My least favorite question...

I know that they probably don't mean it the way it sounds when they ask "Are we doing anything today?". Or, even better "Are we doing anything important today?" Now, granted, not every single minute of every single one of my classes holds equal importance (one could argue that in a progression of increased knowledge, excellent planning and fabulous teaching, each moment is more important than the last, but that would require a hell of a lot of ego, so we won't argue that, now will we?), but given that I work hard to plan meaningful lessons and I take the time to research the content, the question "Are we doing anything (important) today?" is vastly insulting. Most of the time I get the question when the student has to leave class for some reason (doctor's appointment, choir/band/orchestra concert, field trip for another class, press conference), and they are trying to assess what it is they are going to miss while they are out of class. With my AP students, frequently the question means that the student is weighing whether or not they really want to miss class in favor of whatever it is that they have been offered as an alternative. If it's going to be a lot of new material, the student will opt to stay in class rather than miss out. With my World history students, who are younger, and frequently less mature, they seem to mean the question a bit more. And usually the question comes not in advance of the missed class, as it does with the AP student, but the day after the missed class ("I was sick, Ms. H, really!"). "Did we do anything yesterday?" Oh gosh, no, I'm sorry, we sat around twiddling our thumbs for 95 minutes. You didn't miss a thing. Thank goodness you're here, I was worried that we would never finish the French Revolution at this rate.

I know, I know. They don't really mean it the way it sounds. They are, after all, only 15 or 16 years old. And they really do mean "What do I/will I need to make up?" It's just such thoughtless phrasing that bugs the crap out of me, ok?