Once Bitten By a Snake

Once Bitten By a Snake

Jay Feng

“One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.”
-Mark Twain-
“Be trustworthy: Generate belief in you by others for your dependability and reliability by creating assurance of this in yourself.” -The Book of Be Attitudes-


Trustworthy is a disposition that must be possessed and demonstrated by every classroom teacher. Everyday and everywhere teachers are entrusted by parents and the community to teach young children and shape their future. But unfortunately, from time to time, here and there, the trust is betrayed by those few who are not fit for teaching. I had a rare, yet memorable, encounter with such an individual early in my teaching career.
About a decade ago when I first began my teaching career in teacher education, my colleagues and mentors kindly offered me a piece of professional advice on class attendance policy. That was, it should be clearly stated in the course syllabus that students wishing to be excused from class absence must submit necessary documentation. Some even advised that they themselves required such documents as doctor’s excuse, police report, and occasionally death certificate. I understood then as I do now, the importance of including a clear statement of class attendance policy in a course syllabus. Always compassionate and willing to trust my students, particularly pre-service teachers, I just thought the document requirement went a little too far and did not take their advice seriously to heart.
One spring semester during my second year of teaching, I was assigned to supervise a few student teachers. Among them was Alice, a seemingly strong student and friendly person, although not particularly outstanding academically. As a clinical supervisor, I did what was common in any student teaching supervision, making site visits, observing student teaching and giving feedback. From my initial interaction and observations with Alice, she seemed to be making good progress by all accounts; cooperating with the classroom teacher Mrs. Cook, turning in paperwork in time, working with small groups of first graders, preparing lessons; I was eager to observe her actually teaching a whole group lesson. All my student teachers knew that I would make site visits, announced or unannounced any time during their student teaching experience, as clearly stated in the syllabus.
Going through my schedule one Thursday morning, I decided to make an unannounced visit to Alice and observe her teaching a whole group science lesson. After a short drive from my university campus, I arrived at the elementary school in a very small rural town, checked in, and quickly yet quietly stepped into Mrs. Cook’s first grade classroom, anticipating a well planned science lesson by Alice. But Alice was not in the room! Apparently surprised by my presence, Mrs. Cook told me about Alice’s absence. Alice’s boyfriend called in early that morning and reported that Alice was involved in an automobile accident and was badly injured the night before. I felt sorry for Alice and for the moment, a doctor’s excuse or police report did not even cross my mind. I was concerned about her situation and wanted to find out if her injury was serious or even life threatening. Caring about her well-being, I immediately contacted Alice by phone as soon as I got back to the office; this was before cell phones were invented! Alice answered the phone sounding like she just woke up, told me about the unfortunate automobile accident, apologized for the absence, and assured me that she would be back in school the very next day. Being a caring and kind person that I am, I might be a very strict teacher but I would not in my right mind require a seriously injured student to teach lessons. So I offered Alice extended absence from student teaching until she fully recovered. But she insisted on returning the next day, and I was so impressed by her dedication!
The next day, I went to see Alice in the school. Before I stepped into the classroom, Mrs. Cook quietly signaled me at the door, quickly came out of the room and walked me towards the conference room. Not knowing what was going on or what to expect, I just followed quietly feeling a little awkward. Once in the conference room, Mrs. Cook sat me down, shut the door, and with anger and disbelief, told me that the whole Alice-got-injured-in-an-accident was a big lie! According to Mrs. Cook, she heard this story from Alice’s friend; after all, it’s a small rural town where everyone supposedly knows everyone else. According to Mrs. Cook, Alice had not been involved in an automobile accident and was not physically hurt in any way. Rather, Alice attended a friend’s birthday party, got intoxicated that night, and overslept the next morning. Worried about the possible consequence of unexcused absences in student teaching, Alice made up the whole story, in hopes of gaining sympathy and excuse, according to her then friend. I was completely blown away, not knowing what to believe or how to react. This was a whole new experience for me.
After a deep breath to help me calm down, I decided it was time to confront Alice face-to-face to uncover her side of the story. Mrs. Cook and I went back to the classroom where Alice was already teaching a lesson. I could not believe my eyes! There, in front of the whole first grade class, Alice was on a pair of crutches and with one leg full of bandages. What a sight! Seeing me somewhat surprised at the door, Alice abruptly stopped the lesson and walked to me, red-faced and awkwardly as if in pain (or in shame). I tried to greet her warm and caringly, and then led her, still on crutches, one slow step at a time, not exchanging a word, to the conference room. Once inside the conference room, in a caring and sincere tone, I asked Alice about the accident, her leg, the bandages, crotches and all. Suddenly and without a word out of her mouth, she collapsed into a big chair, throwing the crotches on the floor, and started to cry hysterically. Moments later (it must have felt like hours!), without further prompt from me but with, I think, some conscience-awakening from inside her, Alice told the whole story, confirming the report of both Mrs. Cook and Alice’s friend; she had partied; drank too much, overslept, and made up the automobile accident for her absence. Right there and then, I made a decision; Alice must leave the school immediately and later meet with me in the university. “Always tell the truth,” Mark Twain famously said, “that way you won’t have to remember what you said.” Alas, Alice did remember what she had said, but obviously forgot whom she partied with and who she was trying to fool!
That afternoon, Alice and I had an emergency meeting with Dr. Moor, Associate Dean of Field Experience and Community Relations, and Dr. Franklin, Chair of the Teacher Education Program. At the meeting, Alice once again confessed how and why she had made up the whole automobile incident. Not surprising to me but shocking to her, Alice was advised by the administrators to discontinue her student teaching. And the rest is history. Or, so I thought.
About a year later, I received a surprise phone call from Alice, asking me to change her grade in Student Teaching from an F to a C because she wanted her transcripts to look good when she would apply for jobs in the airline industry. I later learned that after dropping out of student teaching, Alice changed her majors to Tourism and Recreation. Thank goodness, she was not going to be a teacher! You guessed it; I would not change her grade for any thing in the world. I doubt she ever learned the lesson on honesty from her failed student teaching. I would never want to take a flight on which Alice might be a flight attendant.
So now I have a clearly stated class policy in all my course syllabi, and yes, I do require documentation such as doctor’s excuse and police report for class absence. As a Chinese saying goes, “Once bitten by a snake, one would be scared of even ropes for years.”