Funny Story

I recently completed teaching an English composition class at one of our Bible school campuses.  We studied the steps necessary in pre-writing and editing to ensure the quality of the final product.  I assigned a writing project and specified that 25% of the grade would be for the rough draft. 
This was a hard concept for the students to comprehend.  They wanted to clean up their rough copy before submitting it, but I stressed that I wanted to see the process and steps they took in writing.  When they realized that failure to submit a rough copy would automatically cost them 25 points, they relented and turned in the project as assigned. One young man told me that he had left his rough copy in town at his parents’ house and asked if he could turn it in the next day.  I agreed.
The next morning he came to my office early with something behind his back and said that he needed to show me something.  Now I have heard the excuse my dog ate my homework, but I was not prepared for what came next.  As he slowly moved his arm forward, I saw a small, blue plastic sack.  He placed it on my desk and opened it.  Inside was a torn-up copy of his rough draft. Imagine my surprise!

It seems that one of his brothers had torn it up and thrown it in the trash.  He retrieved it and asked if I wanted it.  I took a quick look and saw what I needed and told him that he was free to take it, and he would be getting credit.  In all of my years of teaching, this was a first for me.  I think it was for him as well.  We both looked a bit embarrassed.  Final project grade of 93 instead of 68.  I’d say it was worth the effort.