But that leaves me with nothing for today. If this wasn't April, I'd just skip posting altogether. But it is April, and rather than fail the challenge, I'm going to list some of the most frequent lies students tell me.
- But my teacher lets me...
- Eat in class.
- Use my cell phone.
- Listen to music.
- My teacher moved me here yesterday. Really, this is my assigned seat. Ignore what the newly written seating chart says.
- I have an A in this class.
- I'm getting straight As. (The students who are don't usually feel the need to brag about it.)
- He's my brother/cousin.
- She's my sister/cousin.
- I have to tell/ask him/her something about another class/project.
Then there are the classwork excuses. They have an assignment. They aren't doing it. I remind them that getting it done in class means they don't have to do it later, like at home. But they aren't having that...
- But I like homework.
- I don't get enough homework. (I actually left that in a note once for the teacher telling her which student told me this. I ran into the student later. He didn't like the consequences.)
- My parent(s) won't believe me if I tell him/her/them I don't have homework. (At which point I offer to write a note to this parent stating that the student finished the assignment in class. I have never been taken up on this offer.)
- I'll finish it at home.
- It's at home, finished. I'll bring it tomorrow.
- I'm grounded/the TV's broken/my device was taken away, so I'll be bored at home. I need something to do.
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard one of these, I would never need to work again.
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Writing teaches us to lie. I suppose those students lying to you are probably writers ;P
ReplyDeleteI remember convincing one teacher my bff and I were twins. We looked nothing alike! He laughed about it later:)
ReplyDeleteI've heard that one before. I've heard it so much I give students the "really" stare when they pull it. They don't usually go for twins, though. Usually just siblings.
DeleteUGH. I hate when you treat people like adults and they respond like children, even if they are children. The "I like homework" answer made me think of the time I had a dispute with a client who owed me money but hadn't paid her bill.
ReplyDeleteAfter going back and forth for a while about whether I would keep doing work for her without getting paid I finally said "Let me ask you this: If your boss didn't pay you for the last thirty days worth of work, would you still go into to work tomorrow?"
She said "I might."
I held my breath, counted to ten, and then said "Fine. You're hired. Report to work Monday."
When a kid says "I like homework," or any of those other excuses, it's too bad you don't have the ability to say "OK, then here's an additional chapter to read and turn in an outline of it tomorrow."
When a kid is belligerent about saying that he or she likes homework, I make sure to note it to the teacher. It doesn't go so well for the student the next day.
DeleteGood thing you don't take any smack, because it seems like kids have a hard time telling the truth these days. Even the good ones.
ReplyDeleteTrue Heroes from A to Z
Dang...I am too much of a rule follower to try lying to the sub or even the teacher for that matter. (My son is the same way.) I do recall once the class was told to write a sentence 200 times as a punishment for something in music class. I didn't hit that number (like 80 off) and was so worried the teacher would actually count the sentences and find out.
ReplyDeleteNot every student lies to me. Many of them are very nice and cooperative. The liars make for better blog posts.
DeleteWhy do they lie about who they're related to? Weird. And clearly anyone who says they like homework is delirious or lying.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you have heard every single lie ever concocted by a student. I'm sure you can easily see through the lies of the students who choose to tell them so very quickly. It makes you wonder if they think you are so "dumb" that you can't realize they are lying. I was really good in school and rarely got into trouble so I didn't have problems with lying to teachers, but I do remember my son saying when they had subs they would confuse the sub and not give their real names but other names of other classmates. When I heard this practice of his, I told him he better not do it again or else there would be consequences. If he ever did do it again, I never found out so the sub didn't say anything, or perhaps he really did listen to me and behave in class.
ReplyDeletebetty
Too funny! It's amazing what kids will try to get away with... like you were born yesterday! What are they thinking? :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think they get that we were once their age and tried much of the same stuff.
DeleteHmm.... why do these seem so familiar? I think I my kids may have tried a few of these on me :) Bet my daughter gets this in her classroom all the time, too.
ReplyDeleteShells–Tales–Sails
I don't think any of them are really new. Kids *shakes head*
DeleteI was in third grade. I had fallen and hurt my knee, nothing serious. But I used it as an excuse for not completing my homework. The teacher didn’t fall for it. But other than that, I was pretty straight laced.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the usual line up of suspects but I was thinking that I've heard some of those from my own kiddos about homework... and it doesn't get done at home. ugh.
ReplyDeleteFunny post !...liking homework :) - probabaly the biggest joke :)
ReplyDeleteI know! I resist laughing at them, but only barely.
DeleteSuch a gold standard, these excuses. Some of them sound familiar :)
ReplyDeleteDamyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2014, My Latest post
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge
None of these are original. I mean, if they were, I wouldn't hear them all the time.
DeleteI hated PE. Everyone knew that I hated PE so much that when I had an excuse to skip several months (surgery on my jaw to remove some bone. doctor thought a direct hit would shatter it, they didn't believe me. The written excuse wasn't good enough. It took a call from the doctor's office to convince them.
ReplyDelete