I just woke up to a sweet little text/ email informing me that my college is closed due to adverse weather conditions, or in full management speak:
As you know it has not been easy predicting the weather this week. Tomorrow’s weather is unpredictable and changeable. Several local schools have already posted closures.... With so many of our students and staff living in greater impacted areas and given the train, bus and transport disruption today, I’m not prepared to put anyone at risk of travelling in, just to end up having to go home early.
Therefore, I have decided to close the College for the whole of tomorrow.
The rapturous joy of the 'Snow Day' for teachers...
For teachers, there is no other phrase in the English language capable of releasing such a rush of warm, happy, contentment than 'SNOW DAY'. What’s more, unlike other things which tap into positive emotions, the snow day buzz just lasts – well, all day.
Yes, snow days are great, you get to lie in, watch TV, do a reasonable amount of work (6 hours rather than the usual 11 as a teacher), eat properly and go down the pub!
What makes a snow day even more fantastic is that they are result of two social trends that are otherwise a huge irritation
Firstly, the fact that our public transport system is so shambolic means that it shuts down at the slightest whiff of snow, which in turn means it’s difficult for students and staff to get to school, leading to school closures.
Secondly, schools are reluctant to open because we live in a risk society that’s obsessively paranoid about the health and safety of young people.
Snow days, in other words, are like payback time for things that are usually a huge pain in the backside, which makes them even sweeter.
There are, however, those from the dark side who try to tap into our guilt on such occasions. Senior management at the college seem to go into panic mode at the thought of students (and staff?) being allowed a day, or two or three off work, as if the results will go into melt down if we don’t have students in the classroom for the maximum amount of time possible.
The advantages of Snow Days...
Personally, I don’t buy the ‘moral panic’ argument against snow days - they have at least the following advantages:
- Firstly, as mentioned above, we get to work human hours, reclaiming our humanity from the clutches of a job that is very consuming. We get to lead a balanced life for a few days, rather than one dominated by work!
- Secondly, we get to sleep properly – reducing the likelihood of getting ill, as is so often the case close the end of term
- Thirdly, they enable us to produce much better resources for the following week(s) – improving the efficiency of teaching when we return.
- Fourthly, it gives students time to recharge their batteries before the final assault in the last two weeks.
- Fifthly, it encourages independence among learners.
- Sixthly, it is actually a great meritocratic leveller – good students would have done all the work set – dossers wouldn’t have!
- Seventh, snow days offer some interesting reflection time – I am left wondering how appropriate the traditional model of teaching is – where one teacher works in the same class room as 20 odd students for a few periods each week. In this day and age, surely more flexible ways of teaching and learning would be more appropriate?
Snow Days help restore our work-life balance...
On a final note, Snow Days allow us to reflect on that old chestnut – work-life balance – they remind us that there is scope for us to lose millions of working hours every day – and that this would probably lead to an increase in the quality of our lives. There is simply no social necessity for us to be working as hard as we do.
So I’ll leave with a parting thought and a parting question:
Parting thought – don’t feel guilty about taking a snow day – I don’t!
Parting question - given that there is no social necessity, why is it that we all work so hard?
P.S... for the benefit of readers in mainland Europe and Northern America (just to wind you up ;)) this is the current view from my balcony: YES - this, and an unfavorable weather forecast is it all it takes for all the local schools to be shut down...
Picture Sources: First Snow Day, third snow day my own, second snow day.
It’s madness that a little snow can bring the entire country to a standstill! I am on a heavily delayed train writing this and can’t get into work tomorrow due to the risk of getting g stranded. I love snow days as much as the next person but it’s annoying when it costs me a days pay!
Hi Karl! I am so pleased to find you here on Steemit as I have been a reader of your excellent blog for some time now, and I have even used your insights in my own teaching (I teach 5 subjects in my high school, one of which is Sociology). I have even purchased some of your revision material and unsurprisingly they were very good indeed. :-)
I'm over in Wales and we've had a bit more snow than you, and I'll be posting pictures and videos of that in my own post soon. We were still shut today (Monday) but we are back in tomorrow although with warnings that paths are still not clear etc.
Why do we work so hard, eh? Here I am posting at 2:22am after getting my lesons and resources sorted for tomorrow. It cannot be optimal that I am doing this, even after a couple of snow days and a weekend I am still not entirely caught up with my marking and report writing etc.
Hats off to you that you are leaving for new pastures, and I hope you find what you are seeking and that it nurtures you! I might be following in your footsteps soon enough but that's another story for another 2am comment or post :-)
Looking forward to talking Sociology with you at some point. All the best, Paul.
Hi Paul - thanks for the kind comment! Glad you like the other blog/ resources.
Sociology is a great subject yr right there.
Still in the process of figuring out what to use this place for tbh. Nice to meet another 'real' person!
Hope it thaws soon,
Karl.
Interesting opinions on snow day, I totally agree with you.
In Romania in order to have a snow days you need this amount of snow, and at least -10 degrees Celsius.
This is a picture from Monday, it snowd every day since then and the depth of the snow (today) is around 60 cm.
This is the 5 consecutive snow day here.
Hy I know i'm going to be offtopic but if you are interested i've write my introduction post. I wish you a nice day.
I'm actually surprised - I was under the impression mainland Europe just 'got on with it' whatever the weather!
In general we don't mind the snow, but we had a 3 day blizzard IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!
yes the typical dusting of snow and public transport grinds to a halt and schools close their doors. We have around 6cm, but main roads clear. I don't drive at all when there is snow on the ground though as I get severe anxiety about doing so (I got caught in a blizzard once on the motorway and couldn't see where the side of the road started and ended), but I don't need to go anywhere. Enjoy your day off and recharge those batteries
Why thank you,
I certainly will!
I can imagine! I'm just glad I'm indoors. The only trip out I'll be making out is on foot, to the local!
I find that what triggers a snow day varies wildly depending on where you live. In some places a few inches of snow are enough to have everyone in a panic while in other places you might need a foot of snow.
I do feel like since the time I was in school the standard for what was bad enough weather for a snow day has dropped dramatically. It had to be below -30 C for our rural buses not to run. Which happened only once or twice a year usually. I don't remember ever missing a school day just because of the quantity of snow.
Lately though I have been hearing about more school closures due to weather that in my opinion isn't that bad. Like you mentioned there is a lot more concern for people's health or maybe it's just the liability concern if something were to happen.