Today's Chronicle of Higher Education includes an article concerning student excuses. Sometimes I wonder how much though the student actually applied to their particular excuse. Often I suggest recording the excuse before bringing it to my attention. The student can then listen to themselves, or better yet have someone else listen to them, to determine if the excuse has any plausibility. A lot of headaches on both sides of the desk could be avoided with this self-check.

The article points to this blog concerning both sides of the excuse market.