I know I can't hurt them but...

[Kheldarson]

Can I use duct tape?

I'm currently long term subbing a middle school social studies class. While holding a cashier job in the evenings. I'm so tired of being sick and exhausted >.< And some of the students don't help anything.

One of the students on the team is described as being without a soul. I wouldn't mention this except for the fact that it's backed by the fact that she thinks she can do no wrong. And she has a bunch of kids at her beck and call.

In this case, I gave out an easy homework assignment to give them an easy grade so they could raise their grades up. Student A in first period hands me a flashdrive to get a print off of the assignment. I shouldn't, but I'm feeling nice. So I print it. And make a note that it doesn't seem to be her flash drive, but is instead probably Student B, the soulless one. But she may be borrowing it.

Nope. My suspicions are confirmed when B hands me her assignment. It's the exact same except printed at a different time. Even down to the same font changes. So I confront her and ask her what's going on, since they weren't to work together. She says that A did the first seven while she did the rest, then let A borrow her flash drive. She's just admitted to cheating. So after consulting the other teachers on the team, I have to write her and A up.

Today, they met with the principal of the grade during B's period with me. When she returns, she tells me that the principal wants me to call him. I do, and he informs me that B told him that I had said that they could work together. I did no such thing. Most I said was that if they were, they shouldn't have made it so obvious.

Now the principal wants to meet with me with B and discuss this. >.<

[Teysa]

Kids today just can't cheat properly. When I was a substitute, I'd be checking papers and two or three kids would have the exact same wrong answers. I actually told some kids once that if they were going to copy, they should at least copy off of the smart kid in class.

[Magpie]

if they were going to copy, they should at least copy off of the smart kid in class.

And not photocopy hand-written work. Even photocopying a printout works better than that.

[NateTheChops]

Hang in there. I'm probably going to go for subbing as well as soon as I can get my letters of reference and my college transcripts.

Here's to jobs we do to pay the rent. *kampai*

[Jester]

Can I use duct tape?

Ah, duct tape. The greatest babysitting tool since locking closets were invented.

I'm so tired of being sick and exhausted.

So you're sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Now the principal wants to meet with me with B and discuss this.

If he has any spine and any sense, he'll back you, rather than listen to kids who are, in essence, trying to get out of being in trouble by being caught cheating.

Never underestimate the sneakiness and deviousness of a teenager. (I speak from experience as a former sneaky and devious teenager.)

[Broomjockey]

(I speak from experience as a former sneaky and devious teenager.)

You're STILL a teenager. Just an old one. So are you saying you're no longer sneaky and devious?

[Jester]

Not old. Older.

I act like a teenager in many ways, but not in that way. I have a reputation for honesty, even among those who don't like me, and it is well-earned. As I often tell my customers, I only lie to my mother and the government. And since I don't live under Mom's roof anymore, I don't have to be sneaky or devious with her. I merely lie by omission, not telling her stuff she doesn't need to know.

I CAN be sneaky and devious. I certainly have a lot of talent in that area. After all, I am a magician. I just rarely use that talent--outside of doing magic, that is.

Short answer: No.

[Hobbs]

Kids today just can't cheat properly. When I was a substitute, I'd be checking papers and two or three kids would have the exact same wrong answers. I actually told some kids once that if they were going to copy, they should at least copy off of the smart kid in class.

When I caught people copying from me, I wrote wrong answers and let them turn it in first. Surprise-surprise when I get an 'A' and douche get's an F.

[Shroo]

A few weeks ago I had a student tell me it wasn't cheating if he was copying his friend's homework because there could be wrong answers...we had a nice little back and forth that resulted in a trip to the friendly neighborhood principal's office.

Good luck with everything and I strongly suggest keeping a little notebook near you at all times--it never hurts to keep a copy of what happened when it happened when you're called to the carpet.

[Polenicus]

I used to have a math teacher in High School... and he was the best Math Teacher in the universe. This was even recognized by the Province of BC.

