Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #69 – October 30, 2010
A recent study shows that 95 percent of high school students have cheated. Unbelievable! This makes it all the more imperative, we teach students why cheating is never the right path to choose.
Why Do Students Cheat?
Some of the reasons students give for cheating include: laziness, fear of failure, and the pressures of school. Some even believe, cheating is an acceptable method for succeeding in school. The truth is, cheating is a crime.
Some students cheat because they have no role models to demonstrate honesty on a daily basis in their lives. Another roadblock to deterring this crime is the teachers who simply turn a blind eye to dishonesty. Some cheating may be inadvertent, such as plagiarizing information off the internet. Students need to be taught how to properly use the resources available online.
How do Students Cheat?
According to the new national survey of 2,000 middle and high school students, 35 percent of teens with cell phones say they've used a cell phone at least once to cheat during a test and over half (52 percent) say they've used the Internet to cheat. I’ve heard some teachers have already wised-up to this, and collect cell phones at the door on test day. Anyone caught with a cell phone during the test (whether it is being used or not) automatically fails the exam. Wow! Look how far technology has brought us. I thought it was bad enough when a student turned in his final Senior Term Paper to me. He had downloaded it from the Internet and hadn’t even bothered to remove the original author’s name from the title page. Naturally, his parents were outraged that this actually did affect his final grade in the class. It’s a good thing I had all the students and parents sign an Honesty Policy at the beginning of the year. Oops! Oh yeah. The parents squirmed in their seats as they stared, wide-eyed at their signatures on the aforementioned document.
How do We Stop the Cheating?
What can we as teachers and parents do to encourage students to take the more difficult path, which includes their own critical thinking and organizational skills, rather than copying information word for word authored by someone else and freely available on the Internet? One way is for teachers to make the assignment as interesting and useful to the student as possible. Allow students to choose from a variety of topics, so they will want to use their own voice as they begin to compose.
It may also help to give the students an example of why the “quick and easy” route may not always be the best solution. Ask them to imagine they have been diagnosed with a fatal illness and that their only chance for survival is a very delicate surgery. Ask them how they would feel; if they discovered the doctor about to perform the surgery had cheated all the way through medical school. There will always be a time in life where one is held accountable and responsible for his actions.
Lastly, let your students know, you expect nothing but the best from them. You expect them to improve their critical thinking skills, writing and organizing skills and improve with each piece of work they turn in. You want each of them to acquire all the tools and skills necessary to make it on their own in college or in the career of their choice. They alone will know if they have put in the hard work and effort it takes to achieve this goal. Knowing this alone, will give them the confidence to make their dreams a reality.
Character is higher than intellect. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
WHAT TO DO WITH STARFISH
Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #68 – October 9, 2010
If you’ve ever been given a gift that changed your life, you will understand what I’m about to say. Have you ever had someone help you out? Make a difference in your life? Show you or teach you something that changed your world? Someone once gave me something that had such a significant impact on my thinking as a teacher, I felt compelled to pass it on to others. This is why I am giving you the gift now.
When I was a principal, I gave this gift to my teachers, every year. To do so, I gathered all of them in a room and sat them around a large table. I noticed how full of energy they were, anticipating the work that awaited them. There was Mark; he had a way of making even the most downtrodden child smile and feel good about something they had done. I remember Marie getting down on the pavement of the parking lot trying to calm one of our “special” students who was intent on remaining underneath his mom’s car. I waited until their conversations died down. I welcomed them to the fresh start of our school year, smiled and proceeded to read them this story:
The Starfish Story
(adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley 1907 – 1977)
While walking down the beach, a man saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it in the ocean.
As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.
After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said, "There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to save all of them. There are simply too many. You can't possibly save enough to make a difference."
The young boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean.
"It made a difference to that one," he replied.
--------------------
After reading the story, I waited a few seconds, and allowed this awesome truth to sink in. I noticed wide open eyes and nodding heads. When the time was right, I asked, “So, what are you thinking?”
Each one of them had different thoughts about how this story applied to their job as a teacher. Each one internally made it a personal story. This is exactly what I wanted to happen. How much better is it when someone creates their own meaning, from which they can then build their own goals and dreams? Then, I gave each teacher a starfish pin to wear, in hopes that wearing the pin and seeing this symbol would keep the burning purpose of making a difference, alive throughout the year.
On one of our “Back to School Nights,” one of my teachers told this story to the parents as “his own.” He promised the parents not to leave even one “starfish” behind in the sand. He said the children would be safe with him and he would help guide them toward the kind of learning that would lead them beyond mere survival and onto a life where they would use their own abilities to thrive.
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith
If you know someone who you would like to give the gift of this story to as well as the starfish pin, here is the website I order them from. ( I am not connected to this website in any way):
http://www.masterteacher.com/product/detail.cfm?MT_Item_Number=240101
If you’ve ever been given a gift that changed your life, you will understand what I’m about to say. Have you ever had someone help you out? Make a difference in your life? Show you or teach you something that changed your world? Someone once gave me something that had such a significant impact on my thinking as a teacher, I felt compelled to pass it on to others. This is why I am giving you the gift now.
When I was a principal, I gave this gift to my teachers, every year. To do so, I gathered all of them in a room and sat them around a large table. I noticed how full of energy they were, anticipating the work that awaited them. There was Mark; he had a way of making even the most downtrodden child smile and feel good about something they had done. I remember Marie getting down on the pavement of the parking lot trying to calm one of our “special” students who was intent on remaining underneath his mom’s car. I waited until their conversations died down. I welcomed them to the fresh start of our school year, smiled and proceeded to read them this story:
The Starfish Story
(adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley 1907 – 1977)
While walking down the beach, a man saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it in the ocean.
As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.
After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said, "There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to save all of them. There are simply too many. You can't possibly save enough to make a difference."
The young boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean.
"It made a difference to that one," he replied.
--------------------
After reading the story, I waited a few seconds, and allowed this awesome truth to sink in. I noticed wide open eyes and nodding heads. When the time was right, I asked, “So, what are you thinking?”
Each one of them had different thoughts about how this story applied to their job as a teacher. Each one internally made it a personal story. This is exactly what I wanted to happen. How much better is it when someone creates their own meaning, from which they can then build their own goals and dreams? Then, I gave each teacher a starfish pin to wear, in hopes that wearing the pin and seeing this symbol would keep the burning purpose of making a difference, alive throughout the year.
On one of our “Back to School Nights,” one of my teachers told this story to the parents as “his own.” He promised the parents not to leave even one “starfish” behind in the sand. He said the children would be safe with him and he would help guide them toward the kind of learning that would lead them beyond mere survival and onto a life where they would use their own abilities to thrive.
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith
If you know someone who you would like to give the gift of this story to as well as the starfish pin, here is the website I order them from. ( I am not connected to this website in any way):
http://www.masterteacher.com/product/detail.cfm?MT_Item_Number=240101
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