You know, there are a lot of bad things out in the world.
Drugs, pornography, immorality, infidelity, murders, etc.
Bad.
There's just a lot of bad.
But do you know what scares me more than those things? People's lack of integrity and character.
I just read this article and it's long but it's well worth the read and you might as well know more about what's going on in schools rather than the blogs you're reading, right?... I know you have the time.
This makes my skin crawl. Just really really crawl.
I remember one time down in my basement doing a group project. It was a simple assignment and I was sitting there, writing things on the poster board. Everyone else in my group was talking (not a big deal...you know how group projects are). Then we got on the subject of cheating. Everyone starting talking about the best ways to cheat. I was completely caught off guard. I asked them if they all cheated on assignments and tests. Their responses were that of, "duh, doesn't everyone?"
Um, no. Not everyone cheats. They asked me how I cheat on things. I told them I hadn't since second grade. They were shocked. SHOCKED.
So then they said, wow I bet you and so and so (a boy from my grade) are the only ones in the school who have never cheated.
Um, hey. I went to high school in Utah Valley. 99% of my classmates were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm pretty sure more than just two of us in the class hadn't cheated before. But I was shocked. I looked at all those people in my group and just sat there dumbfounded. What was the world coming to?
Indeed. What is the world coming to.
In second grade I remember cheating on a test. We were sitting there with two manilla folders around our desks, taking a little test. I looked over initially to look at the boy next to me (he was cute, okay?) and saw his answers. I thought it would be so easy to write down what I just saw, so I did. Then my teacher caught me. She caught me and pulled me aside and talked to me about what was going on. I remember crying, realizing that what I had just done was so wrong. I knew that I was unhappy, my teacher was unhappy and ultimately it made the Lord unhappy. Was a temporal test worth that? No. It never is. I decided then to never cheat. And I was honest with myself.
So as a teacher, what do I do? What do I do when I know this will be happening? I will of course take away all phones at the beginning of classes, rewrite tests and such but what do we do? How to we stop this moral decay?
Standardized testing is for another day...
Read the article. Tell me what you think. And please, remind yourself that it's easier to be obedient 100% of the time than it is to be 98% of the time. And teach your children ahhhhhhhhhhh.
That article is crazy! I feel like you have to go to a whole lot more trouble to cheat when, you know, you could just study for the test.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting article. I remember cheating once in 3rd grade (and it was totally accidental, too), and then I felt so awful about it 2 weeks later I confessed to dad, talked to my teacher, and re-took the test. So similar situations, you and I. Also, some thoughts: As far as you as a teacher handling cheating, think of good examples in your schooling experience of teachers that handled it well. Birrell and Woolsey? They, in a lot of ways, had a policy of "You'll get it in heaven"... which, is true. You can't drive yourself crazy trying to have 100% honesty because it's not in your hands. On the other hand though, having only that policy is not a good way to go. Birrell and Woolsey, if I remember correctly, knew what was happening and would talk to a student one on one. Another thing to consider, also (thought about this when reading the article), is that many teachers now aren't familiar with how phones are used for cheating or the signs of someone on their phone during class. Having grown up in that culture, you'll have more of an advantage and be harder to fool.
ReplyDeleteSorry, that was a lot. But there's my thoughts.
And yes, it makes me sick too.
From my experience in the classroom (limited, I know) it is much easier to notice cheaters than you'd think if you are constantly monitoring. It is just sooooo tempting on test day to prep for all your classes/things/career. Or to read a book.
ReplyDeleteAnother solution. Don't give formal tests. I'm generally opposed to be honest.
It's bad. Cheating is definitely prevalent among students at my high school that I teach at. The problem? They honestly don't see anything wrong with it. They haven't been taught at HOME that cheating is bad. They haven't been taught about being a good person and having integrity. Students are supposed to come to school to learn... but they SHOULD have already been taught at home about morals and values. But that's in a perfect world. And we obviously don't live in a perfect world.
ReplyDeleteIt's rough. You do what you can. But you can't change a student's views if they don't want to change. You just have to be consistent and enforce your policy for cheating when you see it happen. And unfortunately... there will be a few who continue to get away with it :(