Busted

A project was due on Tuesday. A student came to school with empty hands and tears in his eyes: "I had it this morning!" "I left it at home."

Tuesday evening, a post was left on our class discussion board. A post to a forum about the project. Specifically, a post to a thread entitled "Need Help! Ask questions here!" in a forum about the project.

This post asked for help: "I really need help ASAP I can't find my project check up and forgot the topics." Part of me says: "Maybe he was just checking his work before he turned it in on Wednesday." But the student in me, the student who can still taste procrastination in her breakfast cereal, has other thoughts.

Feeling Unloved

Every year, on the last day of school, I give students their report card envelope. In the envelope is the report card, of course, and a final letter to them and their families. Included in the letter is my home address and my email address. I tell them that if they write to me, I will write back to them. Some years I get as much as half of my class writing to me at least once. Some years only two or three kids write. This year, almost two weeks out, I haven't heard from one kid. This class had a higher percentage of kids with email addresses than any group I've ever had before. And still, none of them have even sent me an email. Was I that unimportant in their lives? Or are they just that lazy?