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You know, sometimes it's helpful being a teacher that students really like, because students, strangely enough, turn into spies. I don't ask them to do this, and I don't think they even KNOW they do it, but they do, and it bemuses me.
See, there is an issue of a student who has required some extra assistance in class, due to a lot of unforeseen personal issues -- an accident, illness, etc. I've made a lot of exceptions for this student (for instance, typically I don't accept late work at all, ever). So, I spoke with this person, offered some options, and promised to do what I could. Mind you, I don't have to do any of this. I could've said, "Sorry sugar, you fail." Well, not "sugar," per se, since I'm pretty sure that'd fall under the rubric of "sexual harrassment" (did you know that nicknames like that contribute to a "hostile work environment"? I didn't. But I digress...)
Because this student has had health issues and physical ailments, I've also started looking the other way when issues of tardiness come into play. I take extenuating circumstances into consideration -- and this student is a little older, and injuries can tend to linger, so I switch out of "uberbitch" mode and put my patient hat on.
Well. Last Wednesday I had to cancel my classes, because my back was making me miserable. As it turns out, for whatever reason, no one put a sign on my classroom door for me. (Typically they do.) So my class was stuck waiting. I had mentioned to another student in an email about matters more or less unrelated to class that there would be a good chance that class would be cancelled. I wrote the email late Tuesday night, and essentially said, "Don't be surprised if class is cancelled tomorrow," and went on to explain the sitch. Naturally I'd figured there would be a sign.
Soooo, my class gathers at the door (doors are locked, because there's fancy computer/media equipment inside), and as a courtesy, one of my OTHER students (who'd heard about the email) mentioned this to the small crowd gathering at the door, basically saying, "Yeah, she might not be here" or whatever.
This one student, who I've been trying to help, who I've been making concessions for, who I've ACCEPTED LATE WORK FROM says, "Well if I can be here on time, she should be here too." And so on and so forth, complaining about this apparent lack of professionalism.
WTF?
Because, you know, I was really home lounging by the pool with a margarita. *rolls eyes* If anyone looked for me on Wednesday, they would've found me in bed, propped on my side (couldn't lie on my stomach or my back), watching Furuba. I needed to laugh, so I watched Shigure torment Mii-chan. And then watched Ayame torment... everyone else. *grin*
So, anyway, my little spy-student is telling me this (complete with voices and wild hand-gestures), and I was simply stunned. It really was enough to make me renege on my agreement with the student to accept the backlog of work (and, before any of you ask, yes, I am sure the injuries were legit). I was fucking MISERABLE from Tuesday through Friday -- and I went to work on Friday! (Okay, so I had to let the class out early because my back was crying, but still!) And this yahoo -- whose sob-stories I've listened to with nothing but sympathy -- goes off on MY "unprofessionalism" the minute one tiny little glitch occurs? And it was something that wasn't even my fault!
GRAR!
There really isn't anything I can DO about the whole thing. I mean, I've already said that I was going to accept the work, and while I'm a lot of things, I am not the type of person to go back on something I agreed to do.
But I don't have to like it.
See, there is an issue of a student who has required some extra assistance in class, due to a lot of unforeseen personal issues -- an accident, illness, etc. I've made a lot of exceptions for this student (for instance, typically I don't accept late work at all, ever). So, I spoke with this person, offered some options, and promised to do what I could. Mind you, I don't have to do any of this. I could've said, "Sorry sugar, you fail." Well, not "sugar," per se, since I'm pretty sure that'd fall under the rubric of "sexual harrassment" (did you know that nicknames like that contribute to a "hostile work environment"? I didn't. But I digress...)
Because this student has had health issues and physical ailments, I've also started looking the other way when issues of tardiness come into play. I take extenuating circumstances into consideration -- and this student is a little older, and injuries can tend to linger, so I switch out of "uberbitch" mode and put my patient hat on.
Well. Last Wednesday I had to cancel my classes, because my back was making me miserable. As it turns out, for whatever reason, no one put a sign on my classroom door for me. (Typically they do.) So my class was stuck waiting. I had mentioned to another student in an email about matters more or less unrelated to class that there would be a good chance that class would be cancelled. I wrote the email late Tuesday night, and essentially said, "Don't be surprised if class is cancelled tomorrow," and went on to explain the sitch. Naturally I'd figured there would be a sign.
Soooo, my class gathers at the door (doors are locked, because there's fancy computer/media equipment inside), and as a courtesy, one of my OTHER students (who'd heard about the email) mentioned this to the small crowd gathering at the door, basically saying, "Yeah, she might not be here" or whatever.
This one student, who I've been trying to help, who I've been making concessions for, who I've ACCEPTED LATE WORK FROM says, "Well if I can be here on time, she should be here too." And so on and so forth, complaining about this apparent lack of professionalism.
WTF?
Because, you know, I was really home lounging by the pool with a margarita. *rolls eyes* If anyone looked for me on Wednesday, they would've found me in bed, propped on my side (couldn't lie on my stomach or my back), watching Furuba. I needed to laugh, so I watched Shigure torment Mii-chan. And then watched Ayame torment... everyone else. *grin*
So, anyway, my little spy-student is telling me this (complete with voices and wild hand-gestures), and I was simply stunned. It really was enough to make me renege on my agreement with the student to accept the backlog of work (and, before any of you ask, yes, I am sure the injuries were legit). I was fucking MISERABLE from Tuesday through Friday -- and I went to work on Friday! (Okay, so I had to let the class out early because my back was crying, but still!) And this yahoo -- whose sob-stories I've listened to with nothing but sympathy -- goes off on MY "unprofessionalism" the minute one tiny little glitch occurs? And it was something that wasn't even my fault!
GRAR!
There really isn't anything I can DO about the whole thing. I mean, I've already said that I was going to accept the work, and while I'm a lot of things, I am not the type of person to go back on something I agreed to do.
But I don't have to like it.
