Sometimes you just need to take a break from reality and not listen to that one teacher for two hours…
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ToggleWhy are classes so important?
Classes are important to attend as you can interact with the teacher and other students more in a class setting. Attending and participating in class demonstrates to the instructor that you are an eager learner who is taking responsibility for your education. Skipping a class can leave you behind and impact your grades which will negatively affect your future. You might think that the mathematical calculation that you used today at school will never be utilized in real life, however, as Herzing University mentioned in their post, by doing these calculations and problem solving you will learn critical thinking skills that help you solve general problems. These skills can then be carried over into your specialized professional coursework.
These are just a few of the reasons as to why skipping classes is harmful and is nothing to recommend.
However, sometimes the outcome of skipping a class can be positive.
What are good reasons to skip a class?
There are a few good reasons to skip class. A few of them include: illness, job interviews and emergencies. These are all accepted reasons as to why you’d skip a class, and are quite obvious ones. As these reasons are logical reasons and are universally known and accepted I will not be discussing them.
In this article I will be talking about skipping classes due to less popular reasons… For instance because you simply don’t want to go to class.
Why would simply not wanting to go to class ever be a good reason?
Sometimes, it is completely fine to skip out on class simply because you don’t want to go to class. You’re obviously skipping class for your own personal reason. If resting is that reason then so be it, you need to rest which can also prevent escalation of existing concerns such as having a breakdown or getting mentally exhausted. Your reason might not be valid to others, but if it is valid to you then it is valid as no one else can feel the way that you do, or experience things the way you do.
Planning to Skip Class
First and foremost, you cannot skip too many classes. This would affect your grades poorly and can never be recommended. Therefore it is important to consider the possible repercussions of skipping.
Before deciding to skip, ask yourselves some questions. Will you miss out on crucial information or fall behind in your coursework? Are you going miss the chance to collaborate with your peers or participate in a group project? Will your absence be noted or impact how well you participated?
Once you’ve considered the repercussions of skipping class you need to figure out which class in specific you feel the need of skipping. Is it that class early in the morning or the one at 4 o’ clock? These are the strategic decisions that you have to take prior to skipping. Keep in mind that getting caught can result in serious consequences, so you should have a strategy. Consider not skipping at all if you are unable to make a solid plan.
How to Skip Class
This section will be split into two categories. One which is excuses, the other one which are tricks.
Tricks
This section is illustrative and somewhat satirical, do not actually try any of these things as some of them are criminal offenses in most countries. I personally have never done these and I recommend you not to try these as you could end up in jail! But on the bright side, being in jail is a good reason to miss class.
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- Have a friend call out your name in name call:
When the teacher calls out your name in class, have a friend answer with “Yes!” hopefully without the teacher noticing or asking for a repeat. - Have a friend say that you are on the way when role call is done:
Hopefully you will not receive an absence, however this entirely depends on the teachers methods. Could give it a try. - Complain to the admin that the teacher made a mistake:
Borrow notes from a friend to prove you were there, hopefully they will “fix” your attendance and set you as present. - Hack the attendance application with an SQL injection:
This is next level cheating! This can get you in big trouble if you actually succeed in this more advanced method of cheating. - Hack attendance by intercepting packages on the network:
With a package snooper look for the attendance registration packages and change its content. - Use the teachers login on the computer to change attendances:
Teachers often forget to log out. Use a keylogger to unveil the login so that you can change your attendance to present. - Bribe an academic administrator to change your attendances:
This one is self explanatory. You’ve got excess class while being too cool for school? No time to study? Simply bribe the admin. Cause that’s… Err. Cool.
