Since the first day I proctored the practice math exams, I told the kids, "If you speak while tests are out, I will take your paper from you and you will receive a zero." They quickly figured out that saying "God bless you" to a sneeze would not get them in trouble, but got the idea of silence down fairly easily. Until today...
The test they had today came as a shock. Many of them seemed to have simply no clue how to do the problems, and I don't know if it was something they have not been taught, if it was presented an unusual way, or if they just hadn't mastered it. No matter what, my heart went out to them as I watched them struggle. However. I could do nothing and I still wanted testing conditions. When they sat and read it, they seemed to have some idea of what to do.
When chatter began in the back of the room, I slipped back and saw a blatant whisper. I whisked a test away from a usually well-behaved boy. A few minutes later, I saw him writing and watched until he passed the note. I was hoping for merely a few bitter words about me (though I didn't really expect that from these boys). Alas -- the note pertained to how to take the test.
To my surprise, the boys were surprised when I called it cheating. I hope I am not being naive in believing their sincerity. If it is genuine, it means that they have not been taught appropriate testing behavior and have been taught how to help each other -- the opposite of my high school class. We had a "work together or we all go down" mentality, but never a "I got my test taken away and I still want to help you" mindset.
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