Virtual Snow Days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that MCPS has joined other districts in possibly holding virtual snow days, will you be requiring your children to attend? Classes won't start until at least 11am and be live for about 4.5 hours. I'm a former teacher and I'm leaning towards not having my kids join. By 11 they will already be in full snow day mode and I'm not dragging them inside to hop on a Chromebook. Just curious what others are thinking.

Definitely will make them attend, but my kids thrived in virtual because I was involved and didn't ignore them.

I’d love to hear how you could be involved while working out of the house every day like me and my husband had to. Maybe I can take some pointers for the next pandemic.

I found if I started work early, and my wife started late; we could provide full coverage with minimal inconvenience.

Neither my husband or I have that flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Even when you have a class structured from the beginning to be virtual, with both teachers and students that have opted in to it, it still leads to substantially worse educational outcomes. Just look at the recent data on Virtual Academy.

But this isn't that. Not even close. You have teachers that expected to teach in-person being forced to come up with a new lesson plan for a completely new format, all at the last minute. You have students that aren't interested in virtual, and may not even have the technology or resources at home to participate. And, of course, you have the fact that half the class is going to be absent, so the teachers aren't going to do anything critical that day anyway.

There's going to be near-zero value to virtual snow days, regardless of whether they are done synchronously or asynchronously.

Please stop. It’s not that deep. If you actually read the thread, the “data analysis” was written by a mentally-ill parent who has an ax to grind. If you feel you can become a better teacher, well then you are free to teach your kids on those days. This is the future. This tech is available and it will only get better with time. Anyway, with climate change it’s doubtful we will have any serious snow issues in this area.

I was referring to MCPS's own study of the efficacy of VA, not the parent's take on it. And it didn't look good.

Also, the "tech" and resources aren't always available. My kids have never brought home Chromebooks, and don't know how to use them except for a few games they play on them. And I wouldn't be much help given I've never even seen the MCPS chromebooks.

Data for in person isn’t that great either. Many students in the VA are outliners who need extra support so the data most likely tracks - especially since many are not testing due the inflexibility of testing only in person and the consequence of losing instructional days at the VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Even when you have a class structured from the beginning to be virtual, with both teachers and students that have opted in to it, it still leads to substantially worse educational outcomes. Just look at the recent data on Virtual Academy.

But this isn't that. Not even close. You have teachers that expected to teach in-person being forced to come up with a new lesson plan for a completely new format, all at the last minute. You have students that aren't interested in virtual, and may not even have the technology or resources at home to participate. And, of course, you have the fact that half the class is going to be absent, so the teachers aren't going to do anything critical that day anyway.

There's going to be near-zero value to virtual snow days, regardless of whether they are done synchronously or asynchronously.

Please stop. It’s not that deep. If you actually read the thread, the “data analysis” was written by a mentally-ill parent who has an ax to grind. If you feel you can become a better teacher, well then you are free to teach your kids on those days. This is the future. This tech is available and it will only get better with time. Anyway, with climate change it’s doubtful we will have any serious snow issues in this area.

I was referring to MCPS's own study of the efficacy of VA, not the parent's take on it. And it didn't look good.

Also, the "tech" and resources aren't always available. My kids have never brought home Chromebooks, and don't know how to use them except for a few games they play on them. And I wouldn't be much help given I've never even seen the MCPS chromebooks.

Data for in person isn’t that great either. Many students in the VA are outliners who need extra support so the data most likely tracks - especially since many are not testing due the inflexibility of testing only in person and the consequence of losing instructional days at the VA.

That suggests that academic performance is likely even lower than the test results showed, given there's going to be a natural inclination for the higher-performers to participate in testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

Right. Maybe up to three days, since we know they're never going to try synchronous online classes. So three days when nothing productive is done.

That's fine. Based on the reports I got from my kids, they mostly watched movies the week before christmas. You can lose 3 days without severe consequences.

