A snowstorm -- another one -- had canceled classes in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in northern New Jersey, but educators and students wouldn't be taking a day off. Before the snow fell, even before the official school cancellation call, teachers were prepped, parents were warned and students had received enough assignments to fill a snow day.
6 comments:
When I was a kid, I used to love and look forward to snow days as if they were Christmas or Birthdays. Now that I am older and can understand why snow days can cause concerns, I think this new technology and use of resources is brilliant, and I hope this New Jersey school's actions cause a trend. It is amazing to see that the technology we have today can even come close to allowing teachers to communicate with their students without actually being in the same room. While I admire this school's efforts, I do think we need to be careful about overusing technology in aspects of our lives. For example, I still think superintendents should not take the decision or canceling school lightly. While the use of technology can substitute a normal school day in emergencies, I do not think policies should become more lenient. Even if the school is able to provide students with laptops, I do not believe the same level of learning can be achieved without in-person communication, especially for students who may have special needs.
While I am not one for working on snow days (I've always looked forward to them), I know the dangers of missing one full day of classes. For kids like me, we fall behind and are too preoccupied with what's happening in the moment to catch up. Therefore I think this would be beneficial for everyone involved, even the kids like me who want to do nothing on snow days. The fact of the matter is, we are a technological generation. It's safe to assume (at least in my opinion) that the next generation will be just as technologically advanced, if not more so. Why not put that technology to academic use? While face-to-face communication is vital for picking up social skills, tone, and understanding, answering digitally can give some kids the confidence boost they need. I would say a lot more things if I was protected by a computer screen. Then again, that's something about myself I need to work on. Still, if it's only on snow days, I don't think that would hurt the kids too much. After all, it's much better to be inside your home learning in winter than at school during the summer.
As much as I had loved getting snow days when we would get too many I would lose days off in the warm weather when I really wanted to get the day off. This new technology will help this not be a problem anymore. It is a great way to keep people safe and inside on the days with bad weather yet still getting to do class work and not falling behind in the schedule. Will this technology be available on an everyday basis, like if a student stays home sick can he or she follow along with the class from their bed. If so this may end up having a negative effect that causes more and more kids to stay home because they can. I still think the less snow days the better because a student will get more attention from a teacher when they are one on one in person as compared to messaging through a computer.
California! I've never had a snow day before and probably won't ever have one because I can't see the crazy people that run CMU canceling class because of some silly snow issue.. But I will still take a stand on this article. I believe that it indeed is a good idea to have classes go on, even at home, missing a full day of school can be pretty detrimental to the student and mess up things later on down the road. Coming from someone who used to get out of school anyway I could, once I got to high school I realized that was not going to be the smartest option. School is important, and attending classes is even more important, even if they are at home.
This is absolutely ridiculous. I can understand using this program for areas plagued with snowfall that cancels school for extended periods of time. But for one snow day? Give the kids a break! There is no substitution for going to school and learning in the classroom. So whats the point? If students miss a few days throughout the year due to snow then so be it. I always thought it was odd that every single school day that our district canceled was added to the end of the year. Why? Because we always did nothing in those last days anyways and I suspect must schools run that way. Okay, so maybe in high school there were finals that week but the week before we always screwed around because teachers had run out of material and there was no reason to just get the finals over with and start summer. In the college set up a day missed does put everyone behind. However, in grade school I refuse to believe this is true with countless days spent on doing unnecessary activities or even students getting a free day because the teacher was having a personal issue they were forced to address during the period.
My town was one that did not frequently cancel for snow when I was in high school. Even when every other town would, I faced many disappointing days of having school despite the snow. Snow days did come with a cost- we had days added on to the end of the year for every snow day, but I always felt like it was worth it, because a few days off your summer doesn't make a huge difference, but having a surprise break was always really nice. I don't think I really see the value in the online school day as a replacement for a day of school. For one thing, sometimes in really bad snow storms, I've lost power and if that happens I don't have access to internet. There are a lot of issues that can arise when depending on technology. I also think a day of online learning is not as valuable as an extra day in the classroom. Plus, I think too heavily integrating the idea that work can be done anytime and any place is setting up bad habits for the future. Students need to get in the habit of separating work from home to some extent. Otherwise, we don't learn how to take breaks from things.
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