I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15 year old Micky, gave me a note from his mother. It 1 his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Micky himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental excuse notes I received were penned by my 2.The forged (伪造的) excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The3of those notes didn't realize that honest excuse notes were usually 4：“Peter was late because the alarm clock didn't go off.”
The students always said that it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject, but when they 5excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I gave the excuse notes to my classes, saying，“They're 6to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Micky? ” The students looked at me 7.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the 8of the excuse notes—the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You're so 9to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a 10worthy of study.”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your 11. So try more now. Today I'd like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam/Eve to God'.”12 went down. Pens raced 13paper. For the first time ever I saw students so 14in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. 15 discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked 16 ， looking at papers, and then said, “I'd like you to see me in my office.” My heart 17.
When I stepped into his office, he came to 18my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was 19.Those kids were writing on the college20.Thank you.”
