Snow Days a Thing of the Past?
Thanks to the accessibility of technology and a new pilot program from the state, snow days free from school work may soon be a thing of the past. While the Philadelphia region has been mostly spared from Old Man Winter’s wrath, the winter of 2014 left its mark on schools — mostly in the form of interrupted assignments and school days that extended into spring and summer breaks.
To combat this, some area schools have started taking advantage of the state’s new program that allows them to use up to five days a year for flexible instruction. Flexible instruction means that nontraditional instructional methods can be used to create virtual classrooms where students can logon to a computer to access lessons if and when their schools are closed for bad weather.
Overall, the program has some obvious advantages. Flexible instruction days allows teachers to prepare their lessons in advance in order to continue the momentum they’ve built up in their classroom and to ensure that their students don’t fall too far behind. Likewise, students have the flexibility to complete assignments in their own time and way. Flexible instructional days also provide good preparation for college where more and more instructors are utilizing online learning systems to facilitate discussions and complete assignments. For both teachers and students, cyber instruction provides the opportunity to be more creative and interactive in their teaching and learning.
But students, at least those in the Philadelphia public schools, shouldn’t mourn the loss of work-free snow days just yet. The program is not without its challenges. Administrators and teachers need to ensure that all of their students have access to working computers in order to view and complete their assignments. There’s also the issue of how administrators and teachers prepare for the program to work across all grade levels and subject areas. What types of assignments are appropriate for a first grader to complete on their own? How do teachers handle subjects that seem to lend themselves to online instruction (history and English) as compared to math?
Gail Anderson, a math teacher at Christopher Dock High School in Lansdale said that the next snow day will be a cyber instruction day for them. To prepare, the school made sure that every student had an iPad and access to the Internet. Assignments are due at 4 p.m. and teachers are available to students via email throughout the day.
For her math lessons, Anderson said she plans on utilizing an app called “Show Me” that records her voice and uses a whiteboard for instruction. “It’s a great way to review material,” she said.
Anderson said the school plans on using cyber instruction on those days when school is cancelled but the weather is not too bad. For truly severe weather that disrupts power, students will have a traditional snow day. While the students and staff at Christopher Dock are waiting to see what the next snowfall will bring, Anderson sees cyber snow days as striking the right balance for teachers and students alike. “It’s good for the kids and good for the teachers,” she said.