I wish I were sufficiently heartless to refuse to listen to students' sob stories.
I mean, I'm still docking points because it's late, but I would have been within my rights to dock more than I said I would.
I'm beginning to wonder if I was one of the rare "privileged" ones, in that I went to school as a single, with no children, no aging ill parents, and with (marginally) sufficient funds to get by so I didn't have to work (other than if I wanted more pizza/movie money).
On the other hand, anyone who claims to have the swine flu to get out of class/a test/handing something in on time, and is not actually sick? I hope karma bites them hard on the behind. Because many doctor's offices are not handing out notes and such, I can't demand proof.
I find that dealing with the "life stuff" my students deal with (and I, indirectly, have to deal with) makes me far more tired and cranky than any of the actual teaching/research/grading stuff does.
1 comment:
I think the way you grew up has everything to do with it. When I had a "real job" I was always very resentful of people who were gone frequently for various reasons. Privately I sometimes thought, "I could never get away with that," but the truth is I probably could have. I knew some people who were really bad about it - enough so that they received reprimands - and they actually thought it was unreasonable that they were expected to be at work every day.
Now sometimes I regret being so responsible. I few more days off with my kids wouldn't have hurt anything. That was work though. I know school is different.
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