Today is the 15th snow day in my school system. It is only mid January so it isn't looking good for the rest of the winter. Last year we missed a total of 25 days and I was hoping this year would be different. Of the last six weeks (including Christmas break) we've been in school for five days. It looks like it is going to warm up this weekend so I'm hoping we'll be back in school on Monday.
All of the extra time has given me a chance to think. There has to be a better way than to miss a month's worth of instructional days, causing students to get further and further behind just before state testing. I stumbled across the concept of e-days. Some school systems are looking into the possibility of having students complete assignments online when they can't get to school because of weather.
In this technology age the concept should be a no-brainer. So much can be accomplished via the Internet. Teachers can post their lessons online complete with text, audio, video, and even quizzes. However, the problem is that not everyone has Internet access. At my school about 75% of our students are on free/reduced lunch. A large portion of our student body doesn't have Internet at home. So, what do we do about those students who can't complete online assignments at home?
So then I started thinking about what could be done with cell phones. And I'm still thinking.
There has to be a better way.
