I was sitting outside an old dilapidated classroom at the back of my school, watching the professor "control" the test being given, when I got motivated.
This was tonight, as I took over for the other 9th grade Biology professor (he teaches at night) who's recovering from malaria. During the ACPs the professor whose test it is needs to be around to answer questions. I had already made the rounds, walking into each of the three classrooms (all in a row) and explaining some of the harder questions.
But the students were hard at work now, and the professor controlling the middle turma had started to look for notebooks the kids were hiding. He found a couple, then came outside to talk with me. I never leave the students alone like that, but then again, "Stor controla musto" (Professor controls a lot) and the others don't.
Since I knew he had just scratched the tip of the iceberg, and I was bored waiting for them to be done, I offered my assistance.
"Can I look for some notebooks? I bet I'll find a lot."
He agreed wholeheartedly, sitting where I had been, in view of the front of the room only.
So I set to work, benignly answering questions, all the while on the lookout for those kids looking down at their laps or to the side - and most importantly, looking at me. I got a good handle on who to be watching, and a couple minutes later I spied my first two victims. Ignoring the one who saw me look at them, I snagged the notebook of a 25-year old (or so) woman and flung it casually towards the front of the room.
Knowing the professor could only see the end result of my labors, I knew how funny this would look.
I then hopped over to the next one, flung his book, then went back to work, picking off two more. Then, just to raise my stats a little, I started checking the desks, resulting in three more. All flung.
"It looks like you found a lot!"
As fun as it was, it's equally sad. These students know how to cheat very well, but don't know how to process information because they don't need to. So how do we change that? These habits are formed so early in school, there's very little we can do at this stage. And because the curriculum is ambitious, there's less time to focus on the main principles. So they'll find more ways to cheat because they feel that they can't handle all the information.
I've been trying to figure out lately why people are inspired by others. It seems like some people are drawn to prominent figures who've had to fight their way up and others are drawn to ordinary people who see it as their duty to give.
It's when nothing is asked for in return that the act seems to be truly inspiring.
Peace
John
