"I want to encourage people who may be wrestling with some of the things that Kate's describing here as difficult. It is both incredibly difficult and easy all at the same time because it's incredibly freeing," she says. "When my students tell me that they're sick or that the printed guide or that the dog ate their homework, whatever it is, I choose to believe them." She adds: "There is an obvious risk that someone might put one over on me and get away with something that someone might think they shouldn't"