Special Thx
Seriously, you didn’t think I would notice?
So AP students had a test yesterday. They have been in a panic ALL week over their grades. Being the evil teacher I decided to give them a test to bring up their really sucky grade. Furthermore, I gave them the correct identifications for all the people and terms they were supposed to define. Then I had the gall to make the test multiple choice and matching, with MORE choices than there were questions. Woe is them. Many were appropriately concerned and studied their little heart out. My heart, being black and cold, was not interested in the whining that took place before the test. I was also not interested in ignoring cheating. I know, I’m mean.
Students have a very recognizable body posture when they are texting. Being the techno texting geek that I am, I know this and I recognize it rather easily. In class, texting is not a huge concern. I call them on it if it is blatant, disruptive, or if they are flat out not paying attention to me. In class during a test? Oh heck no. You will not get away with it.
The answer forms were distributed. Pre-test questions answered. Tests distributed. I then took my post at the front of the room. Enter grades into the computer…look around the room. Back to the grades. Stand up walk around the room. Back to the grades….Notice the Prince has strange body posture. He is gazing intently at his test. It is more than simply a deep focus on the choices. *ding-ding* Realization sets in that he is texting…during MY test! He’s being discreet. I think he has answers on his phone. Stand. Move to my desk with a direct line of sight to his desk. It is at this point that other students are finishing their test, turning it in, and bringing me work that they desperately want credit for. I keep my line of sight open and multi-task. Checking student work for participation credit, I am still watching the Prince. His test concentration is still strange and he has his right arm under the desk and across his body. After a desperate student sits down I catch the glow of an electronic screen being slipped into the left pocket by the Prince’s right hand. Silently I stand and approach the Prince and ask him to hand it over. Busted. He hands me his iPod. Huh, he’s not texting or receiving texted answers. I slide the iPod touch into my desk drawer and sit back in my chair. Other students have noticed the disruption. I will not embarrass the Prince and I will not lose my head.
After I regain my composure I take the iPod and look at it again. It is locked. After I figure out how to unlock it the screen brightens. What do I find? Google. The Prince was using his iPod touch wi-fi to Google the test answers! Before class is over he admits his wrong and expresses regret. I felt really sorry for him. Really. Eighteen year old kid. Senior. Desperate not to fail. Sucks to be him, he just screwed up his third term grade by doing something stupid. Not only does he receive a zero on the test he loses his iPod touch to the office on his second electronic device violation. His parents will have to come to school and retrieve it for him.
I know that teachers do not notice everything and pretend to not notice some of what they do notice, but did he REALLY think he would get away with using the ‘net to find all the people on my test? Really? The answer…yes, he did.
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Relaxing to: Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Lookin’ Out For No. 1
via FoxyTunes
11 Responses to Seriously, you didn’t think I would notice?
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Wow, things have changed since I was a kid! I recall cheating on one biology test and I felt so bad afterwards that I never wanted to try it again. However, I did sign my parents names more than a few time.
sage’s last blog post..Chichen Itza and Basketball
He felt bad. I felt pity, but not enough to let him off the hook and do a retake.
Wow. Things are so different now. I never really thought about how kids can cheat these days. When I was in school, answers were in the back of hand or scrap paper.
Good for you for not letting him get away with it. Especially with it being his second violation.
Momisodes’s last blog post..Sure, Why Not? I Guess Not EVERYONE Has Seen It.
Uhm, hello? It’s an AP class!
The only way I ever passed an AP class was by studying my ass off!
No pity for these whining fools. Learn your shit and earn your grade!
leesepea’s last blog post..And this bird you cannot change!
Hey!
I cheatted several times in math exams when I was in sixth grade at junior high school.It was too bad.
I am feeling a sense of validation from your comments.
Hehe, too stupid to cheat right
Nah, like the others say, times have changed.
Googling with your ipod?
I had to write my cheats with a thin pen inside my calculator, on rubbers (no, the ones you erase stuff with) and on all kinds of other things
Yes, I was bad and lazy
Nicole’s last blog post..Sprouting seeds
I require all hands to be visible on the desks during tests or quizzes. For the final, phones and other electronics are left on a desk, turned off, right beside the door so that they will not forget them.
Good for you. I hate cheating. There were times I took my bad grade like a big girl, but to cheat? NO.
Ms. Cornelius’s last blog post..Encouraging kids to fight in school, parts 1 and 2
Git ‘im. I don’t think I’m all that much smarter than the average joe, but I got a 3.0 in High School without even trying that hard. To be THAT unprepared means that he made poor choices with what to do with his time…rather than study.
The thing these jokers don’t consider is the time factor. If you don’t have a pretty good idea of the anwer going in, you simply don’t have the time to look up the answers on Google!
People get fooled by “open book” tests. If you have to look up every answer, you’re screwed. And most of the time you did it to yourself.
Steve B’s last blog post..From the “World’s Most Poorly Crafted Headlines” Dept.
Good for you. Man, kids don’t even have to work to cheat anymore. In the old days (aka my high school career) you had to handwrite a cheat sheet or print some notes on your hand or something. So at least you were going over the material once as you wrote it down
I’m surprised they allow phones and iPods in class. I feel so out of the loop.
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Phones are not allowed and at our school iPods are teacher’s discretion. Some teachers require students to listen to podcasts. If students are simply doing seat work I don’t care if they are working to the tunes in their head as long as the work gets done, but their are appropriate times and not. Most don’t allow them.