PETITION TO BRING BACK SNOW DAYS

I wrote that post title in an absolute rage while waiting on the district to make the call as to whether last Wednesday would be virtual or a two-hour delay, or neither. I was so sure they were going to make it virutal, and it was pure pessimism, my old habit of thinking that just because I want something a certain way means it’s going to happen the opposite way. I was wrong, but that didn’t change the fact that I had just spent several hours tense throughout my whole body and on the verge of tears in anticipation of having to teach from my house again. For anyone who had to teach virtually for a year and a half during the pandemic, you know what I mean.

I was also entirely convinced that the district was going to get rid of our spring break. Back in the fall, a survey was sent out to the community to weigh in on what the academic calendar should look like next year. There were three options, only one of which included a full week of spring break. I was ranting to anyone who would listen about how this poll was fake, and the district was going to get rid of our spring break and claim the community voted for it. Then last week I was reading the Inquirer while waiting for first period to start and came across an article detailing the chosen calendar. My heart hammered as I scanned the tiny text for bad news. I couldn’t believe it—spring break is saved!! My pessimism was losing, -2. “I don’t have to quit!” I exclaimed to the teachers who stand in my corner of the hallway at the beginning of the day.

Later a student of mine was nearly in tears, telling me how she had a tour of a cosmetology school planned and her mom made her reschedule it. She was sure the school would think she wasn’t serious about attending and wouldn’t let her reschedule. I told her she was worked up over a problem that didn’t exist yet. She had absolutely no evidence they would feel that way. “I just fell into this trap,” I told her. “I got so upset over something that never happened! I could have saved myself a lot of grief.” She sniffed and shrugged, told me she’d let me know what happened. The next day she came running to my room to tell me they asked her to come in that morning, and she was accepted into the school while on the tour! Good news all around.

Anyway, the two-hour delay announcement was made, and I abandoned this blog post after writing the following short paragraph with steam coming out of my ears, though I’ll share it with you here because I do still believe it to be true:

Please sign in the comments if you agree that virtual days are the worst! It is such a disservice to the children to have us doing this pantomime of learning in such an invasive manner. I don't want my students in my house. I don't want to be in their houses. Virtual days are abhorrent and should cease to be a thing forever!!

Moral of the story is, don’t get yourself worked up over what might happen, because it might not. If it does, you can be mad then. (Which I will be, next time they call a virtual day. And I’ll be back to rage-post again.)