Thursday, December 2, 2004

Subject of the Day: Cheating
Let's start here: I sit next to the future gas station attendents of New England's finest truck stops in history.

At the beginning of the year, everyone does worse than usual on a quiz or two. I did: I'm a straight-A student, but my first two quiz grades in there were C-minuses. They, on the other hand got 50s.

While it is not magic for someone who got a 70 on the first two quizzes to start getting 90s consistently, it is magic for people who get 50s to suddenly, five or so quizzes in, start acing actual tests.

Unless, of course, they cheat.

And it's not like I just guessed and accused. I sat there for a full two bloody months, hating myself for catching them changing answers as we corrected them and quietly discussing their actions right in front of me.

And then, on a test, they left an entire section blank each because neither knew anything about artists and composers of the romantic era, and then they copied down the answers in the other's handwriting when we corrected them together.

This was a test that, without having studied except to quickly read over the artists and their works, I acchieved a 95 on.

Well, they both acchieved 100s.

And then, I kinda got sick of hating myself for not saying anything. It's not right that they do that. It's not right that they don't think anything of doing that.

So, I told the teacher that I didn't really want to accuse them, but I was fairly certain that they had left a third of the test blank and filled in the answers as we corrected it. He said, thank you, he'd take it into consideration. I left, and promptly began hating myself for telling on them.

And really, I do feel bad. They shouldn't have done it, but maybe I shouldn't have told the only teacher I know who writes letters of non-recommendation that two dopers were cheating on a test. I mean, they don't deserve their grades, but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad about ratting them out.

The next day, he said nothing about it. He gave a fire and brimstone speech about political corruption on all levels, though, and I nearly had a stroke with the effort spent praying he didn't talk about cheating.

Then, today, he collected our quiz to grade himself rather than have us exchange papers. And he asked them to stay after class.

And then, I started to feel worse and better at the same time.

Of course, it meant that when I got called down to the office, I had a heart attack that they'd come up with a way to get back at me because they'd found out it was me. (It was only my mother making sure I was going to go to work straight from school and wouldn't need a ride.)

(This only began on Wednesday, by the way.)

Then, at parent-teacher conferences tonight, my parents stopped in their to make sure that whole thing was okay. I guess it is. He checked with other people, and my story checks, so I'm not getting blacklisted or anything.

I guess, overall, I did what I should have done. Now, though, I'm ashamed I waited this long ... though, if I'd said anything before I actually saw them doing it, I might have wound up in the wrong.



I hate parent-teacher conferences, since my dad's a teacher. The history guy was just to make sure that I was okay about those kids that were cheating, and the other was to make sure that my idiot algebra teacher knew that letting that girl bum around the class is a stupid, annoying thing to do (They didn't tell him I think he's an idiot, though.) and to ask about the math club that I didn't get to the first meeting of. Math is probably my career choice, and they're so new they need members, so I guess I'm joining now.

The last meeting wasn't scheduled, but whatever. It was the, "I'm a science teacer. You're a science teacher. I like labs. Why don't you do labs?" meeting. My teacher insists her teaching us study skills is a good thing, better than labs (I HAVE STUDY SKILLS! AS IS EVIDENCED BY THAT I DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN HER NUTBRAINED STUDY SESSIONS AND HANDING OUT OF TEST QUESTIONS WHENEVER POSSIBLE!) and that she's old are good reasons.

She did offer to switch me to the other teacher and try to help me get the lab-oriented chem teacher next year. GOOD! Because while I can't really switch out now, a term and a half into the year, I want that chem teacher, who I know from religious ed, more than the one who kicked me out of folk band.
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