Interviews

Intermediate

What are some good and poor excuses that students come up with for missing school (for example, “My dog ate my homework.”)

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the video:

• legitimate (adjective): appropriate, sensible, or fair
  – The student had a legitimate reason for being late for class. In this case, the bus he was riding was in an accident.
• stay on top of (verb phrase): stay or remain in control of
  – It is sometimes difficult to stay on top of your homework when taking many classes.
• interfere (verb): prevent something from happening, get in the way of
  – Poor study habits can interfere with progress in the classroom.
• have access to (verb phrase): to be able to use
  – Students have access to free Wi-Fi throughout campus.
• empathetic (adjective): having the ability to understand how others feel
  – The teacher is really empathetic toward her students because she has had similar life experiences.

Now, watch the interview and answer the comprehension questions. You can also turn on the automatically-generated captions for the video once you start it.

Randall: In this video, Emily and I are going to be talking about some good and terrible excuses that you can give your teacher when you haven’t done your homework. And of course, I’m a teacher. So what about you, Emily? What are some good, valid excuses that you hope a teacher will understand? And what are some excuses that don’t even try them.

Emily: I think. A legitimate and good excuse would be I have a chronically ill son and if he’s very sick, I do struggle to sometimes be on top of my homework, uh, at the beginning of a semester, though, if I do feel that my son’s health will interfere with class, I do let my professor know at the beginning of the semester so he’s aware. A really bad excuse would be to say that my printer is broken because there are printers all over campus that I have full access to.

Randall: You know, and I have students doing that all the time. I don’t have a printer, even though right down the hall there’s a print, you know, a computer lab and so forth. And have you found in your experiences teachers being extremely empathetic toward that or teachers that just don’t seem to care.

Emily: About the printers? They don’t care.

Randall: Okay

Emily: That’s your problem.

Randall: But what about valid excuses? You mentioned at the beginning about someone that’s ill in your family. Have you had experiences where teachers actually listen to your feelings and others they just didn’t seem to pay attention to those needs?

Emily: I have only had good experiences with that.

Randall: And I think those are really key, making sure that if you do have a problem, you communicate with that with your teacher so that they are aware of what is going on, uh, in your life.

Intermediate:

1. Imagine you are a teacher. How do you respond to each of these statements by a student:
   • “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t complete my homework because I had a soccer game yesterday.”
   • “Mr. Smith. My roommate borrowed my homework and never gave it back to me. For that reason, I don’t have it today.”
   • “I couldn’t come to school yesterday because I was hit by a car as I was riding my bike to school.”
2. Discuss the consequences of giving a terrible excuse for not completing homework.
3. Why do you think Aubrey mentioned personal crises as potential good excuses?

Advanced:

1. Analyze the ethical implications of giving false excuses to teachers for not doing homework.
2. Discuss the role of communication and honesty in building a positive teacher-student relationship when it comes to missed assignments.
3. Reflect on alternative solutions or strategies that students can employ when faced with challenges that prevent them from completing their homework.

The following activities deal with other examples of excuses for personal choices.

• College Scholarships
• Running Shoes
• Sleeping Problem
• Towing Service
• Water Conservation
• Wedding Anniversary