But that's not much of an argument for logging into worthless virtual lessons on snow days. Quite the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that MCPS has joined other districts in possibly holding virtual snow days, will you be requiring your children to attend? Classes won't start until at least 11am and be live for about 4.5 hours. I'm a former teacher and I'm leaning towards not having my kids join. By 11 they will already be in full snow day mode and I'm not dragging them inside to hop on a Chromebook. Just curious what others are thinking.

Definitely will make them attend, but my kids thrived in virtual because I was involved and didn't ignore them.

I’d love to hear how you could be involved while working out of the house every day like me and my husband had to. Maybe I can take some pointers for the next pandemic.

You hire help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Even when you have a class structured from the beginning to be virtual, with both teachers and students that have opted in to it, it still leads to substantially worse educational outcomes. Just look at the recent data on Virtual Academy.

But this isn't that. Not even close. You have teachers that expected to teach in-person being forced to come up with a new lesson plan for a completely new format, all at the last minute. You have students that aren't interested in virtual, and may not even have the technology or resources at home to participate. And, of course, you have the fact that half the class is going to be absent, so the teachers aren't going to do anything critical that day anyway.

There's going to be near-zero value to virtual snow days, regardless of whether they are done synchronously or asynchronously.

Please stop. It’s not that deep. If you actually read the thread, the “data analysis” was written by a mentally-ill parent who has an ax to grind. If you feel you can become a better teacher, well then you are free to teach your kids on those days. This is the future. This tech is available and it will only get better with time. Anyway, with climate change it’s doubtful we will have any serious snow issues in this area.

I was referring to MCPS's own study of the efficacy of VA, not the parent's take on it. And it didn't look good.

Also, the "tech" and resources aren't always available. My kids have never brought home Chromebooks, and don't know how to use them except for a few games they play on them. And I wouldn't be much help given I've never even seen the MCPS chromebooks.

Data for in person isn’t that great either. Many students in the VA are outliners who need extra support so the data most likely tracks - especially since many are not testing due the inflexibility of testing only in person and the consequence of losing instructional days at the VA.

That suggests that academic performance is likely even lower than the test results showed, given there's going to be a natural inclination for the higher-performers to participate in testing.

Wrong. My kids are high scoring and we opted out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

Right. Maybe up to three days, since we know they're never going to try synchronous online classes. So three days when nothing productive is done.

That's fine. Based on the reports I got from my kids, they mostly watched movies the week before christmas. You can lose 3 days without severe consequences.

But that's not much of an argument for logging into worthless virtual lessons on snow days. Quite the opposite.

Then don’t complain. If you want your kids to skip instruction because it inconveniences them, then you alone are creating that precedent. Do you know why teachers show movies the last day or so? Because so many of you allow your kids to skip those days. How can instruction continue if traveling is more important? I can 100% guarantee that many teachers, especially those in high school, would continue, even part of the period, if they could. Education is important in my family. We chose to enroll in public school. So you bet I will ensure my child shows up. Not argue because my teenager told me otherwise. Talk about first world problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Even when you have a class structured from the beginning to be virtual, with both teachers and students that have opted in to it, it still leads to substantially worse educational outcomes. Just look at the recent data on Virtual Academy.

But this isn't that. Not even close. You have teachers that expected to teach in-person being forced to come up with a new lesson plan for a completely new format, all at the last minute. You have students that aren't interested in virtual, and may not even have the technology or resources at home to participate. And, of course, you have the fact that half the class is going to be absent, so the teachers aren't going to do anything critical that day anyway.

There's going to be near-zero value to virtual snow days, regardless of whether they are done synchronously or asynchronously.

Please stop. It’s not that deep. If you actually read the thread, the “data analysis” was written by a mentally-ill parent who has an ax to grind. If you feel you can become a better teacher, well then you are free to teach your kids on those days. This is the future. This tech is available and it will only get better with time. Anyway, with climate change it’s doubtful we will have any serious snow issues in this area.

