It's someone elses fault!
How do you deal with the student who always has a sick child, or death in family and cannot get work turned in on time?
At a career college where I taught recently, I had the sense that the environment encouraged this "it's someone else's fault" attitude. Some students spent the entire semester doing nothing because they had so many problems. Anyone can sympathize with these problems. At the same time, it is their education and they are paying for it. An instructor is obliged to enforce deadlines and requirements for the course. I try to make it clear that although severe illness, foreclosure, debt, marital problems, etc., are serious, they cannot be an excuse for not doing the work required in the classroom, any more than they would be an excuse in a career environment. A student has to make the decision to do the work required or take a time out.
Hi Sheila,
You need to establish class rules and that student must be treated accordingly based on rules/policies. Some instructors will give leeway in extenuating circumstances with documentation.
