Ms. Stovall 313

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News & Notes

The Invisible T-Shirt: A Narrative Lesson Plan
2018: The Year that Was
A Light Shines in Charlottesville: an Ode to Joe
What We Learn in High School–A Student Perspective
Tour Our Classroom! Room 313 in Pictures

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America To Me (2)
Education (8)
Fulbright Award (10)
Gratitude (6)
Ideas for the Classroom (2)
Mexico (3)
NEH Grant (4)
New York City (1)
New Zealand (13)
Racial Equity (1)
Teaching (9)
Travel (9)

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I love water. I am drawn to it, and pretty much whatever city I am in I want to sit by it, and watch it gallop downstream or stretch out into the abyss. But unless it’s a lake in the Midwest, I rarely want to go in them. I am terrified of the power of water—it’s part of the reason that my first job was to be a lifeguard. I wanted to conquer my fear of drowning. But yet, I have remained afraid. The last time I was in the ocean, I didn’t know about the undertow, and it unexpectedly sucked me under, slicing up my backside like fresh meat. The time before that, I stepped on a sea urchin, its black and brown spikes decorating my sole. I still carry their scars today. And so, when I found out that we would be swimming in the sea and hiking through waterfalls, my anxiety skyrocketed. Luckily, I had a bunch of pretty amazing young people who encouraged me to face my fears. That is partly what is so amazing about young people—their ability to inspire us to live boldly. #globalglimpse #teachersummer

Day one of our @globalglimpse Community Action Project in the Dominican Rupublic! We are at a local school where we have an ambitious project of working with community members to build shade from the hot sun for the students during playtime, plant a community garden, and paint two murals representing the founding fathers. I found myself scraping paint for the first couple of hours, and then quickly snuck away to play with the students. Even though I barely speak any Spanish, it did not take away from their ability to teach me many new games and songs. I have appreciated all the community is teaching me, and I will be forever changed for the better because of them.

I’m seven days into my leadership and service learning trip to the Dominican Republic with @globalglimpse. The trip started off with virtually every teachers’ school chaperoning nightmare—our flight delay got us stranded in Newark, New Jersey for 24 hours, with most of the kids without basic things like toothbrushes and extra underwear. After putting all the meals and extra clothes on my debit card, we finally made it to the beautiful DR...only to find that most of the students did not have their luggage. I initially thought I should just sneak back home and hide, but I have had the most wonderful week. We couldn’t have asked for more stellar students, co-chaperones and our host families have totally stolen my heart. I’m now wondering if I will come back. #brightsideoflife

Missing my troll doll & pog collection... and my tamagotchi, even if I couldn’t keep that dang thing alive. @experiencethe90s. . 📷: @blackawesomeness

Me, waiting for everyone to come out for a boat ride & swim. . One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone jeers that teachers have it easy because we “get our summers off.” I’d loooooove to meet a teacher who has truly had a summer off. First, we often give up our nights and weekends to grade and plan all school year, and we can never quite rid ourselves from worrying about certain kids or trying to figure out how to deal with a school or national trauma that is showing side effects in our classrooms. Second, by the time the school year is finished, we are often shells of ourselves, sometimes taking weeks for the knots in our back to truly loosen. We know we have to take care and relax in order to re-energize for the school year, but then we begin summer school, professional development, letters of recommendation writing, and curriculum planning. We read books that might be good for our classroom, and get inspiration through travel and reading for the new year. By the time the back-to-school nightmares toss and turn us in our sleep, it is already time for us to unpack our classroom. Teaching is the best job in the universe, but it can be all encompassing and it never quite leaves you even when you’re on a break. So yes, while I might be ready for a floating adventure, in the back of my mind, I’m still thinking of all the things I still need to do to be the best teacher that my students deserve. . #teachersummer #teacheronbreak #floaties

Serving looks for twin day at #suhollyhock. . #twinning #tacocat #flawless

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