Once upon a time, not that long ago (pardon me the cheesy intro, but it's that kind of topic) there were snow days. Snow days existed so that students, teachers, and staff didn't have to venture out into a blizzard or major snowstorm to get to classes. However, snow days became a random winter treat to students (and teachers) .
Snow days gathered their own folklore. Everyone believed that their school had fewer snow days than any of the surrounding schools. Winter weather was counted in number of snow days.
COVID, it seems, has killed the snow day.
The same technologies that have brought us synchronous distance learning (i.e. teaching/learning in a classroom remotely using Zoom or other conferencing software) have taken away our snow days. Why? Because the teacher can teach at home, the students can learn at home, and nobody need venture out in the snow.
This morning, Maryville MO is in blizzard conditions. Only 4-5 inches of snow, but it's blowing pretty hard. And instead of a snow day, we were instructed to teach from home. And thus the snow day ends, a victim of technology and the perpetual need to be productive, which snow days gave us a welcome break from.
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