Ask a teacher anywhere I teach, and they’ll tell you that Snow Days are not created equal.
An unexpected day off, with sparkling snow and the chance to catch up with your family and maybe some grading or planning? Delightful.
Six days in a row, unable to do the job you love to do, unable to prepare your students, dig into the music, and have forward momentum? Decidedly not delightful.
I mention this because, A, I have recent firsthand experience in this; but, and more importantly, B, because while this situation might be extreme, I think that we have an unrealistic expectation that days are basically interchangeable, and they aren’t.
We can’t expect Snow Day #6 to feel like Snow Day #1, and we can’t be surprised if a random Wednesday feels completely different from a week before or even a day before.
Days are not created equal, and we can’t treat them that way. Let that be the lesson we take away from the Polar Vortex Snowpocalypse of 2019.