every walk of life. I have learned to pray and take time each day to talk to God and tell him my struggles. This is my greatest support!

Practical support

• Grocery lists: help me find things quickly at the store so I'm not wasting time trying to remember things I need. Also helps me so I don't forget anything and have to go back later. Without my grocery list, I will end up spending more time than needed at the store, buying things I don't need or forgetting something.  
• Monetary support I am able to buy my groceries, pay my bills, and enjoy some fun every now and then when a budget allows me to do so. If I didn't have this support, I would be living on the street. 
• Help around the house: Living alone has it's benefits (no arguments, no cleaning up other people's messes, doing whatever I want) but it's not always as easy as it sounds. There are some days I come home exhausted OR days when I'm sick and feel miserable. But the sink is full of dishes, I have no clothes to wear, the trash needs taken out, the house needs cleaned, the yard needs mowed, the flower beds need maintained, etc. These day to day tasks can become a huge burden when your health is down. A little over a year ago, I had a ruptured disc in my spine and was in extreme pain anytime I was not laying down flat on my back. So doing anything as little as my laundry to something like mowing the lawn was extremely painful. It was a huge struggle at that time in my life to live alone. But now that I have had surgery and am healed- I feel stronger than ever because I was able to do that all myself. I have a good friend who is a single mom and I tell her every day I don't know how she does it. She is an amazing mother to her 4 year old and I have respect for parents in general- but man... thinking about the ones who do it all on their own- I am simply amazed! (quick side note: I hope this doesn't sound like I was whining about being single... I love my life- it just makes it hard when I could use the help and there is none around) After living alone for 3 and half years, I've been much more helpful to my parents when I go home to visit b/c I now understand how hard it can be to maintain a happy home!
• My cell phone: I use to to keep in touch with my family and friends, as an alarm clock, a food tracker when I'm motivated to watch what I eat, check the weather, take pictures, listen to music, and so much more. Ever since I got my first iphone (just a few months ago- haha) I can't imagine my life without it now! On my old flip phone I could only use it as an alarm clock. It didn't take good pictures and it couldn't hold any music. 
• My laptop (with internet): I use it to do my lesson plans for work, create centers and classroom management tools to print off, online shopping, check my email, facebook, and of course, complete my masters program! I would be bored to tears and feel disconnected from the world if I didnt' have internet/my laptop! =) I can also use it to educate myself when it come to feeling ill, finding a good recipe or creating something fun through pinterest!
• My glasses: I am blind as a bad without them! Contacts make my eyes dry out, red, and hurt! So i wear glasses most of the time. They help me drive, read, recognize people's faces and see things farther than 2 feet from my face! I wouldn't be able to do much without them. 
• My car: It gets me to and from work, takes me to visit my family who lives over an hour away, to the grocery store, to visit with friends near and far. If I didn't have my car- I would have to take the bus/walk/ride a bike and that would be so inconvenient. I love being able to have the freedom and leave when I need to. Otherwise I'd be living for bus schedules and taking into consideration of how much longer it would be to ride a bike, rather than drive. (But I'd be in GREAT shape!)

Physical support 

• This may or may not be a good example- but thinking about my rupture disc- I will never, ever take for granted my health and being able to walk without pain- that was such a painful experience that I hope to NEVER re-live again. I have been working hard to lift with my knees if necessary and to never bend over like I used to. My friends and family will NOT let me lift anything heavy anymore because they saw how much pain that it had caused me in the past. So to have assistance in completely a physical task such as lifting, is crucial in my life. Otherwise, rupturing another disc in my spine is highly possible. (I fear it every day!)

 Supports I would need if I was ESL/ELL:

• We have an ESL/ELL program in the school I work at and it amazed me every day at what these students can accomplish. I try to imagine if I were to be fully immersed in a school that spoke a completely different language from my own and it would be terrifying to me. I would need much support, as do the children in the ESL/ELL program.

Emotional support

• I would need friends who spoke my home language as well as my family support. If I were to live in a country that I didn't not speak their native language- I would feel homesick. So to have my family would give me a sense of home. Friends also contribute to the feeling of home. When I am able to speak in my home language freely- I am comfortable and feel at peace. If I am forced to speak in another language that I am not familiar in- I become anxious and intimidated.

Practical support

• ELL/ESL services would also be helpful. To have someone to help teach me the new language would be beneficial to me because if I truly didn't understand something in that language- the teacher could assist me in understanding. If I didn't have these services, I feel I could fall behind in whatever I was trying to learn because I wouldn't have the support to help me learn the new native language.

Physical support

• I can't really think of anything physically I would need in this case. Unless maybe I was learning how to do something I would need that person to physically model it for me if they didn't not speak my language.

