To Cheat or not to Cheat?

[Ilovebigcats]

The moral of this thread:

"If you cheat and get caught be honest, you'll get credit anyway!"


Jeff give your student a great big SHALOM (sp) from Ilovegcatstein on J2!!

[ImaPK]

I was like Ilovegcats. I only cheated on homework.

How do you cheat on homework? ...our reading assignments were always to look up the answers in the books and we didn't have calculators back in my day and most of the math teachers I had would make you turn in your "scratch" paper to prove that you knew what you were doing...as far as tests I was too "lazy" to cheat...if I didn't know the answer I left it blank ...still graduated in the upper third of my class of a little over 400 students

[Ilovebigcats]

I was like Ilovegcats. I only cheated on homework.

How do you cheat on homework?

You don't do it and find someone who spent hours doing theirs and copy what they wrote down. That's a mighty silly question for someone in the top third of their class. I graduated from 8th grade right after summer school. That's makes me purty durn smart!

[mom of two]

No, I never cheated...I was too scared to do it. I wouldn't even let my friends look at my homework. That made a lot of people mad at me.

[Full Quiver]

Let's put it this way... I flunked the first semester of High School biology (I just wasn't interested) and I aced the second semester (I needed the credit)

[Gerald Creasy]

I never cheated (to the best of my memory) maybe one answer on one test?

I don't know.

But letting others look off me, I figured that was their responsibility.

There was a rough crowd of "Cool Kids"/"tuff guys" in my Senior English class, One came to me and asked for help on a paper...somehow this developed into giving him one of my own essays from the previous year.

I didnt care and so he took it, recopied and submitted it to the same English teacher I had the year before.

The teacher was enthralled that so-and-so had done such excellent work. She was so proud she had him stand in front of the class and read the essay.

All the while he kept looking over at me and grinning.

[ErinNicole]

I'm sure plenty of kids cheated at my high school. We always shared answers. Nothing compares, though, to what happened in one of my classes at Lee. I took a major level Christian Ed course called Spiritual Formation and Discipleship as an elective and about 6 kids were caught cheating on the first exam. (I was not one of them.) Seeing as this was a class all about moral development, our professor was livid and asked how in the world he was supposed to trust any of us as future leaders in the church. If we would cheat on something as meaningless as a test, then we would cheat on anything. I couldn't believe that actually happened in one of the ministry courses. It really upset alot of us.

-Erin

[MrDanger]

What happened to the kids?

The first group, I gave a speech to the whole class about "How disappointed Mr. Jones is" and said for it not to happen again.

The last occasion: I called the girl up that had done the work, mentioned to her that I knew she had supplied the answers (found a note from her saying to change some of the answers so their papers wouldn't look alike). I had her in front of the class talking to her personally, but loud enough for the whole room to hear. I mentioned that she was borderline on being exempt from my exam. If I gave her a zero on this assignment, she would not be exempt. If the ones that cheated off her would come forward right then, then she would keep the grade she had earned and they would get the zero. If they didn't come forward and admit cheating off her, then she would get the zero and not be exempt. No one came forward. I pointed to the classroom and said, see what happens when you help people that are too lazy to do their own work, the NEVER help you back. They are willing to risk your grade. Now, you know who you can count on in life. That made the others feel so guilty, they came forward and got their zeroes.

[RamboPreacher]

It's a funny (weird, not humorous) place we live in.

as to the original post - I never cheated in High School. and that was BEFORE I accepted Christ as personal savior and was Born Again. My parents may have "forced" me to go to church while they stayed home, but they otherwise "taught" me integrity by their words and actions when I was growing up.

[dolfan]

That was a BRILLIANT strategy to get confessions, and a memory (and hopefully a lesson) that'll stay with them forever.


I can't recall cheating off anyone else (doesn't mean it didn't happen in homework, but I was too chicken to do it during a test), but I can recall letting others peek at my work on occasion. My handwriting is and was so bad that it didn't happen much, though, I'll guarantee you.

[Sherry]

Mr. Jones, you sir deserve a pat on the back for that very valuable lesson those kids have learned, and hopefully will stick with them the rest of their lives.

Maybe one day in the distant future one of them will be in cyberspace communicating on a board such as this one and the question is posed, "Did any of you ever cheat in school?" and one of your former students will tell the story of the one and only time they did and the teacher they learned a valuable lesson from.

Hats off to you!!

[Dr. Ron]

Wow Jeff,
That was sheeeeeer genius! I am so glad you gave me the credit for having taught you that lesson years ago. You little wisdom thief,you. Don't you remember that time at camp years ago when we had the streaker in my cabin and I told all the kids that the streaker had to come to my bunk before morning or everyone was going home. And to your credit, you came and admited it was you !
OOOPs wrong Jeff! Just kidding man.

This whole thread has validated my belief that our whole system of education is goofed up. Those kids who learn by the pace method never have this issue because there is neither a need to cheat nor an opportunity. I teach my classes in counseling much the same way. The problem really is that some people test well and others don't. I was one of the "unfortunate-fortunate" ones who never had to take a book home. I was a quick study and was at the top of my classes. College was a little harder, but only because the profs don't care a whit about you making it or not. The table is set. Come and get it or leave it here. It's your dad's money.

I would love to see the educational process undergo a radical change to level the playing field. Every one does not have the same ability to retain facts and figures.

Weeeeellll now , let's see what happens with this thought.

[MrDanger]

This whole thread has validated my belief that our whole system of education is goofed up. Those kids who learn by the pace method never have this issue because there is neither a need to cheat nor an opportunity. I teach my classes in counseling much the same way. The problem really is that some people test well and others don't. I was one of the "unfortunate-fortunate" ones who never had to take a book home. I was a quick study and was at the top of my classes. College was a little harder, but only because the profs don't care a whit about you making it or not. The table is set. Come and get it or leave it here. It's your dad's money.

I would love to see the educational process undergo a radical change to level the playing field. Every one does not have the same ability to retain facts and figures.

Weeeeellll now , let's see what happens with this thought.

Actually, that is close to how I run my classroom. I have been told by MANY established business teachers I am not teaching correctly. Dr. Schimmels, from Lee University, was very strong in teaching us that we should let the students develope in education. Pretty simple in my room, you fail a test, you retake it till "you get it"....as long as you are willing. The answer key is available for them to look at all times (they can't copy, I use it so they can ask questions when they don't understand when theirs doesn't match). I have found that more students have "gotten" Accounting/Management since I have taught the way Schimmels taught us.

All of this is well and good, except for the fact that if a student doesn't want to work, even taylored toward them, they still don't get anything out of it (and still just want to cheat).

[Mike Vande]

I didn't cheat in school, but only because in elementary or high school I wasn't doing well enough for anyone to want my answers, and I wasn't popular enough for anyone to risk giving me theirs. In college, I was an adult AND a Christian, and doing well enough that cheating wasn't even a temptation.

[turbotim]

I was never one to cheat. I do remember a time in the 10th grade when I had to make up my semester exam. I had studied the night before like usual. I went to my chemistry teacher with notes in hand. I was one of those that studied until the teacher made us put our notes up. So of course, I had them in hand. She sent me to the science lab with the exam. I sat down and realized that I still had my notebook in hand along with the test. I was mystified. Wow, I had all I needed. I was ALONE in the science lab with the doors closed. The exam in one hand and the notebook full of answers in the other. But I knew the MOST important person in my life was watching me. My savior Jesus Christ. So, I put the notebook on the floor and made a B on the test. I passed Chemistry with an A. I really enjoyed the class.