His favorite pasttime was taking the remedial math class in grade 8, and having the entire class in Enriched (Advanced) Math by grade 12. He had a rare talent for getting the most out of ALL of his students.

Of course, he was also an incurable prankster.

One of his favorite early tricks with the remedials was to give them a test at the start of the semester, then start writing answers up on the board, while they were still writing it. These answers were generally completely nonsensical... things like if question #4 was 'What is the Square Root of 25?' The answer he would put up would be '$12'.

He would then collect the tests. He would then go OVER the tests, and see how many had used the answers he had posted. Naturally, it'd be most of the class, and he'd rib them mercilessly for it.

The students would then learn not to copy answers from anything, as any time he got an answer with no work shown, he'd call the student on it. It was easier to just do the work, even if it was wrong, than to copy the right answer, then try and bull your way out of it.

He did this in ALL of his classes by the way. Any time you didn't show your work (He didn't care HOW you solved it, as long as you showed HOW) you got to show the entire class how you magically conjured this number.

Anyway, at the end of the year, on a final pop quiz he didn't actually grade them on, he repeated the process... except he wrote the CORRECT answers on the board... and the class would summarily ignore them and do their own work, only to find out to their surprise that they were getting the same answers.

[Kheldarson]

If he has any spine and any sense, he'll back you, rather than listen to kids who are, in essence, trying to get out of being in trouble by being caught cheating.

See, I'd hope that, except that the only other time I've written up students, he pretty much cut my legs out from underneath me. I'd been warning the class all day about the excessive talking, then had to go out to take care of an issue with another teacher, they started talking, issued another warning, talking starts again, so I wrote two of them up. They, of course, insist they weren't.

Well, I get called down to talk with this principal. The students are in with him. He asks me what happened. I tell him the same thing I wrote up. They insist they weren't again. At this point he says that all he has is my word and theirs and that he has to go with the teacher. But he wanted to be the first to apologize to them in case I was wrong. And told me that he was going out on a limb for me.

So yeah. I'm not expecting this to go well.

[Imogene]

Anyway, at the end of the year, on a final pop quiz he didn't actually grade them on, he repeated the process... except he wrote the CORRECT answers on the board... and the class would summarily ignore them and do their own work, only to find out to their surprise that they were getting the same answers.

Awesome... "Hey, the last four answers were right against the board... maybe the rest are as well?" *write write, scribble* "Yeah..."

[Broomjockey]

"Hey, the last four answers were right against the board... maybe the rest are as well?" *write write, scribble* "Yeah..."

Or, "Evil teacher trying to trick me again. Better just do my own work." After all, the best way to absolutely slaughter someone is to make them trust you, rely on you, and then *bam* cut out when they're least prepared. After the first few stunts, I'd probably not even bother looking at the board until I was done.

[trailerparkmedic]

See, I'd hope that, except that the only other time I've written up students, he pretty much cut my legs out from underneath me. I'd been warning the class all day about the excessive talking, then had to go out to take care of an issue with another teacher, they started talking, issued another warning, talking starts again, so I wrote two of them up. They, of course, insist they weren't.

Well, I get called down to talk with this principal. The students are in with him. He asks me what happened. I tell him the same thing I wrote up. They insist they weren't again. At this point he says that all he has is my word and theirs and that he has to go with the teacher. But he wanted to be the first to apologize to them in case I was wrong. And told me that he was going out on a limb for me.

So yeah. I'm not expecting this to go well.

Ugh, that's terrible. I'm glad you're just subbing there and not stuck with him long term. What person dealing with middle schoolers doesn't realize how devious they can be? I always got called out when I tried pulling stuff like that (not that it stopped me from trying ).

[NateTheChops]

At this point he says that all he has is my word and theirs and that he has to go with the teacher. But he wanted to be the first to apologize to them in case I was wrong. And told me that he was going out on a limb for me.

That's amazing. At my school the principal and the teachers were egotistical jack asses who ignored me when I was being bullied but threw the book at me if I so much as disagreed with anyone.