At this point in the term, terrible things, such as a grandmother's death, happen to our students at unnaturally and alarmingly high rates. As instructors, we suspect some excuses are false, but we don't know which ones.
It doesn’t matter.
A story, with a point at the end
/1
It doesn’t matter.
A story, with a point at the end
/1
Back in 5th-ish grade, my teacher became fed up with students' excuses for why we didn't complete our homework. She had just cause: it had turned into a game, with a group of students daring each other to come up with excuses and try them out on her.
/2
/2
I left it on the bus. The dog ate my homework. My uncle used my math assignment to line the parrot's cage. Aliens from outer space stole my backpack. You know, the type of stuff that 10 or 11 year olds think is funny.
/3
/3
Eventually our teacher had enough, and gave us all a stern lecture. Said that the next student who came to her with an implausible excuse was going to be suspended.
/4
/4
The next day, a student arrived without his homework. He was kind of a goofball, and had played the excuse game. Told the teacher, "I can’t turn in my homework because my house burned down."
She lit into him. Told him she was disappointed in him, he should be ashamed, etc. /5
She lit into him. Told him she was disappointed in him, he should be ashamed, etc. /5
One of the other 5th grade teachers overheard. We could see her at the door to our classroom, waving her arms to get our teacher's attention, and mouthing "no, stop!"
/6
/6
That other teacher was a volunteer firefighter for a small community outside the city limits, and was on call the night before. The student's house had, in fact, burned down. The family lost almost everything. /7
In my mind's eye, I can still picture the anguish on the student's face as he fought a losing battle against tears, and the horror on our teacher's face when she realized what she had done.
/8
/8
So yes, the mortality rate among grandmothers may spike toward the end of term. But I’d rather accept false excuses and “be taken advantage of” sometimes than accuse a student of making up a traumatic event when one occurred. The cost of the latter error is just too high. /9
IMO, there is no principle of equity worth defending, no lesson about taking responsibility worth emphasizing, to the point that we hurt students when they are most in need of compassion. /fin
