While she was sleeping

Well, well, I know it's been a while, but believe it or not, too many things happen in my life for me to be able to write them down all the time. I will skip the details on what happened between me waiting and me being where I am, doing what I am doing, with the people I am doing it with. Today, I just want to share a story of one of my students. Teaching at BYU was sometimes challenging, but it was never hard to keep my cool. On the other hand, teaching at Seton Hall is sometimes harder on my temper... While that girl is sleeping...

She is not literally sleeping, she just doesn't listen and then blames you for it. We are going to call this young lady Shaneekwa... Because she has the bad ass attitude of a Shaneekwa. For the past couple of weeks, I have been reminding my students to bring their workbooks to class everyday, because I could randomly ask them to turn in the exercises that are due for that day. I've also been telling them to come prepared to class. I've been telling them that they need a study buddy, that way if they missed class or any information, they can always rely on that partner. I've made sure that they understood that if they were going to miss class, they needed to email me the reason of their absence otherwise it would be considered as an unexplained absence. Bottom line, I kept repeating the same thing over and over again, while Shaneekwa was sleeping.

On Tuesday, I decided to be nice and announced that since they were going to have a chapter test on Thursday, I was going to be pick up the workbooks that day before the quiz. I said that I would only accept the workbooks at the beginning of class. I made that announcement twice, while Shaneekwa was sleeping. Thursday came, and I picked up all the workbook exercises, except those of Shaneekwa. She looked at me and said: "I ain't got a workbook. I put in the order at the bookstore, but it ain't there yet." I looked at her, a little puzzled, and said: "Ok." And I walked away from her.

While the rest of the class was taking their tests, Shaneekwa decided to confront me about her workbook situation, asking: "So, is that workbook thing gonna work against me?" At that point I was no longer puzzled, I was trying to figure out how to answer without being rude. I simply said :"Yes," and went back to my reading. But then she said:"Why? It ain't my fault if I ain't got the workbook. It's the bookstore's fault." The other students, at that point started to get distracted away from their tests into Shaneekwa's drama.

I explained to Shaneekwa that I had been announcing the fact that she needed to get her exercises done before every class. I had made the announcement on Tuesday that I would be picking up the workbooks before the test. Shaneekwa insisted that she had added the class late and that she had missed most of the announcements. I calmly insisted, with all the diplomacy in the world that I had given her a syllabus and that ALL the announcements were on the document. That's when Shaneekwa gave me a puzzled look and said: "The syllabus? Do I have a syllabus?" And I said: "Shaneekwa, you added the class a week late and I didn't have an extra syllabus to give you, so I gave you my own copy. YES, you have a syllabus." That's when she had the nerves to tell me that because she has added her classes SO late, she hadn't had time to read her syllabus and that I should have TOLD her the information. At that point, half of the students were done with their tests and were shaking their heads at Shaneekwa, and I was trying to remain calm.

I told Shaneekwa that it was her responsibility to read her syllabus, and that she should have come at the beginning of the semester to tell me about her situation and that she should have had a study buddy help her make copies. The Shaneekwa turned bitchy on me and says: "What you don't understand, that I've been killing myself to tell you, is I don't know nobody and in the class, and you don't understand that..." That's when I tuned out! I was looking her at lips moving, but I wasn't listening to a word of what she was saying. When I saw that she was done, I said: "Sorry, there is nothing I can do. You're an adult and a college student. Go read you syllabus. All this just shoes me that in the past 3 weeks, you haven't been doing your homework, and that is not working in your favor." She rolled her eyes at me, finished her test and stormed out, mumbling the same way I used to when my mom would tell me off when I was younger.

What was I supposed to do, since, while everybody else got the 411, she was sleeping? I have a couple of students who are still waiting for their workbooks, but they made copies. I even had a student who added the class the Tuesday I made the announcement, but for some reason, she managed to complete all her exercises...

Poor Shaneekwa. She doesn't know who she is messing with... Poor sleepy Shaneekwa