Jan. 26, 2015 - the start of a new cycle for the Adult Learning Center and ESOL classes throughout the 3 boroughs....
Jan. 27, 2015 - predicted to be perhaps the most snow ever to fall on New York in at least 100 years.
What's a teacher to do?! You know the old adage about "You only have one chance to make a first impression." Somehow, just canceling class did not seem ideal. But the NYPL is nothing if not with it when it comes to technology and the internet, and as their English teacher, I wrote to them all, expressing my disappointment that the first day of classes on Tuesday would be canceled due to snow... AND gave them a writing assignment. Why not?
In my classes in the past , we have encouraged writing by blogging! So up on the internet went: NYCSnowDay.wordpress.com! I notified the students in my two classes, and crossed my fingers that they would
- Get my email and read it; and
- Would find a way to post their snowday story, or email me a story, or use Facebook to communicate their experiences and photos.
AND THEY DID! They ranged—as our students' skill level ranges—from a sentence or two, to a couple of beautiful essays! They referenced many of the things that we all know characterize a snowstorm (big or small)—long lines at supermarkets and bodegas, children oh so excited by a school day at home, bingeing on TV, etc.
Students from Brazil and Africa, from Germany and the Ukraine—all responded differently to our "historical snowstorm"! For some, this was "just another snowy day," while for a few... it was SNOWMAGEDDON!