No Excuses!

Arrrgh.    I deal with them every day. The excuses I hear varies from the simple:

• I left it at school.
• I left it at home.
• My mom threw it in the trash can.
• My dog ate it.
• My younger brother/sister ate it.

To the complex:

• I had my homework done yesterday and put it my bag. I got on the bus and got distracted with talking with my friends. When I got off the bus, I forgot to take the bag with me! The bus went away with my bag and my homework.
• I was on my way to the institute and saw two students that were bullies at my school. I got scared and bolted down the opposite direction. They found me running and chased me for like 20 minutes! I was so scared I dropped my bag somewhere when I tripped on the rock. I couldn’t find my bag afterwards and that’s why I’m bleeding.

Well they’re not that complex I guess. I like to give my students the benefit of the doubt. There are some explanations that are so crazy that I actully believed them. I don’t like to think my students are outright liars.

But later on, it becomes a routine, a habit. It gets to the point where they give up on being creative and simply say:

“I’m sorry.”

Well, I’m sorry as well. I’m sorry that that they did not make any progress on their second language. I’m sorry that they cannot get the time back to learn. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be any more help to them other than ranting on them like an old grandfather.

I wonder if there’s a better way to send the message out.

If they could just get a little work done each day, they can make great progess that would build momentum to build on the things they did previously. If it were only that easy. I’m sure it probably is and I haven’t found the way to figure it out. I will continue to persist and encourage.