Let's be real. I think I enjoy them as much, if not more, than my students. Snow in the forecast? The call would go out for all teachers to do the snow dance. Wake up to a white world and you listen for the phone to ring as you watch cancellations scroll across the television.
Finally, the phone rings, your school name runs across the screen, and you feel a big grin spread across your face. Put on your comfy pants, stay-at-home socks, grab a cozy throw, and snuggle up with a favorite book or movie. Maybe even a nap.
Snow days are a part of childhood. They're traditional. A rite of passage. Just as much as riding your bike without training wheels, learning to drive and voting for the first time. They hold a certain charm. They're nostalgic. Remember our parents and grandparents telling us how they walked to school in five inches of snow? A snow day is the 'modern' version of walking through drifts of snow. A story to tell. A memory to make.
Has virtual learning made snow days a thing of the past? Will kids five years from now know what a snow day is? Will they ever experience that anticipation and rush of adrenaline when they see their school's name across the bottom of the screen?
I hope so. I hope that snow days are not a thing of the past replaced by virtual learning. I hope that we allow our kids to experience the joy that we experienced as youngsters. The pandemic robbed us of so much. I just hope it doesn't steal more pieces of childhood.
It looks like spring is around the corner!
(For more of Kim Frencken's writing, check out her blog, Chocolate for the Teacher.)
Virtual learning is only feasible in affluent school districts located in areas with sufficient broadband infrastructure; This disqualifies nearly all of the four states. Many people cannot afford an internet connection. Some who can afford it cannot get it because of their location. Unethical monopolizations currently controlled by a handful of ISPs have severely damaged the broadband infrastructure of the US. I'd go into more details, but I would be beating a dead horse. There are so many articles on how rural areas are becoming increasingly poor and left behind in the age of the internet and automatization because of these business practices.
ReplyDeleteAfter considering this, the quality of virtual learning comes into the discussion. You would be surprised at the number of students (ranging from elementary to doctoral students) who do not prefer virtual learning. Many find it too hard to focus. Technical difficulties often make it hard to hear what the teacher is saying. In addition, many teachers are not technically trained enough to hold quality online lectures. Ask yourself, what percent of teachers in a given high school would know how to switch their mic in a Zoom call without any assistance?
American society in its current state will never be able to facilitate virtual learning correctly. I anticipate that snow days will be here for many decades to come.
She, like Randy, is one of the teachers that laminates her lesson plans claiming that the old ways are the best. Innovation and change are always bad, and get out of my room because I know all.
ReplyDeleteI struggle working with colleagues who expect the young teachers to listen, but refuse to listen to the new teachers.