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As you may have seen in previous posts, I've been having issues with plagiarism. After speaking to both the parent and the student on this latest case, I learned that the parent, who is also a teacher in our school, wrote most of the introduction, conclusion, and a full body paragraph (hence the reason it was on a text that wasn't part of our unit) for her kiddo.
Yes. This parent, who is a TEACHER AT OUR SCHOOL, plagiarized!
I was so angry last night, and I am SO glad that one of the things I have learned in my 12 years of teaching (plus 42 years of life experience) is that it is best to take time to breathe and calm down before shouting (or sending shouty emails). I wrote an email last night but didn't send it, and then, when I got to work this morning, when I was calmer, I edited the email down and sent it. I wrote a script of what I wanted to say to the student and reworded it this morning to keep the tone more neutral. (Side note, I do suspect I've got ADHD, and emotional upheaval makes things so much worse, so this trick of writing scripts when I have something important to say, like to my class, has the added benefit of allowing me to check my tone.) But the time I got to class with this kiddo, at 1:30 in the afternoon, I was almost totally not annoyed WITH the kid. (I'm still a bit annoyed with the mum, but she is also under ENORMOUS pressure at work because our school is a toxic stew, and she also loves her son dearly and was trying to help.) I did explain plagiarism (AGAIN, for the thousandth time, and will probably have to do it again for this kid and the class). He told me that he thought it was only bad to copy from published sources. So I reminded him of the definition -- that it is turning in work that is NOT his own and putting his name on it as his own work. Then we went through his essay and he showed me what was his and what was his mum's ("Teacher, I told her just to edit the grammar!"), and then we went through an outline and found copies of the stories so he could revise his essay and resubmit it.
My philosophy as a teacher has always been that students learn when they can revise and learn from mistakes. This is not always easy to put into practice. Sometimes there are scheduling constraints. Sometimes emotions get in the way (mine, the kids, etc). But I think by the end of this year, this group, especially my middle school students, will have made some progress toward learning good study habits and building up their writing skills. I have learned new ways to approach problems that arise, both with students and with my own needs as a person, including setting boundaries.
I'm glad that these skills have improved because it is so easy to look at the general State Of Things and despair. There are so so so many problems in education, and when they land in your classroom when you are already tired, those problems can be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. But having small successes is like a power nap or a quick snack. It refreshes me enough to gain some perspective and gives me hope to keep going.
Yes. This parent, who is a TEACHER AT OUR SCHOOL, plagiarized!
I was so angry last night, and I am SO glad that one of the things I have learned in my 12 years of teaching (plus 42 years of life experience) is that it is best to take time to breathe and calm down before shouting (or sending shouty emails). I wrote an email last night but didn't send it, and then, when I got to work this morning, when I was calmer, I edited the email down and sent it. I wrote a script of what I wanted to say to the student and reworded it this morning to keep the tone more neutral. (Side note, I do suspect I've got ADHD, and emotional upheaval makes things so much worse, so this trick of writing scripts when I have something important to say, like to my class, has the added benefit of allowing me to check my tone.) But the time I got to class with this kiddo, at 1:30 in the afternoon, I was almost totally not annoyed WITH the kid. (I'm still a bit annoyed with the mum, but she is also under ENORMOUS pressure at work because our school is a toxic stew, and she also loves her son dearly and was trying to help.) I did explain plagiarism (AGAIN, for the thousandth time, and will probably have to do it again for this kid and the class). He told me that he thought it was only bad to copy from published sources. So I reminded him of the definition -- that it is turning in work that is NOT his own and putting his name on it as his own work. Then we went through his essay and he showed me what was his and what was his mum's ("Teacher, I told her just to edit the grammar!"), and then we went through an outline and found copies of the stories so he could revise his essay and resubmit it.
My philosophy as a teacher has always been that students learn when they can revise and learn from mistakes. This is not always easy to put into practice. Sometimes there are scheduling constraints. Sometimes emotions get in the way (mine, the kids, etc). But I think by the end of this year, this group, especially my middle school students, will have made some progress toward learning good study habits and building up their writing skills. I have learned new ways to approach problems that arise, both with students and with my own needs as a person, including setting boundaries.
I'm glad that these skills have improved because it is so easy to look at the general State Of Things and despair. There are so so so many problems in education, and when they land in your classroom when you are already tired, those problems can be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. But having small successes is like a power nap or a quick snack. It refreshes me enough to gain some perspective and gives me hope to keep going.
