Friday, July 27, 2018

Finishing It Up


U.S. history, second semester. It was the last block (two hours) of the day. I had a class of fourteen. They had bookwork, and they spent the time in near silence.

Mostly they appeared to be working. Well, except for two boys who had their heads down on their desks.

It seemed to be one of those days that don't make the blog. Until...

End of the day. They packed up and left. I had taken the turned in work and stacked it neatly in one pile and left it on a desk at the front.

I was finishing packing up my stuff when I noticed I still had one straggler. He was one of the boys who had been asleep. For a moment, it looked like he was going to slide his paper into the stack, so I went about my business. (I don't consider the work late if they turn it in as they leave. If he had handed it to me right then, I would have put it in exactly the same spot.)

But, instead of sliding his paper in, he pulled another paper out. And then he was busily writing something...

Um, no.

I shooed him away. He had only managed to copy one answer, leaving two full answers on his paper. (He had done one on his own earlier.) He sought about for a good lie, but he couldn't come up with one.

Student logic. He had slept for much of the two hours, and he figured he could make up in the work in what? Five minutes after class? Seriously?

Of course, this didn't take into account the other three assignments for that day. (He was copying the worksheet, but they were also assigned four questions from the book and an outline of the chapter.)

Perhaps I should have let him copy. The page he had pulled? It belonged to the other student who had been sleeping.

24 comments:

  1. I don't believe in it, but the first word that came to mind after I chuckled was "karma." LOL.

    betty

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  2. Replies
    1. This is what got him into summer school in the first place, I imagine.

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  3. I see a future in either crime or politics or CIA.

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  4. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at Susan's clever response. How sad they're wasting their time like that. If I really needed sleep, I saved it for study hall.

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    1. Of course, I just realized they don't have study hall in summer school. ~grin~ But when the day is shorter they should have plenty of time to sleep at home. Ugh...

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    2. They don't even have a study hall during the regular school year.

      I get the tired. School starts at 7:30 AM. It's proven that teenagers should start their day much later, like 9 AM. And they have a hard time going to bed early.

      However, this was the last class of the day. And I have no idea if he was there all day. I don't know his circumstances other than he failed this class during the school year, and sleeping in class isn't going to help him pass it in summer school.

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    3. No study hall. Interesting. I hope he gets motivated. ~nods~ Meanwhile, it seems my question following a rainbow snippet was a bad idea. I know the author of the "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" book series doesn't approve of fan fiction, so I'm just as glad nobody guessed right. ~grin~ Be well!

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  5. Yes, you're going to let him copy a paper after he slept most of the class away. At least the other student turned something in. I wonder how well that one did on the assignment.

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  6. That's hilarious. I reckon that's karma at its best. Try to cheat and choose the one paper that is probably guaranteed to not help =)

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  7. What is the protocol for sleeping Ss, typically? Does a teacher try to rouse 'em before letting them continue to doze? (I realize you had let him be, of course, but I'm just curious if there is an official sort of policy regarding those who nap in class.)

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    1. I'm not sure what the rule is. I believe most teachers try to wake them. As a sub, I've learned that it's best to let them sleep. (Oh, the battles when I wake them...) But I report that they were asleep to the teacher.

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  8. I remember napping in the back of the class, usually History. Usually during a film-strip. Never during work time!

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    1. That isn't ideal either ;)

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    2. Yeah. I'm one of those horrible people who tests well and absorbs information quickly, so I was a huge slacker but most people didn't realize it.
      They just hated me for breaking the curve.

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    3. Yeah, I was one of those, too.

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  9. That's awfully bold. I wonder if he really thought you wouldn't notice or care, or if he was still groggy from the long nap.

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  10. I wondered if he pulled the other sleeper's paper. So he did. Silly kid. He reminded me of a kid in the govt. class I taught during my student teaching days. A senior, he had to pass the class to graduate but he didn't turn in assignments and barely, if at all, passed tests. His only "reprieve" was to complete a term paper which he turned in at the last moment. I gave him a D and he complained that he spent all night writing the 10+ page thing. I told him he was lucky I didn't give his a D-.

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  11. Yep- bet he would have gotten a great grade off that others work!!!! Too funny. Liz if you were working on your reunion I would say by all means borrow the idea on the frames. Something like this would also work for a girls weekend or night out, a wedding or baby shower, be cool, I think. As for that person in your life- gotta live your mimosa even when they push buttons!

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    1. I'll keep that idea in the back of my mind. I'm sure I'll be able to pull it out somewhere...

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  12. I know teenage boys need a lot of sleep but that's ridiculous.

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