Caught Red-Handed

Monday. Period four. We had finished up chapter six of The Great Gatsby in the last class period, so on this day they had an assignment analyzing quotes from the novel (chapters four through six). 

They had a similar assignment for chapters one through three. I was saddened as I read through their work. Their analyses were too good. Great word choice. Some insightful takes on the scenes. 

Yeah, that wasn't their work. 

Too many of them said the same thing. I didn't go back and check, but if I did, I know I would find that some papers were exactly the same. They talked of the themes in the novel. They hinted at things that were to come (that they hadn't read yet). I know they pulled answers from elsewhere. 

(Not everyone. Some clearly had done their own work.)

So, I pointed this out to period four as they began. 

I took a couple strolls around the room. Some of them were working. Some were not. 

Virgil was sucked into his phone. I sidled up behind him and glanced at what was on his phone. 

ChatGPT. 

Me: "You need to do your own work. Get off the ChatGPT." 

Virgil visibly startled. I don't think he heard me come up behind him. 

I remember reading Virgil's chapter one through three assignment. Him being on ChatGPT did not surprise me at all. 

He put the phone away. And then proceeded to do no work for the rest of the period. Deep sigh. 

The Wrong Answer

I started the long-term math class right at the end of a unit on solving quadratic equations. All that was left was a study guide (that I went over with them) and the test.

The test...

(See yesterday's post for the explanation for why they didn't really learn anything about solving quadratic equations.) 

Grading the test, I saw how much they really didn't know. Deep sigh. If only I'd gotten to them sooner...

One boy clearly did not read the directions as he attempted to solve the equation using a different method than instructed. (He was supposed to use the formula, which was given on the test, but didn't.) His answer wasn't even close.

Then the next paper I graded... It was the exact same "solution" without using the formula. I went back and double checked. Sure enough, this whole paper was pretty much exactly like the first boy's. 

Then there was a third paper. Identical.

If the answers had been right, I wouldn't have noticed. But all of the wrong answers were the exact same wrong answers.

I graded a few more tests. Then I found a fourth paper identical to the other three.

*rolls eyes*

I mean, if you're going to cheat, you might as well cheat off of someone who knows what they're doing.

But no one in this group knew what they were doing. 

The worst part? I watched them. I stood in front of the class (and the four boys sat at the front of the room) and watched them take the test. I did not see them sharing answers.