E-Learning on Snow Days in Pennsylvania, Kentucky Raises Concerns

CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

Attention education gurus...

...it's called an act of God...

...so leave the kids and the teachers alone!

Kids are going to be too excited about having an unexpected day off to worry about doing school work.

Teachers are even more excited! Plus, teachers can use "the day off" to grade that accumulating stack of previous class projects and homework papers. They certainly don't need an additional pile of "busy work" when the students turn in their snow-day work.

But, hey, nobody cares about the plight of the teacher, so back to the students...

...pining away at home, cut off from their usual method of satiating their thirst, their ravenous hunger for knowledge!

All of you above-the-lowly classroom types - politicians, school administrators, education reformers, hell, man/woman on the street - don't worry, be happy!

Remember all that stuff you've been touting (or in the case of the "street people" buying)...

...about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)?

Well, hell, the students may be trapped at home, but rest assured, they have their digital devices in their hot little hands at this very moment! And, just like in the classroom, I'm sure they will use them for educational pursuits...

...not to tweet, not to update their social media page, not to engage in bullying or sexting!

Remember! The students have received training on the proper use of the Internet, the dangers of the Internet. You probably even had them sign pledges/contracts that they would not engage in improper behavior.

So, life in La La Land is good!

And teachers...

Did your roll your eyes, did you laugh out loud?

When you read the line about those students not having Internet would receive "prepared snow day work packets"?

Ah, yes, reminds me of the good ol' days, when we were required to submit a three-day set of "emergency lesson plans" to the office during the first week of school so that in the event of a teacher's unexpected absence, the substitute teacher would have something to give the students (if somebody in the office remembered to dig them out and deliver them.) Talk about busy work, work that usually had no relevance to what the teacher had been doing the previous day.

Hmmm...

"Prepared snow day work packets".

When do they give those to the students? The day before it snows? What if the weather person was wrong and it doesn't snow? Just save them for next time, or does that become the day's classroom activity even though the precious lesson plans that you turned in says that you are suppose to be on page such-and-such today? (Maybe the Principal will cut you some slack if today was the day you were suppose to be evaluated and you are not doing what you said you were going to be doing that period. Hey, don't worry, be happy, it's only your job!)

Or, do we give the students the packets like in mid-October before the first possible snow...

...and hope that they can find them if/when it snows?

So many questions...

...but, hey, I was taught that "there are no stupid questions!"

Maybe not, but there sure are a lot of stupid "answers" issued by those "in charge" of education these days...

...and, as usual, reality aint' got nuthin' to do with it.

Yeah, you're right...

...I'm still pissy!

Just thinking about preparing busy-work lesson plans gives me chills...

...and not the good chills resulting from anticipating something really good...

...I'm talking the chills you get when you are running a fever of 104, need to stay home, but don't want the grief of "calling in" and being told that you need to be at school because it causes the office hardship trying to locate a substitute teacher, blah, blah, blah.