I know! The problem is that we feel like absolute jerks if we say, "well, I'm going to need some documentation." I have avoided this so far because I don't want to live in that kind of world.
A year and a half ago, a student told me she was having trouble in school because her father had died a month earlier and her mother relied on her because she was an only child ("It's just me and my mom now"). Of course, my heart just broke for her, and I made all kinds of allowances until she finally faded away. Last term, she showed up in a different class, and within a month, she came to me and said that her father had died! When I said, "I thought your father died last year," she said "I meant my sister." I said, "I thought you were an only child," and we sat there silently for a minute before she shamefacedly shuffled out of the office.
Not long after, she was back in the office telling me she needed a B- in the course. Why? She wanted to be a teacher, and English was the one thing standing in her way. I couldn't help but think, would I want THIS person telling my kid what's right and wrong?
no subject
A year and a half ago, a student told me she was having trouble in school because her father had died a month earlier and her mother relied on her because she was an only child ("It's just me and my mom now"). Of course, my heart just broke for her, and I made all kinds of allowances until she finally faded away. Last term, she showed up in a different class, and within a month, she came to me and said that her father had died! When I said, "I thought your father died last year," she said "I meant my sister." I said, "I thought you were an only child," and we sat there silently for a minute before she shamefacedly shuffled out of the office.
Not long after, she was back in the office telling me she needed a B- in the course. Why? She wanted to be a teacher, and English was the one thing standing in her way. I couldn't help but think, would I want THIS person telling my kid what's right and wrong?