Discipline For the First Time

I had a student today ask me at the beginning of class if she could go to the nurses office because she wasn't feeling well. I told her to hurry back and let me know what was going on. She left her bag at her desk, and I continued on with my teaching. I then split my kids into groups of two, and I had one girl left over. It was then that I realized that my student had never returned back to class, and she had been gone for over 20 minutes.

I asked my lone student to go to the nurses office to see where my student was. The lone student returned and reported that no one had been to the nurses station in several hours. I realized that my student was lying to me about "going to the nurse." Time continued to tick on. Before long 30 minutes had passed. This girl had not returned. Then 40 minutes. Finally, after 50 minutes, the bell rang. I went out to the hallway to say goodbye to my class, and this girl was out in the hallway. She tried sneaking in the door, but I wasn't going to be fooled by a freshman.

As she was grabbing her bag I said, "The nurse said you didn't show up."
"Really? I went there," she said.
"I know you're lying to me. Where were you?"
She was silent.
"Where were you?" I asked again.
"I went to the cafeteria to have lunch with my friends."

I then informed her that she had been marked absent for the class. I also told her I had emailed her mother to inform her of the situation and that she would no longer be allowed to leave my classroom because I couldn't trust her.

She left without saying a word to me. I also reported her to the Principal's office so that other teachers can be informed of this situation. Needless to say, I was pretty upset, and it was the first time I had to discipline one of my students. I'll let you know if I hear back from her mother.