Think about an old western movie, at the critical scene where the boot-jangling, leather-chapped hero strides through those miniature doors that serve no real purpose other than for dramatic effect.
Then try to picture that happening in Africa.
Today was the first day of ACPs, which are essentially final exams for the semester. Every day there is a different discipline (subject) or two, all given at the same time, to reduce cheating. Teachers aren't allowed to proctor their own exams, but are randomly distributed to proctor during the week.
Giving the quizzes last week, I caught about 45 (out of my 400) students cheating. Many of them had their small, compact notebooks under their inside thigh, letting it peek out when they were stumped for an answer; others had meticulously small cheat sheets, and others tried talking to their deskmate or looking at their test. All that's old news, anyway.
Well, I have earned myself quite a reputation for all this "controlling" of tests - it's quite rare to get caught as often as I catch people.
For the first ACP today, I strode up to the back building of the school to proctor the Portuguese exam for the oldest 9th grade turma. There was a fair amount of resignation that they weren't going to do well anyway, so there was little reaction to knowing I was going to proctor their exam.
But after their 30-minute break, I had a younger and more worried turma in the main school building. I grabbed the mimeographed exams for the History exam, and started walking very slowly for the room.
I might as well have had an orchestra backing me up with melodramatic music. Heads turned more than usual to see exactly where I was going, as I slowed down my pace. (Might as well milk it!)
I could hear the spurs clanking along the cement - it got deafeningly silent outside and the fear was obvious in the eyes of some students. I felt like "reaching for my gun", but realized the joke would be lost as quickly as it was made.
As I turned into the victims' room, I heard cheering behind me from students in other turmas. There was plenty of noise as I repeated my test-giving mantra - "I won't give the exam until it's silent."
I gave the rules in terms of not looking, speaking or having any cheating materials. Within 5 minutes of giving out the exams, I had given about 6 warnings for looking, and a minute later, threw a previously-warned kid out.
Within the next half hour, he had about 7 friends. They key to finding kids who are cheating is to look for several things: looking straight down, looking at you, hands not on the desk, leaning back uncharacteristically, hands covering the mouth or eyes darting without the parallel head motion.
But suspecting that someone is cheating is never enough. If it doesn't involve something tangible, you have to be sure. I trap people by pretending I don't see them, move away to a different part of the room and surprise them by looking in their direction. And when I think I have someone who has hidden a notebook or a cheat sheet, I don't make it obvious at all that I've seen it until I'm right beside them. I tell them to stand up. Any kid who's not cheating will be more than happy to quickly stand up and will volunteer their pockets or exam.
But if they are, there are two types. The first and more common type pretends they didn't hear you while they try and figure out a game plan. You ask again, and they make up some excuse - keep staring at them and they'll crack. They either smile and beg you to forgive them or they try and tuck their material away. Some just leave.
Then there's the second type. These kids think they're sly and slip the material in a pocket, onto the floor, under the test - I know I'm not yet privy to all the methods, but I catch most of the kids who try this one.
If it sounds like I'm enjoying myself, it's only half true. I like a good challenge, especially when it comes to being observant. But I hate the fact that I'm messing up these kids' grades, but I know it's because they feel like they need to cheat. It really bothers me when I throw out a skinny girl who rarely talks and has burns over her legs. I know I shouldn't, but I do give special treatment to them. If I throw them out, what is their chance of getting any education at all? Their parents are scraping together every last cent to send them to school, and here I am f---ing it all up.
But what kind of education is a false education? If they've never learned how to learn, then were they just wasting their parents' money and their own time? Or is there some other solution?
Maybe I can make kids who are cheating attend some extra classes I run for study skills and give them back points for every session they attend.
Maybe I can sit down with every one and figure out why they're cheating.
Maybe I can partner them up with a good student who can help them out.
Maybe then I won't feel like John Wayne, which is most definitely a good thing.
Peace
John
