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Friday, January 21, 2011

Poetry Friday -- SNOW DAY!!




















Too Much Snow
by Louis Jenkins


Unlike the Eskimos we only have one word for snow but we have a
lot of
modifiers for that word. There is too much snow, which, unlike rain,
does not
immediately run off. It falls and stays for months. Someone wished for
this
snow. Someone got a deal, five cents on the dollar, and spent the
entire family
fortune. It's the simple solution, it covers everything. We are never
satisfied
with the arrangement of the snow so we spend hours moving the snow from
one
place to another. Too much snow. I box it up and send it to family and
friends.

(read the rest of the poem at The Writer's Almanac)


There's no such thing as too much snow if you're a teacher buried in an avalanche of grading, planning, and data to be analyzed so you can better plan and design assessments to be graded and analyzed and used to inform further instruction. 

And, yes, someone wished for this snow. A whole lot of someones, in fact, both shorter and taller. It's nice when, every now and then, wishes do come true!

Happy Snow Day! Check out the Poetry Friday roundup at A Teaching Life, hosted by Tara.

14 comments:

  1. There's too much here in NH and more is falling. And, no, there's no snow day for me today. Wish me luck in getting up that hill to the library!

    Enjoy your day off!

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  2. Good luck with that hill, Diane!

    I've lived where 1 inch of snow closes the schools, and now where 3-5 inches and sub-zero temps close the schools, but I've never lived in the Strong and Sturdy parts of the country where winter doesn't stop daily business. I salute your Yankee spirit of determination...and I'm glad to live in a place without it!

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  3. Yay! I'm so excited to be enjoying my first snow day. Your poetry Friday selection was perfect. So, I'm wondering...did you choose it before or after the day was called? If before, can you please do that again! I can use catch up days every now and then.

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  4. Mary Lee,

    We've had a TON of snow where I live recently--and it's snowing here again today.

    Good luck getting all your schoolwork done.

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  5. Enjoy your snow day, Mary Lee. What a fun poem. Like the single snowflake at the end . . .

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  6. Love this poem!

    We are getting tons of snow this year but haven't had a single snow day because we are so equipped to handle it. Despite this, I still love Canadian winters. They make Canadian springs all the better.

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  7. We just had yet another delayed opening...and it looks like snow again next week. Yes, too much snow!

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  8. We live in Texas, and I'm quite sure that my three kids would LOVE someone to box up that extra snow that keeps dumping on the Northeast and other parts of the country and send it our way!

    When we visited my parents in Boston recently, snow arrived a day after we did. My dad told the kids he had it ordered from LL Bean especially for them. :-)

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  9. Anonymous7:22 PM

    I am looking for a 6th to 8th grade novel to buy paperback copies of for students and families to come to a read ahead, then discuss over a meal event. Suggestions?

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  10. Hi, Mary Lee--

    Oh, the glory. We had snow predicted again, turned pajamas inside out, flushed ice cubes down both toilets, put a fork in the freezer and a spoon under our pillows, to no avail. But I did get a good idea for a book of spells, poems based on folk "remedies."

    As for grading and assessment and data analysis, your post on compound sentences from the day before is a how-to for people who think grading and assessment and data analysis means testing. All the worries about proving what children know and can do would melt away if every classroom had a teacher like you, who could speak authoritatively about each child's learning process day by day. Which gives me an idea for a blogging project for teachers which probably already exists and just needs a little coordination...

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  11. Yes, Mary Lee! There's snow and there's SNOW. Wishing you warm mittens and hot cocoa as you weather both.

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  12. Love your blog! I had stumbled across it about a year ago, read a few posts, but only now reconnected when I saw you listed at Kidlitosphere.

    So I'm your newest follower now; hopefully I won't miss out again.

    Feel free to drop by one of my sites when you get the chance!

    http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com
    http://howtoteachanovel.blogspot.com

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  13. Love that part about sending you a single snowflake.

    I love all our beautiful snow except for trying to pull out onto the street and the snowbanks are so high you can't tell if cars are coming or not.

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  14. I love boxing it up to family and friends! My children had a snow day on Friday as I taught in a district an hour away. And today my children and hubby had a COLD day! It was 16 below when we woke up.

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