Sunday, April 10, 2005
Graphology 101
So last week with the weird schedule, I assigned my students a packet of 6 worksheets, the equivalent of a full week of homework (+1). This way even if they didn't have class, they could still keep their brains thinking about science, even if it were only for a little while.
Friday I collected the homeworks and was pleasantly surprised to see that most students actually had completed it. Even students who normally didn't do homework. Even the kid with a 10% average. Now this was mildly surprising, because this was the kid who basically told me point blank at the beginning of the year that the only reason he came to school was to avoid truancy. He's one of the students who got less than a 5% on a recent test. But you know what? I would have been willing to accept that he had turned around and decided to embrace a work ethic.
Except for one thing.
The handwriting. It wasn't his. In fact, it looked VERY SIMILAR to that of another student in the class. In fact, it was IDENTICAL to that of a female student in the class whom he happens to be dating. How coincidental is that?
I took the girl in question aside at the end of class and asked if she could explain this fantastic coincidence...but she denied any similarity.
As I mulled over the situation later, I realized that I was less annoyed that my students were cheating, but rather amazed that they were so very incompetent at it. I suppose it ensures my ability to stay one step ahead, but still...positively mindblowing stuff!
So last week with the weird schedule, I assigned my students a packet of 6 worksheets, the equivalent of a full week of homework (+1). This way even if they didn't have class, they could still keep their brains thinking about science, even if it were only for a little while.
Friday I collected the homeworks and was pleasantly surprised to see that most students actually had completed it. Even students who normally didn't do homework. Even the kid with a 10% average. Now this was mildly surprising, because this was the kid who basically told me point blank at the beginning of the year that the only reason he came to school was to avoid truancy. He's one of the students who got less than a 5% on a recent test. But you know what? I would have been willing to accept that he had turned around and decided to embrace a work ethic.
Except for one thing.
The handwriting. It wasn't his. In fact, it looked VERY SIMILAR to that of another student in the class. In fact, it was IDENTICAL to that of a female student in the class whom he happens to be dating. How coincidental is that?
I took the girl in question aside at the end of class and asked if she could explain this fantastic coincidence...but she denied any similarity.
As I mulled over the situation later, I realized that I was less annoyed that my students were cheating, but rather amazed that they were so very incompetent at it. I suppose it ensures my ability to stay one step ahead, but still...positively mindblowing stuff!
