What I Actually Said and Did:
I was returning graded quizzes at the end of my first class today when a student got up to leave. She told me that she had to leave early in order to get to her next class on time. I checked my watch: 11:34 a.m., one minute left in class. I told her that she would still have ten minutes to get to her next class since no class on campus would begin before 11:45 a.m. Besides, I was only seconds away from returning her quiz. She told me that she needed to go on anyway and just couldn't wait any longer. I told her that no place on campus was more than ten minutes away; I know this because I've had back-to-back classes in the northernmost building and the southernmost building on campus, and I made it from one to the other in under ten minutes. She said she walked slowly and needed to leave to get to her other class on time. At this point, I simply turned away and kept returning quizzes to the students who remained in class.
What I Wanted to Say and Do:
Had I been more inclined to be unkind, I would have turned to this student, who has had a habit of coming to my class late and leaving early and not being particularly well prepared at any time, and said, "And that's why you're going to wind up with a 'D' for this semester."
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