Cold days

The temperatures have dropped DRASTICALLY!  As a result, we have had two school days called.  First of all, call me shocked!  My district never calls school.  We've had 2 school delays since I started 3 years ago, and never a school day called.  Now, we've had two in a row!  Secondly, how much sense does it make for our superintendent to call our schools closed but "recommend" that teachers show up for a workday?  So, since we were instructed to go in, we did... at least teachers at my school did.  Apparently almost no other schools called teachers in AND my principal spent the day putting together a dirt bike in our cafeteria with our gym teacher.  While teachers were upstairs working on... well, work... he was downstairs playing.  Our decision... leave at 10:30.  
I love teacher workdays.  I really do.  They can be so productive!  BUT, usually I know about these workdays in advance, so I can create a plan.  When I have a plan, I can work for hours in my classroom.  But, this is how my teacher workday happened today.  I was just getting out of the shower when my coworker called (waking the hubby) to tell me school was closed today.  Well, by that point I'm wide awake, so I decided to curl up with my blanket on my favorite IKEA chair in our loft, and continued reading Atlas Shrugged.  About 45 minutes later, I get another call saying that the principal left a message on her voicemail saying that it's recommended teachers come in for a workday.  Lounging in my chair was not the best place for me to attempt to get my "work mode" brain going.  So, I figured if I got my grades done, that would be good.  Well... I went into school, and that's all I got done.  I couldn't think of anything else to work on.  My brain was on "school closed" day.
I will say, however, I fully support calling Cold Days.  There's is only a certain point that we can expect students to stand outside waiting for a bus or to walk to school, especially if the kids are in a low socio-economic status and can't afford jackets, etc.  Back home, when I was growing up, we expected to walk to school in the negatives, but here, that's not the usual weather.  Maybe this will mean both teachers and students will be fully rested for the rest of the week... ah, cozy at home...


"If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it."
-Herodotus