Last night, I received a phone call from one of my scholars.  I tell my students that if they ever have a question about their homework to give me a call.  I include my contact information on their homework packets.   Below is the conversation between myself and the student:

Me:  Hello!

Him:  Is this Ms. Bunting?

Me:  Yes! Hello, (students name)!

Him:  Ms. Bunting, I think I’m going to have homework hall tomorrow.

Me:  Why?

Him:  My mom doesn’t have time to sign my homework.  She has to put my little sister to bed.

Me:  Aww well is your dad home?

Him:  He’s a sleep.

Me:  Okay, ask your mom to sign your homework after she puts your sister to bed.

Him:  I don’t think she’ll remember.

Me:  Okay, ask your mom or dad to sign it in the morning.

Him:  It’s really busy in our house in the morning.

Me:  Okay, well have your mom or dad sign it before they drop you off to school.

Him:  Okay, I hope I don’t forget.

Me:  You won’t or else you will have homework hall.  Now, it’s late. You should be going to bed.

Him:  Okay, good night Ms. Bunting.

Me:  Good night (student’s name).  See you tomorrow!

In that moment, I could have told my student not to worry about it.  I could have allowed him to not get it signed and just return to school.  However, I maintained the expectation that his homework needed to be signed and helped him come up with other solutions.  As teachers, sometimes our hearts tell us to allow certain thing to slide.  It is important remember, that we must maintain high expectations because we’re building the character of our students.  I’m so glad my scholar called me and informed me of his problem.  He was being responsible and followed my directions exactly.  Nevertheless, my policy must remain the same for all my students.  I guided him in figuring out other options this time.  Hopefully, in the future, he’ll be able to critically analyze situations and come up with these solutions on his own.

I’ll be sure to give him a shout out in class tomorrow.