I was referring to MCPS's own study of the efficacy of VA, not the parent's take on it. And it didn't look good.

Also, the "tech" and resources aren't always available. My kids have never brought home Chromebooks, and don't know how to use them except for a few games they play on them. And I wouldn't be much help given I've never even seen the MCPS chromebooks.

Data for in person isn’t that great either. Many students in the VA are outliners who need extra support so the data most likely tracks - especially since many are not testing due the inflexibility of testing only in person and the consequence of losing instructional days at the VA.

That suggests that academic performance is likely even lower than the test results showed, given there's going to be a natural inclination for the higher-performers to participate in testing.

Wrong. My kids are high scoring and we opted out.

So you're saying they didn't pick up their analytical traits from you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

Right. Maybe up to three days, since we know they're never going to try synchronous online classes. So three days when nothing productive is done.

That's fine. Based on the reports I got from my kids, they mostly watched movies the week before christmas. You can lose 3 days without severe consequences.

But that's not much of an argument for logging into worthless virtual lessons on snow days. Quite the opposite.

Then don’t complain. If you want your kids to skip instruction because it inconveniences them, then you alone are creating that precedent. Do you know why teachers show movies the last day or so? Because so many of you allow your kids to skip those days. How can instruction continue if traveling is more important? I can 100% guarantee that many teachers, especially those in high school, would continue, even part of the period, if they could. Education is important in my family. We chose to enroll in public school. So you bet I will ensure my child shows up. Not argue because my teenager told me otherwise. Talk about first world problems.

Deal. They're going to skip them, just like 75% of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

Right. Maybe up to three days, since we know they're never going to try synchronous online classes. So three days when nothing productive is done.

That's fine. Based on the reports I got from my kids, they mostly watched movies the week before christmas. You can lose 3 days without severe consequences.

But that's not much of an argument for logging into worthless virtual lessons on snow days. Quite the opposite.

Then don’t complain. If you want your kids to skip instruction because it inconveniences them, then you alone are creating that precedent. Do you know why teachers show movies the last day or so? Because so many of you allow your kids to skip those days. How can instruction continue if traveling is more important? I can 100% guarantee that many teachers, especially those in high school, would continue, even part of the period, if they could. Education is important in my family. We chose to enroll in public school. So you bet I will ensure my child shows up. Not argue because my teenager told me otherwise. Talk about first world problems.

Deal. They're going to skip them, just like 75% of the class.

Ok. Then deal with movies and virtual instruction. Idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Even when you have a class structured from the beginning to be virtual, with both teachers and students that have opted in to it, it still leads to substantially worse educational outcomes. Just look at the recent data on Virtual Academy.

But this isn't that. Not even close. You have teachers that expected to teach in-person being forced to come up with a new lesson plan for a completely new format, all at the last minute. You have students that aren't interested in virtual, and may not even have the technology or resources at home to participate. And, of course, you have the fact that half the class is going to be absent, so the teachers aren't going to do anything critical that day anyway.

There's going to be near-zero value to virtual snow days, regardless of whether they are done synchronously or asynchronously.

Please stop. It’s not that deep. If you actually read the thread, the “data analysis” was written by a mentally-ill parent who has an ax to grind. If you feel you can become a better teacher, well then you are free to teach your kids on those days. This is the future. This tech is available and it will only get better with time. Anyway, with climate change it’s doubtful we will have any serious snow issues in this area.

I was referring to MCPS's own study of the efficacy of VA, not the parent's take on it. And it didn't look good.

Also, the "tech" and resources aren't always available. My kids have never brought home Chromebooks, and don't know how to use them except for a few games they play on them. And I wouldn't be much help given I've never even seen the MCPS chromebooks.

Data for in person isn’t that great either. Many students in the VA are outliners who need extra support so the data most likely tracks - especially since many are not testing due the inflexibility of testing only in person and the consequence of losing instructional days at the VA.

