I’m a big fan of snow days. Of course I believe that my students deserve a quality education, but I’m in a district that builds in lots of extra time to accommodate for snow days, so I want to use them. Also, snow days are the only way that I know of for a district to build morale for faculty and staff and not spend any money.
Even former and retired teachers can’t kick the feeling of excitement when they see posts from fellow teachers on social media about a day off or see the district they worked for flash across the bottom of the news station followed by the beloved word: closed.
Here are 8 signs that you are a teacher on a snow day:
1.Pre-snow day: In anticipation of a possible delay or cancellation, you stay up late doing whatever teachers do in their mysterious personal lives. In other words, you are extremely cranky if school is on time the following morning. You feel lied to and betrayed by the over zealous local weatherman and/or your iPhone weather app if you do not get any time off .
2. You are most excited about getting to drink your coffee or tea out of an actual mug that has a handle instead of a travel mug made out of titanium (or whatever rocket-like substance travel mugs are made out of now). You are also excited about having at least a 2nd cup of said beverage because…see #3.
3. You are able to pee anytime you like. This is an extreme luxury. Enough said.
4. You randomly look at the clock throughout the day and have a little sweet moment when you smile to yourself and think about what you would be doing at school at that exact moment. This brings you immense joy.
5. You develop snow day amnesia and forget how little you get paid compared to your college classmates who climbed the corporate ladder and have to work on snow days. This wears off while grading the next set of essays.
6. You feel guilty about how excited you are when you think about all the people who really have to be on the roads for their jobs. But then you drink your coffee slowly, pee at will, and the guilt subsides.
7. When 3 o’clock rolls around you wonder how in the world you are able to work 5 days a week and get anything else done.
8. Once the snow begins to melt, you feel entitled to a 2-hour delay on the day of your return. And then a 1-hour delay for the following day. It is probably for the best for all concerned if we just ease back into things. This should also apply to all holidays and weekends.
Post-snow day teachers are rested and recharged. Lots of us work on our “day off” grading, planning, and prepping for the post-snow days to come. We love our jobs, so don’t judge us when we love this tiny perk for teachers.
Okay teachers, what would you add to this list?
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As a retired teacher, I do get that little thrill when I see the scrolling “Closed” at the bottom of the tv screen.
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