Feigned Ignorance?

There haven't been a lot of planned absences lately (trainings, conferences, meetings, etc.), so I've been getting gigs last minute (the dreaded early morning wake up call). For the most part, these teachers are falling ill, so lesson plans are kind of sparse and/or makeshift.

Tuesday. Woodshop.

I've covered for this teacher before. Because they don't use power tools in his absence (safety issue), the kiddos are stuck doing bookwork. But because of technology, the the teacher was able to assign a new chapter from home. (It was his second day out. A different sub had covered the prior day.)

Third period was construction tech. They were working on an "estimation packet".

They got the packet out, but then claimed they didn't have enough information to do any work. Deep sigh.

I found blueprints. They claimed they'd already used them. So, I reread the lesson plan, and the words Google Classroom stuck out. None of them had gotten the computers out. I encouraged them to do so.

Sure enough, there were more specific instructions online. There were links to videos demonstrating what they were to do.

And yet, they still claimed ignorance.

Now, they could have been telling the truth. Something might have been missing. They might have needed more information to complete this assignment.

But I rather doubt this. It seemed to me they were taking advantage of a sub day to goof off--a long standing tradition.

Deep sigh. This is why I write detailed notes to the teacher. Teachers rarely appreciate the kiddos sudden ignorance.