unbelievable

the last few days have been full of excitement and anticipation of SNOW. anyone with kids knows this is maximized by their hopes and dreams of missing school, building a snowman, and eating snowcream.

of course, no one hopes for snow days more than teachers. i still don't know why, because it always creates madness when we return. too much to cover and not enough time to get it done. but, we pray, perhaps harder than the kids.

so, as usual, i stayed up late last night watching the television, hoping with every blink that the ticker at the bottom of the screen will say MCS is closed. chris even checked the weather on the internet. all signs point to 1-2 inches of snow, which was actually a downgrade from the previous forecast. we were still sure the city would be shut down. after all, this is memphis.

5 am. alarm goes off. i peek through the blinds to see the accumulation. not much to speak of. i run to the tv to get the verdict. shelby county schools closed. my heart was pounding. and then...i see it...memphis city schools OPEN. i flipped to every channel, hoping it was a mistake. maybe they were still in session deciding, and media was simply reporting open since nothing had been called in. but NO, it was real. most all other schools in the memphis area were closed. even harding, where taegan and cooper go to school, follow the shelby county policy. damn! my whole family gets to sleep in. me...heading for the shower.

at this point, after taking a shower and getting ready for work, they'd better not cancel. everyone knows a true snow day allows you sleep in, or at least get back in your warm bed. i was going to be ticked if i had done all of that for nothing. my school starts at 7:15 so i was driving to school around 6:30 through the blowing snow still not believing we were basically the only school system open.

apparently, half of our student body didn't know that we are known as memphis city, not shelby county. as a teacher, what do you do? go on with your plans and follow the curriculum, or review (babysit) since only 11 students are in your class today. the day seems wasted. plus students and teachers are grumpy and bitter that they aren't at home.

as if the morning decision wasn't disheartening enough, MCS throws another curve ball. schools are closing 1 hour early. this is the most dreaded and chaotic event that can occur. teachers have to sit and call every parent in a classroom full of wound up children. i dialed 2-3 numbers per family. i left countless messages. i stumbled my way through a terrible spanish version of the announcement. my kids kept giggling at me.

does MCS understand any of this? have any of the district people ever taught in a classroom? what's 1 hour? it was frickin' sunny and dry outside. this didn't make ANY sense. even the kids were confused.

look...i'm all for being a leader, not a follower, but WHY must MCS's decision always go against the grain?