Modern Cheating

     I cheated on my ninth grade Latin final. My best friend, Sharyn, sat in the row next to mine and she helped me get through that exam. It's interesting to think about now since I have such an affinity for languages. I could have passed on my own. For some reason, Latin was more of a social class for me and the traditional exercises and bookwork just didn't appeal. I loved the dialogue practice and the Latin banquet at the end of the year (we dressed in togas and ate roast pig at long tables). Thinking back on that experience and what caused me to cheat and thinking about school today. In some classes the lessons, bookwork, practice, and instruction haven't changed much. In others they've changed drastically. So, in response to a couple of comments I received about cell phone cheating in the classroom, I found this article to be enlightening and the comments about the article even more so. http://tinyurl.com/ktvnyu

     We, as educators, can allow the use of technology and monitor it effectively, if we start creating assessments that are more interactive, unique, and challenging. And I also believe that we, as teachers, are to lead by example. Teachers are a cut above. They are performing feats of leadership, strength, flexibility, democracy (i just typed democrazy and laughed out loud because it feels like that sometimes) and instruction. We are creating the community of tomorrow. Anyhow, check out the link...it does make for interesting reading.

     (And no, I wouldn't cheat again. It's sad that I don't know anything beyond a, ae, ae, am, a, ae, arum, is, as, is...I can, however, recite every single preposition in alphabetical order, as well as the first eighteen lines of The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. Helpful at winning bets, I can tell you.)