So we’re gearing up for class, right? And our coordinator tells us that if students don’t show up to get their books the first day, carry on without them. “Don’t go back and cover the material again,” he said. “It’s their responsibility to keep up and come prepared, not yours.”
And I get that. As teachers, it’s not our responsibility to coddle the students who don’t show up. If they have no books, that’s not our responsibility.
The difference, though, is that come next week, we’re going to have 27 students walking into class, most of them unprepared. Maybe half will have books, but the other half? What about them?
It’s not our responsibility for them to have books, but it’s certainly going to be our problem when they don’t have them.
So it goes with much of life.
