There are different opinions as to what constitutes as a snow day. Regardless of your opinion, snow days have a negative impact on the students, the school, and the teachers. Being that schools must have a minimum of 180 school days per school year, snow days must be made up in breaks, holidays, or at the end of the year. Snow days set back lessons and force the school district to decide which day the students must make up the snow day on; but there might be a solution. E-learning is a way to solve this issue that schools all around the district are using to minimize the trouble snow days cause. E-learning allows students and teachers to avoid the dangerous road conditions while still being able to attend their classes for the day.
“There are multiple school districts throughout the State that utilize an e-Learning day to offset the cancellation of school due to snow or other weather related factors. However, there are guidelines set forth from the Indiana Department of Education on how to properly utilize and count an E-Learning day as an approved instructional day,” said Principal Orkis.
Snow days are an inconvenience that can simply be avoided with E-learning days. For students who ride the bus, they depend on someone else to be on time.
“It can be really annoying because I have to wait outside in the snow a bit longer than usual because of snowy roads. And sometimes few buses can be late to the bus stops and to school,” said junior Heleen Ritz.
It’s not just the students who suffer when there are snow days. Teachers, especially the ones who don’t live locally, suffer greatly.
“The largest impact snow days have on my schedule are on the planning of lessons. Teachers plan lessons in weekly units during the summer, so we have a general idea of where we want students to be and the assessments we will use to monitor their growth. With so few days in a year, snow says can disrupt what is planned. At times, it may change the order or topic; we learn to adjust. I believe E-learning days could be a great way to limit these learning disruptions. With the addition of new technology this year, teachers could create lessons that ask students to communicate ideas with their teachers and classmates live during their specific class times regardless of their location that day,” said music teacher Aaron Alexander.
The impact snow days have on schools, teachers, and students can be utterly avoided with E-learning days. Schools can avoid a makeup day, students don’t get behind on their work, and teachers can stay on their planned lessons. E-learning days are a positive way to minimize the affect snow days have on schools.