Unprepared

The week before winter break was also finals week. And due to a teacher taking advantage of the break to recover from surgery, I got to work it.

Eighth grade science. They had finals.

The finals were open book/open note. And most of the students had their papers all out and ready for use. Most of the students... 

"I need help."

Any other time, I'm all over that. But not for a test. Definitely not for a final.

She reached for her neighbor's notes...

"Where are your notes?" I asked.

"I forgot my backpack."

I shrugged. If she didn't come prepared...

"What does it matter? They're the same notes."

Perhaps. Or perhaps she didn't take notes and she was counting on using her neighbor's work to get through. It didn't matter. The teacher had been very specific. They could use any of their own materials, but they could not use someone else's.

She was not pleased. But I've seen when they want to "share" notes on a test. It might as well not be a test. It might as well be partner/group work.

It was a good lesson for her. In the future, perhaps she'll remember to bring her own materials (and notes!) for her finals.

Big Hint

Special ed. middle school science. Friday. They had an open book quiz.

About halfway through first period, the instructional aide (Ms. S) noticed that the four blood types were listed on the board. Identifying them was one of the questions on the quiz. Oops.

Since erasing them would have drawn attention to them, we decided to leave them up. It was an experiment. Would the students notice?

The students who finished early enough had the opportunity to fix wrong answers. (They get docked a point.) Many had found the blood types. They were in the book. What wasn't in the book but was a question was, "What's the universal donor?" And they all missed that one.

Ms. S pointed out that their teacher Mr. M had gone over that with them. But still, they couldn't recall it.

Towards the end of the period, Mr. M came by. (He was out due to a field trip, but the group hadn't left yet. He was checking in.) We pointed out the blood types listed on the board. We also mentioned that the class didn't remember what the universal donor was.

Instead of erasing the blood types, Mr. M made a slight modification to the board...

So, the rest of the day saw this right away and got the answer correct, right?

Eh, not so much.

We basically had to hint rather strongly to get them to notice. And still...

There's a reason they're in special ed. Although, I know plenty of regular ed students who would miss the obvious as well.