Winter? So over it!

Raise your hand if you have

a snow shovel on your porch

and a snow scraper in your car.

When I went to college in Utah,
I discovered the cool trick of using a
credit card/driver's license/student ID etc.
to scrape snow off of car windows....who knew?
Yep.  Common knowledge in these parts.
In fact, get this:
I had a frenemy in college
who (for my birthday one year)
gave me a snow scraper.
Very important to the gist of this story
is one small, teeny-tiny, minor detail....
I.didn't.own.a.car.
She did.
Oh no she didn't?!
Rude much?
I guess she wanted me
to stop using my student ID
and start using the proper tool to clean her windows.
Huh.

Raise your hand if during

the months of January and February

you actually look forward to the morning

in hopes of getting "that call" 

signifying you can go

back to sleep since it's a

SNOW DAY!
When I taught Pre-School in Colorado
I loved, loved, loved snow days.
Suiting up my two children (I only had the 2 oldest at the time)
and taking them outside to build snowmen
and ride on sleds was so much fun.
Snow days were a totally new experience for this Texas girl.
EXCEPT for the year that we lived in Dallas.
I was a junior in high school and it started to snow.
Well....in Texas if it snows even a teeny, tiny bit
(you would call it flurries, Angela, seriously)
EVERYTHING shuts down.
Most people don't own front wheel drive vehicles--
I didn't even know that they existed until I went to college
in Utah--and they just don't know how to drive in the snow.
So....Voilà!  Snow days with just a teeny tiny bit of snow
(maybe an inch at most).
 Raise your hand if you have little
pools of water, slush, and mud throughout
your room from students who forgot their shoes 
at home so they have to wear their snow boots all day.

Let me tell you about Colorado snow.
It's beautiful, and you're so high up close to the sun
that it melts almost immediately off
of the roads and side walks
(other than the areas that are shaded from the sun).
When I lived there, there really wasn't any slush,
just white snow. Of course we still had snow plow trucks
that would run through the streets,
and we still had to plow our side walks to be on the safe side....
but the sun did a lot of the work.
Amazing.
None of that gray, sludgy snow
that stays on for weeks, or months.
On the down side...
the sun in Colorado does horrors to your skin.
My friends used to laugh at me
as I went through bottle after bottle of moisturizers.
I would slather myself up constantly.
Oil of Olay was my friend.
When we moved to Florida,
I was relieved that I wouldn't have
to spend so much money on moisturizers anymore.
Another bonus of being so high up....
very few bugs.  No more Texas roaches.
You have to have experienced a flying Texas roach
(who can actually chase you) to really appreciate
the great relief I felt
when I discovered that Colorado has
no roaches.
What?!!!
Yup!  Woo-hoo!
All of a sudden the dry, weathered skin
isn't looking so bad!
Let's see....
Roaches or dry skin.....roaches or dry skin...hmmmm. 
I'm talking 2 inch long bugs
not including the length of the antenna,
AND they can seriously fly.
Not for long stretches (they're not birds),
but for long enough to completely freak you out.
It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor,
clean or neat, EVERYONE in Texas
has to deal with these little critters.
The exterminator is your friend.   

Raise your hand if your students'

feet have not graced your playground

in weeks.  WEEKS people!
That.Is.Absolutely.Frightening.
That's all I have to say about that! 

Let's do the math on this one.
Indoor recess for WEEKS with 22 children = 22 Children with severe cabin fever
22 Children with severe cabin fever =  1 teacher rocking in corner
I don't like that kind of math!



Here's a little something that might put a smile on your face!
Or maybe a grimace...
just stretch that grimace a little upward
(yes, I know that you now look like a pyschotic groundhog),
but pretend it's a smile, and throw this
into your snow activities for next year.

 The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats Story Map:

Here's a little more in depth version:

Different lines for different teachers.

How about a black and white version to save on ink?

Raise your hand if you can't

even SEE your playground because

it's covered in snow and ice.
Smile, Angela, Smile!
I've got something else for you!
 
A Snowy Day Organizers

Write 3 sentences:
A snowy day is...
A snowy day has...
A snowy day can...

A Snowy Day bubble maps:

Draw a picture of a snowy day and write 3 things about it.

Here's a version with The Snowy Day book title by Ezra Jack Keats:

The Snowy Day bubble maps:

Draw a picture of The Snowy Day and write 3 things about it.

If you have been "lucky" enough

to raise your hand for any or all

of these, I feel your pain.

My kids always like the part of the story
when Peter puts his hand in his pocket
and his snowball has disappeared.

Oh.

my.

golly.

I am so OVER winter!

Here's the view
outside my classroom
window in Illinois.

Sky is gray....all the time.
Ground is white...all the time.
Trees are white....all the time.

Roads are white...most of the time.

Roads are slippery....most of the time.

Roads are slushy...some of the time.

Roads are full of potholes...all winter long.

Good times....NOT!!

However, for some folks here
in the Land of Lincoln, winter is good.

If you're a snowplow driver,
then life is good.

If you're an 11 year old boy
who owns a dog that loves the snow,
then life is good.
How stinkin' cute is that?!

If you're an 8 year old girl
who loves to play in the snow,
then life is good.
Look at that grin!
Priceless!

....and that is all.

As in, we're done.
So over it.
Buh-bye winter.
It's not me, it's YOU!
Move on.
Take your Polar Vortex
and go back to the Arctic already.
Alaska called.  They want their weather back!
Sing it, sista!
He, he, he....
(I'm quoting Angela if you don't know!)
Actually, the FIRST thought
that went through my head was:
Ouch! I feel sorry for any of
YOUR ex-boyfriends in high school.
Angela doesn't play around!
When she's done......She's done! 

White Christmas.  Beautiful.
Check out the calendar!  It's February.
As in close to the MIDDLE of February 
and we just had our 5th snow day
this week.  Add that to our heat day in August
(because we don't have air conditioning in our schools)
I STILL cannot believe that...Unheard of!
In Florida no air conditioning = M.O.L.D. 
and we are now over our limit of Emergency days.

Yep, now we're into "Act of God" days.
I LOVE the way that sounds.  It just cracks me up.
No school tomorrow kids....it's an Act of God day.
Hilarious! Although it's not.  Sorry Angela.
More snow. So Sorry.
Here....this may help....just a little?

The Snowy Day: Peter Labels 

 Write in the words to label Peter from The Snowy Day.

Label Peter by cutting and gluing the words.

We have to write the State and ask to be
'excused' from school from here on out.
Ugh!  If that doesn't get approved,
we may just be watching the 4th of July
fireworks as a class field trip!
That's another hilarious image. But not. Sorry.
  Raise your hand if you're over it!
...and this time you're allowed
to not only raise your hand, 
but squirm in your seat,
wave your hand wildly in the air...
...just like the short peeps you hang with every day.
Don't forget the shouts of:
Me!  Me! Me! 
C'mon spring!