To All English Teachers

**ShellyB** · 11-19-2005, 05:51 PM

Hanya, give it up.

It takes more effort, I think, to come up with "tricks" than to do the actual work. And if you're truly having a difficult time, most teachers are willing to give additional help.

Here's my advice: do the reading, pay attention in class, ask questions.

**JohnBoy** · 11-20-2005, 12:40 AM

Have you ever given a student a bad grade because you thought they plagerized but then you find out later that they didnt?

Nope. Plagiarism is notoriously easy to detect.

**Zheljko** · 11-20-2005, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by hanya

Have you ever given a student a bad grade because you thought they plagerized but then you find out later that they didnt?

Not, but I remember that, when I was in elementary, adults sometimes believed that I copied my essays from somewhere. Therefore, I don't use black-and-white approach.
Most kids when cheating write stupid sentences that do not mean anything, and when I ask them to explain what they wrote, they stand quietly and just stare.
if really really unsure, I would ask the kid to write another similar test right in front of me. I think it happened twice? and one kid declined the offer and another earned his B- as before.

**cmromey** · 11-20-2005, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by hanya

Have you ever given a student a bad grade because you thought they plagerized but then you find out later that they didnt?

That has never happened to me. Every student I accused of plagiarizing HAD if fact done so.

I know my students writing styles and I know what the average level a high school senior writes on. When I start getting papes that have words in them I have never heard of or papers that are beyond that seem to beyond that student's level...red flags and warning sirens start going off!
CR

**BeSeeLisa** · 11-20-2005, 02:18 PM

I've been on the flip side, mind you-- being accused of "unintentionally" quoting directly from the Internet. (This was two years ago, in Grad School). Because I had included images in the paper, the instructor felt I had copied everything "because it was so well written and organized". Horrified and outraged doesn't begin to cover it. (Incidentally, this was all online, no face to face classes and all electronic submissions). She didn't accuse me of plagiarism--just told me to be sure I "referenced all my sources" because not doing so correctly was "the gravest of all academic sins"

Anyway, I sent her links to a couple of "turn-it-in" type sites, properly referenced my images, and basically told her I couldn't convince her otherwise if that is what she believed, but I have always been a fluent writer.....She apologized profusely, when she realized her mistake.

The HILARIOUS part about the whole story was I was working full time, doing grad courses full time and all the other stuff I do--by the time I sat down to do that paper, it was due the next day-- and I was already well into a bottle of wine. I told her this AFTER she apologized, and that I figured Hemmingway and Thomas were maybe onto something-- Better Literature Through Alcoholism.

:twisted:

So-- to sum up-- Plagiarism-Bad. Red wine-Good.

Lisa

**Ima Teacher** · 11-20-2005, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by BeSeeLisa

My favourite *trick* was when a """"teacher"""" posted here to let us know he had forgotten his Accelerated Reader Answer Key and could ANY of us help him with the answers to "Walktwo moons"?

Here's how evil I am. . .

There used to be an AR group at Yahoo where kids tried to give each other the answers to AR tests. I say "tried" because all of the slackers were wanting answers, but had none to give. Anyway. . . I opened myself another yahoo account, joined the group, and started giving them answers. I always gave them A-B-C-D answers, which were completely useless since the program randomizes the answers for each student. :lol: