murphy's law of teaching.

what doesn't normally happen to you will, in fact, happen to you in the semester in which you are teaching most frequently, causing you to test every element of your teaching persona and all of your policies to the limit and determine, ultimately, whether or not you're any dang good at your job.

in the eight classes that i currently teach the following have happened:

• people just not showing up for assignments (already talked about that) due to illness, car trouble, and who knows why, but there's usually an actual legitimate reason, which requires me to be understanding and allow for make-ups
• people falling off the planet and just not responding to emails even though they're still enrolled in my class (at collegetown u, no less, which just...doesn't happen)
• a major meltdown during a speech which was perhaps the worst thing i've ever witnessed, from an empathetic human side
• the weirdest attendance requests i've ever heard, including requesting to miss as many as 12 classes
• plagiarism. lots and lots of plagiarism. and not even good plagiarism. like "i will take the first google search that comes my way and then take the entire paper from that" kind of plagiarism.
• a whole host of random injuries, including two broken wrists and two torn up knees that required medical intervention which often occurred just before class
• a whole host of child-related issues, including child-care issues, a child having multiple surgeries, and a child in utero

i just...wow.  there's only so much one teacher can take before i really start to wonder WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THIS SEMESTER?

yeesh.