Matthew, Matthew, Go Away

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The latest news on Hurricane Matthew indicates we here in our area are not likely to see much more than some stiff breezes and about an inch of rain. While I am relieved by this news my students were disappointed. It was their hope that school might close tomorrow in anticipation of the storm, or on Monday in the aftermath of the storm. As it stands now, we will have school both tomorrow and Monday.

My students don't know what it is like to live through an actual hurricane. The last one to cross over our area as 17 years ago.

Of course, it wouldn’t take much of a drift to the north or west to change the impact Matthew will have on us. I have cautioned my students to keep a weather eye out for any changes in Matthews course.

Considering we were learning how to add and subtract rational numbers this week – rational numbers as in fractions and decimals – including positive and negative rational numbers. Most of my students are giving rational numbers a good effort, but a few just threw up their hands when they heard the word fractions. I am doing everything I can to provide my students with the tools they need to make adding and subtracting rational numbers as simple and painless as possible. Fortunately, the rules for adding and subtracting rational numbers are the same as the rules for adding and subtracting integers, with an extra step or two thrown in for the fractions such as finding common denominators and simplifying.

I have a premonition that tomorrow the students may be very distracted as the rain and wind picks up throughout the day. I wouldn’t be surprised if, every time we get a hard downpour or big gust of wind, the students start thinking – and commenting – that the schools should close and they should all go home. Depending on just how far our way Matthew pushes, an Early Dismissal announcement sometime on Friday, while improbable, is not impossible. The bright side of an Early Dismissal is that the day will count and not have to be made up. The down side is we will effectively lose a day of instruction. Considering how much material I still need to cover by the end of first quarter, missing instructional time is not something I like to see happen.

As always, I remain,

The Exhausted Educator