I woke up this morning and immediately looked out the window. There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground. Maybe an inch. Nothing like the 4-7 inches that were predicted for our area. I looked at the weather app on my phone. The Winter Storm Warning was cancelled, now we just have a Winter Weather Advisory. Snow totals of 1-3 inches. I am relieved. I didn’t want to deal with the headaches that a morning commute in 4-7 inches of snow would cause. Living in Wisconsin, I knew that those totals would not be anywhere near enough snow to close schools. It was just an unpleasant situation that I was anticipating. Now, I can go about my day in an almost regular way. We don’t even really need to shovel this morning. We can get out without doing it.
It is funny to me how the weather predictions usually seem to be inaccurate. It almost seems that the weather tends to do the opposite of what is said. If the meteorologists say there will be a lot of snow and to be prepared, there is only an inch of snow. If, on the other hand, they predict less than an inch, you better be ready for 5 inches. I love that we have all the modern technology, but nature still works to surprise us and to make the predictions almost impossible. It keeps us on our toes and makes us learn how to roll with the unexpected.
I can’t help but think about how a teacher’s job is so similar to a meteorologists job in some ways. We can predict how things will go on a given day, but it isn’t always a guarantee that we will be right. We have to be willing to accept the unexpected and adjust. Sometimes, that means being pleasantly surprised by the ease with which our students take on a task. Sometimes, it is really stormy in our classrooms and we have to shovel a lot of extra negativity out of the way. But despite the fact that we have an ability to predict the success or failure of an idea in our classroom, we really have to learn to roll with it and accept the unexpected. Whatever we have to deal with, I hope we can learn to be as natural with it as a Wisconsinite is with dealing with snow. No panic, just an appreciation of the beauty of nature and then getting down to the business of dealing with it.
Here’s hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised today in the classroom as I was this morning looking out the window.
Andrea,
I haven’t even checked the “snow” yet this morning since it is still dark out! I’ve often chuckled at how WRONG the meterologists can be but I didn’t connect that to the teaching/education life. I especially enjoyed your closing . . .”No panic, just an appreciation of the beauty of nature and then getting down to the business of dealing with it.”
Welcome to the #SOL 16 March Challenge!
Loved your connection of predicting the weather to teaching. We can always anticipate what will happen in the classroom but it’s the unanticipated that often brings joy (and challenges). Happy writing.