- Have a friend call out your name in name call:
These ones are a bit funny
- Embed a keystroke logger in one of your assignments:
This is somewhat advanced as well, however a keystroke logger is quite easy to use once you actually find the right software. Once the teacher’s computer is infected you will be able to get all of their passwords including the one to the LMS system where your attendance data is being keps. You might as well get the exam questions while you are at it, yay. - Attendance is taken digitally via given URL:
If you know a teacher that takes attendance via a URL, simply request this URL from a friend and tick yourself as present from home. - DDOS-attack the school attendance system so no-one has attendance:
Add ransomware to an assignment, to nuke your teacher’s computer.
Excuses/Reasoning
I will be listing a few good excuses with decent reasoning for skipping class, but you will be the judge on which alternative fits you best with your schools’ regulations as they can vary. If you really want a day off, these would be the excuses I could recommend without feeling guilty of potentially putting someone in prison.
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- Say you need to visit the guidance counselor at your school:
The benefit of telling someone you need to see a counselor is that they won’t ask you why, as it is private information, and will simply let you leave without interfering. - You aren’t feeling well:
It is simplest to pretend to have a headache or stomach ache. Prevent conditions like the common cold, which frequently includes a runny, red nose and pale skin. You can extend your time in bed by wrapping your arms around your stomach or massaging your temples. But keep it brief and to the point; the more you try to sell it, the less credible it may be. “I think I may have eaten something strange yesterday because my stomach hurts so bad.”
Inform a close buddy who is in the class you plan to miss that you won’t be attending due to a credible excuse. When the teacher inquires, your friend can respond and explain why you were absent, which will prevent the teacher from becoming suspicious or giving it further thought. Get your companion to pretend that you are at home, ill, or out with your mother to the doctor.
- Say you need to visit the guidance counselor at your school:
You simply don’t want to go to school
Lastly, honesty may be the best course of action. This may also be an opportunity for you to reflect on the reasons why you first decided against going. Many typical justifications might be valid, or you might be dealing with something personally that you can discuss on your day off. Otherwise, it can merely serve as a temporary justification if there’s nothing more significant going on. “Some things have been bothering me and I could really use the day to talk about them.”
Why are you helping people skip class, surely this is something negative?
Yes, skipping classes as stated previously in this article is bad and can negatively affect your grades and future if done frequently. However, sometimes a break from reality is very necessary without specifically needing a valid argument to do so.
As a good friend of the one who so strongly doesn’t want to go to school you should listen and talk to them. Who knows, maybe something is going on in class that they aren’t telling you yet, therefore it is important to give them time and space in order to talk with them when the time is right.
Attendance Radar
The simplest and most trustworthy way to take attendance is with the smartphone app “Attendance Radar”. It quickly and accurately marks students’ attendance automatically via a secure low energy proximity Bluetooth transmission.
In the app, students can broadcast a signal to mark themselves as present, which a teacher or instructor can facilitate. Then, the teacher receives a complete list of attendees that links to the students’ attendance in the institution’s or university’s management system.
How Attendance Radar Eliminates the Tricks
This application eliminates most of the tricks that I listed above, as you literally cannot cheat this system. Teachers won’t be doing any name calling as the application does this for you. It is the students responsibility to mark themselves, and cannot mark presence for anyone else as you can only mark once per class.
Also, since the application is automated, there cannot be any “mistake from the teacher” which eliminates that possibility for a student to argue with the admins. The application transmits a signal for attendance, not through an URL which eliminates that trick.
For the tricks related with going on the teacher’s computer: Students cannot change anything from your computer, since the application is on the phone which anyone rarely forgets nowadays.
Download Attendance Radar for free
The app’s basic version is available for free, and a commercial version that connects with the learning management system at your university can be created upon request.
Author
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Leo Dahlgren
Leo, a 21-year-old born in Tokyo and raised in Sweden, is a multilingual individual fluent in Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and English. Excelling in academics, he consistently ranked at the top of his class. For the past year, Leo has been employed as a Growth Strategist at Codific, leveraging his diverse skill set and strategic thinking to drive the company's growth. Within his work, he shares his expertise through well-received blog posts covering general information regarding education, attendance and optimizing attendance tracking.
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