On days that school is cancelled due to snow, Fair Grove Schools use Alternate Methods of Instruction (AMI) days instead of giving students a regular snow day.
AMI days consist of teachers posting assignments online or sending assignments home with students to do over the snow day. By doing these assignments, students do not have to make up the missed days on Mondays or the end of the year.
Students enjoy the ability to do work at home and count it as a full school day. Carlen Lepold (12) said, “I would much rather do a short assignment than drag myself out of bed on a Monday morning. AMI for the win!!”
Working on assignments from home allows more freedom for students when they get done. Trey George (10) stated that he gets his AMI assignments done at the start of the day so that he can have the rest of the day to do other activities.
Other students find the time to do other things before they get their assignments done. Lepold said, “I sleep as long as I please, then pick up my room or do any other tasks I have been putting off for a while and around 5ish is when I actually do my assignments.”
Other students might find it hard to see the benefit in the AMI days. Christian Wilson (10) said that he felt that the AMI assignments were just filler work. He stated, “I do not think they are beneficial because I have already forgotten the work given to me for those AMI days we had.”
Wilson stated that if there were no AMI assignments that he would go about his snow day at home without the weight of an assignment looming over him. He would be able to do more enjoyable things such as watch a movie or play a game with no stress.
Lepold stated that she found the AMI days beneficial because it allows students to get a break from school without having to go back and make it up later.
George does not enjoy AMI days but he found it good to still do some school work so that students are not behind when they come back to school.
Overall, AMI days can be beneficial for students and teachers but some feel that it would be nicer to just have the day off.
