My *Favorite* thing my students ask me is this: “Are we doing anything in class on Friday? I don’t think I’m coming.”

Ahem. The answer is ALWAYS the same. “Probably. We usually do.” I can often say it with a smile. But with the pandemic that has totally changed the way we school in the last 2 years, we teach with the expectation that a certain percent (10-30, in my experience) of students will be gone every day.

It makes me think of the poem by Tom Wayman:

Did I Miss Anything?

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Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here 
we sat with our hands folded on our desks 
in silence, for the full two hours    

Everything. I gave an exam worth    
40 percent of the grade for this term    
and assigned some reading due today    
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz    
worth 50 percent 

Nothing. None of the content of this course 
has value or meaning 
Take as many days off as you like: 
any activities we undertake as a class 
I assure you will not matter either to you or me 
and are without purpose    

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time    
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel    
or other heavenly being appeared    
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do    
to attain divine wisdom in this life and    
the hereafter    
This is the last time the class will meet    
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people on earth. 

Nothing. When you are not present 
how could something significant occur?    

Everything. Contained in this classroom    
is a microcosm of human experience    
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder    T
his is not the only place such an opportunity has been gathered 
   
but it was one place    
And you weren’t here

—Tom Wayman