Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Fury

My student teacher was grading our Financial Math tests and noticed that about half of our students got the same incorrect answer for one question.  The question came directly from our instruction:  What are the three types of taxes that most Americans pay?  The answer is income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes.  About half of our students said "regressive, proportional, and regressive".  My first thought was that many remembered something from economics class about types of taxes, but go to the Google and type in "3 types of taxes" and look at the first result that's shown.

I had one of my Financial Math classes today, and even though it was just via Zoom, I laid into them.  How they can't even cheat well.  How they're taking one of the most important and practical classes they could take in high school, and they don't even care enough to learn something of value.  How, if they'd just used their notes, which I allow, they'd probably have gotten the correct answer.  How, if they don't learn this material, they'll be as clueless as adults when they're on their own as they are today as teenagers.  And on, and on, and on.

I probably railed for 5 minutes.

Not one student said I was mistaken regarding my accusation about using Google, and one student sent me a private Zoom chat telling me that her mother was listening to me and laughing her head off--mom agreed with me!

There were a few times in my rant that I mentioned "the half of you that went to Google and cheated", and let the other half know that I wasn't ranting against them and that they should be laughing at their classmates for doing something so stupid. 

I use a "canned" curriculum, and each lesson (4 lessons to a test, only 4!!!) comes with what amounts to a guided note sheet.  If they just followed along with my presentation and took some notes, they'd ace the quizzes and tests.  But half didn't even care to do that, and they thought they'd get away with it.  That infuriates me to no end.  I was born on a Sunday, but not last Sunday.

I'll see my other Financial Math class tomorrow, and my goal is to deliver my screed to them with the same fervor I summoned today.

This "distance teaching" makes cheating easier, but I'm still going to slam them when I catch them.

Update, 9/23/20:  Screed delivered again.

5 comments:

Anna A said...

Grin, Even Wikipedia had the correct answer. Personally for non-political type issues, I find that Wikipedia is pretty good, especially when translating European bureaucratic writings

WRhoden said...

I read this post to my wife yesterday. Laying into kids isn't fun, but necessary when you want the best for them. Bravo, for keeping them accountable during distance learning.

I'm teaching guitar online right now, so the kids don't have the option to fake it. Instead, I have about 50% failing to turn stuff in. I feel like a pastor pleading for their congregation to do something. Anything.

Ellen K said...

When my administration insisted we have online components for my heavy lecture AP Art History course, I did reviews and weekly quizzes online. All they had to do was use their notes. But many didn't take notes, instead relying on canned curriculum and online cheats. So many of them cheated. The sad thing is my district gave a 1.3 boost to AP grades for GPA purposes. So the impact of failure was never an issue. These same students were deeply dismayed when they had to write essays without a net or notes in class. I haven't talked to the several who got 1's and 2's on their AP exams after ignoring lectures, notes and support offered to them. You can lead a kid to knowledge, but you can't make them think.

Darren said...

WRhoden:

I don't plead with students. I remind them a couple times, then they get zeroes. Since I have mostly seniors, they usually figure it out pretty quick.

As for cheating, I'm sure plenty will continue. But I'll remind them before every test that cheating makes you a horrible person.

Education Realist said...

I would never tell kids that cheating makes them a horrible person. I tell them quite the opposite. I don't judge you morally for cheating, although I'm not a fan of it. But it's my job to assess your learning, and your cheating gets in the way of that. So if you cheat--or if I even think you cheat--you won't get the grade. If you didn't cheat, prove it. If you don't argue, I don't give you the grade. If you don't eventually persuade me, you'll be taking oral tests.

I recently figured out how to put myself in two breakout rooms at once, which means I can give tests in smaller "rooms" and watch the kids more effectively. I also keep my questions as hard to cheat with as possible.