Snow days, anyone?

My calendar is so messed up!  We’ll never get through this unit on the Civil War!  How am I going to get my kids ready to pass ISTEP? 

Over the past few weeks of snow days and weather delays, teachers have been moaning about how to cover their curriculum.   Facebook posts, text messages, and the few hallway conversations we have had revolve mostly around whether we will be in school tomorrow, how to cover material in a 30-minute class period…. and what tasty recipes someone found while at home surfing Pinterest.

Even administrators are wringing their hands, mostly because we are missing days that prepare students for the state tests looming ever near.

A few schools in Indiana have been permitted to make up their missed days through a pilot e-learning program, where students work at home if school has been cancelled.  I’m trying to head in that direction, although my school is not on the pilot program list.  My classes that use My Big Campus and Google Sites are allowing students with Internet access to keep working, if they are so inclined.  In class, they use the school laptops; at home they use their own devices. 

And e-learning certainly has advantages. 

Students have access to supporting videos and resource material that can be individually viewed as many times as needed for scaffolding, or ignored if they aren’t needed.  Groups can work together remotely in discussions that also support learning; students can work when they are able and interested- even at 2 AM.  Teachers can provide feedback from home, and make adjustments or new assignments as needed.

In many ways, the winter weather has given us a chance to jump into the flipped classroom concept informally.   We can see what works, and what doesn’t, and why.

With the kind of engagement that e-learning offers, I’m thinking that filling those extra days in June won’t be such a challenge.