A NO SNOW snow day

stormwarningNormally, I would be driving to school right now, but instead I am home in the basement nestled in my cave. It’s a snow day. The weather guys predicted the storm several days ago and the media is in full hype. Right now, there is less than half an inch covering the sidewalks and roads, but it is predicted to get worse, probably much worse with the bulk of the snow arriving midday just in time to release kids to walk home from elementary schools with unplowed roads and snowy sidewalks.  It is just a bad idea.

The call came in at 5:23 from my kid’s school district announcing that “due to the expected heavy snow, all school and afternoon activities for Tuesday, March 5th are cancelled…” My district called a couple of minutes later with the same news. I’d already been waging a war with the alarm clock, and losing, I might add, when the phone rang. I turned the alarm off and W came in to make sure he could sleep until he wakes up, he was excited, but probably not enough to keep him from falling back to sleep. I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn’t so I got up and went downstairs.

I wish we were in school, I really do. This is the first day of my summer vacation and I’ll have to go back to school tomorrow. Please, allow me to explain. When schools close for a day due to weather, or for any other reason, the school district moves the last day of school back one day. This year school ends on Friday, May 31; which means that school is now out on Monday, June 3. It’s a bad trade of one cold wet snowy day for three potentially nice warm days, yuck!

It couldn’t come at a worse time. It’s the time for state testing and we had set aside the entire week to give the state standardized tests: two tests each day in the morning every day all week, except Wednesday. It is the same for all schools in Illinois from third through eighth grade, though each school sets its own testing schedule. O had tests yesterday, too. W is immune because he is in high school, but he will test another time, I’m sure. We’ll do makeup testing tomorrow or next Monday.

7th_grade_tests

I don’t like standardized tests and I never have. Last week a student asked me why we weren’t doing ISAT prep in class. I told her that we had been doing ISAT prep all year. She looked confused and I had to explain that if I was not teaching the skills she needed, to do well on the state tests I needed to find a new vocation. I mean it. Teaching kids to think – to read, write, and speak well should be enough perform well on the state tests. I don’t reach all kids I wish I could. I make the difference with the students I can and share my passion for learning – reading, writing, history, and geography.

Yesterday the kids were excited. The schedule change with testing sessions all morning long in one classroom and then a schedule flip in the afternoon had the kid’s internal schedule topsy-turvy. Plus, they were excited about the potential of a snow day. They asked me what I thought and I told them it’s a bad deal one snow day for three summer vacation days. That didn’t work, too abstract, so I tried another way to explain. I asked them would they rather have $100 on Tuesday, or wait for the last day of school and get $300? It was almost universal, $300 on the last day of school. But, of course I had some kid who told me he’d take the $100 and invest it – a future hedge fund manager. I reach the ones I can.

Oh well, I have my Franklin now, so I had better make the best of it and make it count. The snow is lightly falling and the kids are sleeping, B too. Even Ivy just looked at me when I came downstairs, made coffee, and disappeared down into the basement. I have a stack of papers and homework from the grad class I started last week and then, I could run trains and have fun with the kids. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, even a summer vacation day in March.

What would you do (or could you do) with a surprise day off?

 

 

9 thoughts on “A NO SNOW snow day

    1. It was a good day and I got a few things accomplished, but I would rather have been at school especially since the snow didn’t start in earnest until early afternoon. we got about none inches and now it is mostly melted, except for a few piles here and there we have bare ground. Soon the crocuses an daffodils will be popping up. I will try to remember the day when that long last day of school rolls around. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

  1. No snow day today in NYC. It snowed but mostly that slushy messy rainy stuff. About a few inches of mess. If I was stuck home on a snow day I can easily work from home, get all my laundry done, watch a movie or two. Just basically enjoy a relaxing day. Mental health days are needed!

    1. I had a relaxing day last Tuesday, though I hardly have a recollection of what I actually accomplished. The days since have been a blur too… though I had a magnificent steak dinner last night with mashed potatoes, green beans, and an amazing bleu cheese salad. I have been working on homework – mine and my son’s today all focusing on writing. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? march has come in like a lion, hasn’t it. have a great day and even greater Monday – welcome to daylight savings time and an extra hour of daylight at the END of the day.

  2. The weather guy is threatening snow here for tomorrow. Hope not. What would I do with a day off in bad weather? Probably bake. If it was good weather I’d go out and try to take some photos. Hope you can make the best of your first day of summer break! 🙂

    1. Thanks – I did have fun and took a short nap on the floor after shoveling the second time! I did dust off the camera and take a few photos, but I haven’t looked at them, yet. It is still coming down, but lightly. I think we got about 8 inches not bad for the first day of summer vacation – back to teaching and learning tomorrow. 8 o’clock sharp!

  3. Ah….we awoke to a couple of inches and 10 degrees….yuck. Why are we back in CO when we could be in AZ enjoying spring flowers? Responsiblities!!! Enjoy a day off and make it fun. Love your header – snow falling over roses….awesome 🙂

    1. A year ago it was spring and warm… this year the snow has come at the end of the season. Right now it’s snowing hard.. the road and drive are coated and I solved my issue with the slowness of MtDC.org – or at least I hope I have…. an hour on the phone, yikes…. The good news about snow at this time of the year, even though it’s pretty, is that it is gone quickly! Spring is just around the corner! Have a great day. Thanks!

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