Snow Days Don't Really Mean No School Days

This is a shot off my balcony...which is as far as I ventured outdoors today. Last night we received a "significant snow event," which always makes me laugh because it usually consists of a few inches of snow that effectively shuts down the entire region (mostly because Seattle is all hills and doesn't have a lot of snowplows). Meanwhile, my aunt in Alaska has been posting pictures of -20 degree weather...it's all relative, I guess. School was a late start on Tuesday, was cancelled today, and we just got word that it is cancelled again tomorrow, because it warmed up just enough to start melting the snow and then froze again.

For me, while I like snow, and am perfectly fine with snow when I am prepared for it (which I was), I prefer that it happen on a weekend. Especially when it happens the week before finals, and my kids need to work on their final project.

Here is where technology pays off...As soon as I heard we were missing school again, I immediately figured out how I was going to adjust the final project (which I gave the kids on Tuesday) and tweeted that out, asking the kids to retweet the information since not all my kids follow me. One of my kids tweeted me a clarifying question about the project, which I also answered on twitter. I was able to email my students parents from home, so that between those two mediums, 90% of my kids SHOULD know the adjusted expectations. In addition, all the information I gave them in class on Tuesday is on a classroom website hosted by my district.

Online, other teachers posted on facebook that they had texted the principal to ask if we were planning on moving finals (we aren't) and we discussed alternative plans and suggestions for finals. The other ASB coordinator and I were on the phone today for almost an hour, talking about plans for the spring, which we normally would have discussed at school, and I did spend a little time grading, and will finish that as well as entering grades tomorrow.

After I sleep in, drink more hot chocolate, and continue my Doctor Who marathon, of course.