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When You Have to Miss Class

October 19, 2011, 1:34 pm

By Eliana Osborn

I recently had an emergency-room moment with my son, at a time when I was supposed to be teaching class. I don’t think I’m alone in that frustrating aspect of Murphy’s Law, where things seem to go wrong at just the worst possible time.

Luckily (for me), my son had been sick all week so I’d had time to prepare a contingency plan. While I teach face to face, we use Blackboard so it was easy to make a folder with self-guided instruction for the evening. My department secretary was able to leave a note on the board and things seem to have gone well.

How do you handle your unexpected classroom absences? Things do happen, whether they are professional commitments or personal crises. Do you have a Plan B ready that anyone can administer? We have a “no cancelled classes” policy at my institution, with guest speakers available. You have to plan ahead to schedule something like that. Instructional time is precious, so missing a session — especially if your course meets just once a week — is a big deal. I’d love to hear your solutions to this perennial problem.

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  • 11196496

    In cases where there is some time to plan ahead, one alternative is to declare that day as replaced by individual or small group conferences with students on their on-going work. Works well with classes where there is a term paper or other end-of-the-term project.

  • jclefevre

    The best way to be prepared for this is to be fully prepared to teach the course on line!  Of course this supposes that one has the time to do this.  I once taught on line and have in hand audio lectures for all the topics as well as discussion board topics, review notes, etc., ready to go.  I’ve kept them updated so that I am always prepared for emergency situations.  In addition I have my students follow me on Twitter so that I can inform them immediately in a forum to which they are constantly attuned!

  • hank_devereaux_jr

    I teach classes of 20-30 students. So my suggestions may not work for larger courses.

    I build a spare day or two into each course.  Example: default at my school is to give mid-term exams in class.  I give the exam on-line and save the extra day for emergencies.  If I don’t have one, it becomes an extra instructional day. 

    Also, in classes where showing a full length documentary might be relevant to the course work we are doing, I schedule the showing on a Sunday night (outside of class time).  Then if I need to cancel a class due to an emergency I’ve got the movie-night to count as a class — allowing me to “cancel” a regular class.

  • ordinary_man

    Just take sick leave.  We are humans not gods!  Self study is a good approach, while making a Youtube video with Camtasia or an audio pdf with livescribe or the combination of two.  I do not own stock in any of the company products mentioned.

  • englishwlu

    Asking students to attend an afternoon or evening lecture, symposium, poetry reading, play or musical performance–there’s almost always something relevant during the term of the missed class–can fill in the hours with something that expands and extends the students’ exposure to intellectual and cultural opportunities on campus.  Put it on your syllabus in advance as a policy, and announce the events as they come along.  But don’t let your language slide into the zone of attendance or extra credit. . . that’s for them, not for you!  If you have them writing posts or journal entries the events can be woven into course work so it feels substantive (which it is!)

  • yellow1

    Be flexible and fair with your attendance policy as well. As an administrator now, one of the complaints I hear each semester is from students who never miss a day for fear of the attendance policy on the syllabus. However, these students take courses from faculty who I know have had to cancel class since I’ve helped put the notes on boards/doors/online! We cannot expect students to attend every day if we’re being realistic, and we cannot expect faculty never to miss either. 

    I like the idea of “planning” for emergencies by having a flex day in your calendar. I always told students on the first day of class that they’ll more than likely have to miss a day of class no matter how badly they don’t want too. Same with their instructors. Faculty and students being caught up and proficient online make this less of a worry. It also requires both sides to be honest about an emergency (child in ER/flat tire/illness that requires doctor visit/etc.).

  • jeffkaron

    I train students to run a class in my absence (they will have a lesson plan to work from).  The experience helps strengthen them.

    Jeff Karon

  • rsgassle

    I have a syllabus that contains more than the average amount of reading. When I have to cancel class, I can usually simply cut out a day from the syllabus (later, not the assignment for the cancelled class). I then tell them that they are still getting more than the average college class. (Fortunately I do not teach math or foreign language.)

  • washingtonwarrior

    If you want your students to absolutely hate your guts, by all means schedule a “guest speaker” for class while you are absent. This isn’t elementary school; don’t get a substitute.

  • klkl932

    We are not saints more than God! In such emergency situations, allowing students, self-study course or deployment time. Not everything can be as planned.
    klkl932

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