My Connections to Play

Quotes that I feel summarize what play represented for me in childhood:

In our play we reveal what kind of people we are. -Ovid (Roman poet)

"The Rules {For Toddlers}: Be cute. Stand on the table. Play with your food. Splash in the tub.  Climb on everything. Eat the playdough. Jump on the bed. Give hugs. Splash in puddles. Dump out all the toys. Scream at the top of your lungs. Everything is mine. Giggle til your belly hurts."

"How to really love a child. Be there. Say YES as often as you can. Let them bang on pots and pans. If they're crabby, put them in water. Read books out loud with joy. Go find elephants and kiss them. Encourage silly. Giggle alot. Remember how really small they are. Search out the positive. Keep the gleam in your eye. Go see a movie in your pajamas. Teach feelings. Realize how important it is to be a child. Plan to build a rocketship. Stop yelling. Invent pleasures together. Surprise them. Express your love. A lot. Children are miraculous. " - Sark

{click on the picture above to go to the source where I downloaded it from}

Essential play items for my younger self:

This was my absolute favorite thing to play with as child!!! I loved this doll house!!! I wish I still had it! hehe

My sisters and I LOVED collecting all the girl kids meal toys form McDonald's....

I remember playing with these a lot too!

How people supported play when I was younger:
Growing up with 2 younger sisters and an older brother, made for some fun in my childhood. We always had a playmate or someone to blame "They did it!!!" on. My mom had a whole room in the house dedicated to our "toy room". This wonderful room had all our stuffed animals, toys, kitchen set, dress up clothes, and games in it. We were encouraged to use our imaginations as I have many fond memories of playing the following with my sisters and brother: house, school, office (we'd set up our bedrooms as offices and pretend we were working), pool (we'd set up a snack stand outside, blow up an inflatable pool and pretend to pay for snacks)... Mom set up plastic on the ground and put a hose on it for a slip n' slide, and I remember taking the hose back to the swingset and letting it run down our slide to pretend it was a water slide. Dad set up blankets to make a tent in the living room and we'd turn out all the lights and pretend we were camping and tell ghost stories. Dad also would play with us outside after he came home from work and teach us how to play any sports we desired (basketball, softball, soccer... the list could go on). My parents gave us every opportunity to explore our world and find out what we enjoy doing.

My grandma would let us wear her fancy hats, heels and dresses, set up a table on the screened porch and we'd play tea party. Grandpa would be the butler and serve us our tea and crumpets. She also, had several dolls and barbies, as well as arts and crafts and games for us to play. She loved spending time with us and encouraging our imaginations. I still cry when I think about how much I miss having her in my life, 11 years later. (She passed away when I was a junior in high school- Oct. 1, 2001).

I also remember taking side walk chalk, drawing "roads" on the driveway and riding my bike around, like it was my car. One of my favorite things to do as a child was go to the library. The library where I grew up looked like a huge castle. And in the basement, was the children's section. On the walls, they had painted trees and other murals to make it look like and outdoor park. They even had a little reading nook with comfy chairs for us to sit and read. I used to get so excited to go and pick out books and take them home to read for fun.

How I feel play today is similar or different from the play in which I engaged as a child and what I hope for young is now with regard to play.

As a child, learning never felt like a "chore." It was enjoyable! With technology advancing with the video games, ipods, iphones, ipads, nintendo DS, and more... I feel like kids are using their imaginations less, not getting enough social time and spending too much time with their faces glued to a screen. When I was little, we only played video games and watched TV when it was a rainy day and we couldn't go outside. We were ALWAYS playing... and didn't spend too much time indoors. I also get frustrated when I see people together, with their faces glued to their iphones texting or playing a game. I hate this because I believe you should be focusing on the people you are WITH and spending time with them. This is where I see the social skills lacking. If children are spending too much time with technology and less time with actual people- how will that affect their social skills?

It is my hope that parents will provide experiences for their children, like my own parents did. I hope that they also are keeping in mind the amount of time their children are spending using the imaginations vs. with technology.

My thoughts regarding the role of play throughout my life:
Looking back at my childhood, I remember role playing a lot. Whether it be with my siblings, with dolls in the doll house or my favorite stuffed animals- I was always pretending and using my imagination. I feel that my experiences as a young child helped develop the curiousity and love of learning in me. (Hence, why I became a teacher!) I'm also told that I am "so creative" by many- including my school's administrators! I love thinking of new ways and researching how to improve my teaching and ways to assess my students. I also believe that play has had a huge role in the way I can cooperate/ work a team player. I'm currently job searching closer to my family and after reading my administrators' and academic coach's letter of recommendations, they all noted that I am a "team player." Growing up with 3 siblings, I had to learn how to share, work together to complete a common goal and take turns. I feel that is one of my strengths as an older sibling due to my childhood experiences.