1. “Dear Professor, I need to miss class today, because my dog might be pregnant.”
2. “I had a student ask to be excused from class and from writing a paper because they received a DUI the previous night. That was the semester 3 of my students had DUIs, each of whom asked to be excused from class and assignments. I still call it 'The DUI Semester.'"
3. “There was school yesterday?”
4. “Dental/mouth issues (accompanied by pictures in email).”
5. “Leg got slashed (pictures in email).”
via GIPHY
6. “A graduate student told me she couldn’t come to class the day after **** was elected a second time because ‘America was ruined.’ She was 100% serious.”
7. “I have a last minute audition.”
8. “It was my birthday.”
9. "A student told me, 'All my clothes were stolen at the laundromat last night and I don’t have anything to wear.' (Was the student not wearing clothes while doing laundry)?"
10. "Sorry I missed class today. I know it will be an unexcused absence, but I dropped my cell phone in the toilet."
11. “I had to study for an exam in another class”
12. “I lost track of the time when I was down at the Principal’s office telling him how awesome a teacher you are.”
13. "I have to use my airline miles by the end of this month!"
14. "I once had a couple of students tell me they missed a week of class because they had to go to a grandma's funeral in Portland (quite a ways away). When I asked them what state Portland was in, they just stood there giggling."
15. "Not missing class, but showing up halfway through class: 'Sorry I was late today -- I had to get my girlfriend a coffee.'
My response was, 'Well, we all have our priorities.'"
We hope this list brought you a few chuckles. Life's weird, and sometimes, so is teaching. And laughter, as well as our students, makes teaching memories sweeter!