Early in my teaching career, I heard countless excuses from my students for not having their homework. Many of them were made up and 1 And, yes, "the dog ate it" was one of them. As time passed, I was 2 of hearing "I don't have my homework because…". "No excuses. No 3 !" I, out of anger, 4 my eighth graders.
Then, one afternoon, Anthony 5 me and said shyly, not taking his eyes off the floor, "I know you said it doesn't 6 why we don't have our homework done, but my dad moved out and my mom waits tables at night, so I have to 7 my little brothers." Feeling shocked and 8 for him, I put my hand on Anthony's thin shoulder. "Why are you just now telling me...?" I stopped in mid-sentence. I knew why. So I 9 the question, "Would it 10 if you stay in my classroom after school and work on it before you go home?" He nodded.
The next day, I 11 to all my students that I'd offer an after-school study hall. Anthony was the first student to12 . Before long, I had a room full of eighth graders who stayed to work on their homework. I soon had a large collection of "I don't have my homework because..."13 like Anthony. All were very14 . Most importantly, I learned that "I'll15 " works a lot better than "No excuses".
