Kids are flushing ice cubes down the toilet, sleeping with a spoon under their pillow, wearing their pajamas inside out and backwards, and performing their “snow dances.” Teenagers are refreshing their social media pages every five minutes, anticipating an update from Loudoun County Public Schools. At last, parents have been called, and it is official. The children’s hopes of planning to play with friends, and the teenagers’ wishes of sleeping in are coming true. Loudoun County Public Schools is having a snow day!
Although snow days can give teachers and students a break from the busyness of a school day, most teachers are faced with having to change their lesson plans without the next days classes getting too ahead of the other. Teachers are also faced with other chilling challenges because of the two week long winter break and circling sicknesses, specifically in the second quarter. Teachers have to find creative ways to work through these issues. Research Chemistry teacher, Ms. Linda Palmisano, shared, “One of the things you have to learn about being a teacher is you have to be flexible.”
Snow days can come very unexpectedly, so students may forget information they learned in prior classes. “Chemistry is hard, so I always try to include some type of review or reteach in every lesson…you have to make time for review.” Palmisano explained. Reviewing is seen as very important after a snow day. However, each teacher may review differently. Algebra II teacher, Ms. Natasha Shildneck, commented, “I put together resources for the students to use via Schoology…Sometimes we have to get creative to be able to keep moving forward.”
Along with teachers having to review with students, they may also have to reschedule their original lesson plans, which can lead to some short or long-term impacts. Palmisano discussed, “[My eighth block was] supposed to take a test [on] Monday, but we had a delay. I couldn’t give the test because the block was too short. So instead, I started the next unit and then they had to take the test on Wednesday.” Although Palmisano’s situation came about because of a two hour delay, snow was still the culprit that forced her to change her original plans. Shildneck shared, “I was prepared to push our cumulative assessment in Algebra II if we were to have a snow day on a B day again.” Shildneck ended up not needing to push the test due to a snowless B day. However, there was a risk that students would have to take the test right after winter break.
Not only are teachers and students being affected by uncontrollable weather, but the testing center has been impacted too. Gourmet foods teacher and testing center monitor, Ms. Abby O’Connor, expressed, “The Testing Center is usually much more crowded during second quarter…When school resumes, teachers still need to assess students, so many tests get pushed into a shorter time frame.” Some teachers utilize an alternative to the issue of in-school make-up tests, choosing to test outside of school. However, physical and drivers education teacher and testing center monitor, Ms. Audrey Sieren, commented, “I don’t think [students] should be able to take tests at home because there’s no way to monitor, and I don’t think that there should be any virtual learning on a snow day.” In addition, teachers also want to enjoy their time off. “I want a snow day. I don’t want to teach on a snow day…I don’t think any teacher would sign up for that,” added Sieren.
Although snow days act as a nice break from the regular school day, there may be some consequences to the disruption of a schedule. Palmisano remarked, “I think the kids are the ones that get the short end of the stick at the end of the day…[snow days] really mess things up for the kids more than me.” In addition to teachers finding themselves replanning and reconstructing their initial lesson plans, and the overwhelming make-up work in the Testing Center, students also tend to be victims of the issues snow days create.