That suggests that academic performance is likely even lower than the test results showed, given there's going to be a natural inclination for the higher-performers to participate in testing.

Wrong. My kids are high scoring and we opted out.

So you're saying they didn't pick up their analytical traits from you?

Gosh. I really hope you aren’t this obtuse in real life. Testing is not the end all be all to determine success. But guess who was still receiving instruction?? I bet they didn’t skip those days!

Look if you don’t like virtual because you or your DC can’t handle it that’s ok. The rest of us are moving on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

Given many kids did not attend classes and MCPS dumbed down the classes many kids probably did if they didn't have active and involved parents who made sure they got what they needed. But, that was the case even before covid/virtual. The issue isn't virtual. Its the curriculum, teaching style, parents, and kids behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

Right. Maybe up to three days, since we know they're never going to try synchronous online classes. So three days when nothing productive is done.

That's fine. Based on the reports I got from my kids, they mostly watched movies the week before christmas. You can lose 3 days without severe consequences.

But that's not much of an argument for logging into worthless virtual lessons on snow days. Quite the opposite.

Then don’t complain. If you want your kids to skip instruction because it inconveniences them, then you alone are creating that precedent. Do you know why teachers show movies the last day or so? Because so many of you allow your kids to skip those days. How can instruction continue if traveling is more important? I can 100% guarantee that many teachers, especially those in high school, would continue, even part of the period, if they could. Education is important in my family. We chose to enroll in public school. So you bet I will ensure my child shows up. Not argue because my teenager told me otherwise. Talk about first world problems.

These kids weren't successful partly because of the parents. The parents didn't care if they attended school or did the work. They set up their kids to fail.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing most of the posters in this thread have younger kids? We haven't had many snow days in the past few years. I'm guessing you think snow days were like Snowmaggedon.

I have two high schoolers (12th and 10th grade). 10 years ago when they were in elementary school, the weather was different. It wasn't unheard of to have many 2 hour delays in December (we seemed to get a lot more icy rain back then) and actual snow days.

Yes, we had some actual snow on those snow days. Snow the kids could play in. But many other days, was just brown and muddy out.

If we have a snow day and real snow, sure - I"ll give my kids the day off. But if we have a snow day and one of those brown, icy, slushy days? Sleep in but then hit the books.

It's not just the temptation of snow-- it's the lack of value from virtual. Even adults can't stay engaged over zoom for hours at a time. And given that half+ of the class is going to be out anyway, they're not going to be doing anything useful that day anyway.

Of course there is a value in education regardless of the format. A good teacher can teach anywhere. You are the problem.

Studies show that is not the case. Students all over America who went virtual lost a lot of ground compared to children who were in school. If it was just the odd bad teacher, it wouldn't be the case.

We are talking about the possibility of one or two days. How did my grandparents survive listening to the radio all those years? My goodness. Either you adapt to the changing world or you end up on the sidelines while those who can, do.

Right. Maybe up to three days, since we know they're never going to try synchronous online classes. So three days when nothing productive is done.

That's fine. Based on the reports I got from my kids, they mostly watched movies the week before christmas. You can lose 3 days without severe consequences.

But that's not much of an argument for logging into worthless virtual lessons on snow days. Quite the opposite.

Then don’t complain. If you want your kids to skip instruction because it inconveniences them, then you alone are creating that precedent. Do you know why teachers show movies the last day or so? Because so many of you allow your kids to skip those days. How can instruction continue if traveling is more important? I can 100% guarantee that many teachers, especially those in high school, would continue, even part of the period, if they could. Education is important in my family. We chose to enroll in public school. So you bet I will ensure my child shows up. Not argue because my teenager told me otherwise. Talk about first world problems.

These kids weren't successful partly because of the parents. The parents didn't care if they attended school or did the work. They set up their kids to fail.

Exactly.