Tuesday, February 4, 2014

"Those Teachers Just Want a Day Off!": Are Teachers Ever "Off"?


"Those teachers just want a day off!"


She didn't know that I was a teacher.She laughed it off when my husband and I told her. "Well, I guess I better 
watch what I say about teachers then, huh?"

Too late.

My hubby and I found ourselves in the emergency room before school closings were announced. (He's good now). The nurse did not know whether schools were closed. The above was her response after I informed her that her son's school was closed.

Of course, I had to school her. :)

1. It's not the teachers who decide to close schools due to the weather.

2. The schools are closed for the safety of your child.

3.  Multiple snow days become unbearable for us because our students are missing work, we start thinking about all the days we have to make up.


Her response was so typical of the perception of teachers. How could she possibly think that teachers have the power to say whether schools are open or closed? Why did she naturally jump to the conclusion that this is what teachers wanted, another day out of school?

And you know what? I bet there were many teachers doing what I was doing. I mean besides sleeping late. :) 

I planned lessons, posted assignments online, prepared my Digital Learning Day, reached out to my tweecher peeps, set up Mystery Skype dates, posted a project on Donors Choose, found videos and resources that correlate with Common Core. (Thank you Power My Learning, Share My Lesson, and WatchKnowLearn,

And while you may not have been doing exactly what I was doing, most teachers were probably doing something related to school, at some part of the day. 


I'm not going to lie, I love a Snow Day or two. But whether I'm here or there, I'm rarely ever "off.".





3 comments:

  1. Thank you! I have a snow day and have already posted assignments and announcements for my students to my online class and blog. :) Thanks for sharing this perspective!

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  2. I'm a teacher who hates snow days because they throw off our schedule. They are also a reminder of how most people live too far from work, which exacerbates traffic, energy waste and pollution.

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  3. When summer hits and you have to make up snow days, it's the worst. Kids are tired, nobody pays attention, it's too hot, etc. It's not like teachers really get a day "off" on snow days. They have to make up for that time!

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