When I was in high school, I saw snow days as a blessing. I got to sleep in and catch up on homework that I most likely didn't finish (procrastination at its finest). As an upcoming teacher, I'm finding that snow days can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.
Blessings:
More time for planning, polishing lessons for the rest of the week
Starting to plan lessons for the next week
Running errands and gathering supplies that I may have otherwise had to stop before heading into school to get
Curse:
Entire week is thrown off
Jam packed week already turns into an even more jam packed week when you lose not just one but TWO days to snow/ice
Materials that you may have needed on Monday night are now stuck at school until Wednesday morning
The biggest curse:
Strawberry sale orders were due by students on Friday, February 8. I have only received 4 or 5 order forms. We handed out way more than 4 or 5 order forms to members. Even bigger problem- orders are due today, we are not in school, all of the order forms and information are at school in my desk drawer.
Take advantage of snow days!
This weekend we begin our festivities for National FFA Week with a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning followed by an Alumni Basket BINGO event Sunday afternoon.
If you can begin planning for your week ahead, especially when it is National FFA Week and the schedule will be hectic, take advantage of your snow days to plan and prepare.
Questions that I have:
1) How do I make up for 2 lost days of instruction? Do I cut one of my lessons and try to merge the two into one day so that I'm only one day behind instead of two?
2) What are some pro-tips on fundraisers that you have?
3) How do you keep your sanity through National FFA Week without getting overwhelmed?
Hi Kayla, I am going to give you the same advice that I gave another of your cohort members who also had questions about how to make up for days lost to the weather. I always tried to use a traffic light system when determining how to teach material from lost days: green: things that had to be taught, yellow: things that would be nice to know, but could serve as fun activities for independent study/extra credit, red: stuff that could be skipped. I mark the parts of my lesson plans with these colors, and then rework them to include as much of the green things as I could, and also the yellow if time allowed.
ReplyDeleteAs for fundraisers, my students and I always tried to choose those that would manageable to carry out, realistic to make a profit from, and were a good fit for school and community support. There are many fundraising options out there, but choosing those that are feasible and profitable are key for success. I also suggest talking to your Alumni/support group to get potential fundraising ideas since many of them have great connections and can help you design fundraisers that will be a good fit.
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