Recovering from Snow Days

Most teachers are thrilled when they hear about the possibility of a snow day. Two snow days? That is like winning the lottery. After five, I am sitting here in a bit of a panic. I like a lazy snow day home with my kids as much as the next mom, but I also want to do my job to the best of my ability. Losing so many days for snow, combined with days missed for field trips and other events, means that I have less time to do my job.

Some of my friends have posted how Atlanta area schools have digital learning days. Many parents are appalled. "Let them be little." "Let them enjoy the days off." "Snow days should be fun." So how do we get through the material and make everyone happy? I believe the answer is technology and personalized learning.

As the Instructional Technology Coordinator at my school, it should have been my first thought, but it wasn't. My first thought was that my students would have extra homework until we were caught up. Then I thought that I would have to leave out something that I deem important. Would not finishing Romeo and Juliet really affect their ACT scores? Then the answer came to me.

Although it will not be easy, I've got to meet the students where they are and work to get us all back on the same footing. Instead of traditional vocabulary instruction, I could record myself giving the instruction and then let the students work at their own pace on the work. I could also pare down the amount of vocabulary work I give them.

As for the novels, I could cut some of the work related to the readings. We could use the time for class discussion or divide them into groups to discuss a certain element and bring them together for their group to teach. I enjoy reading in class, but this might be a time to put aside my preference and let them read on their own a bit more.

Finally, not everything has to be graded. Grades are NOT the end goal. LEARNING is the end goal. How we get there does not have to follow a cookie cutter design. It is time to ditch the industrial classroom model and personalize learning.