Plagiarism

Lauren McCabe writes:

As I sat at the airport last weekend, grading my students’ summer reading essays and waiting to take off, I was angry. Not because of the tardiness of my flight, but because I was looking at 15 plagiarized essays from my seniors, seniors who knew better. They had all summer to read a book and write this five-paragraph essay on any topic they wanted. After I read over two essays and saw the exact same words, sentences and paragraphs, it wasn't hard to figure out that these papers had been copied.

After talking with some of my colleagues over the weekend, I learned that plagiarism wasn’t a new concept at my school, Environmental Charter High School, and that most of the students on my list had turned in plagiarized work in the past. I began to wonder why students plagiarize. Could it really be that they were just too lazy to write their own papers? And the essay they turned in and tried to pass as their own was of very low quality. Didn’t they have respect for themselves and their abilities?

Scheduling: A pain in the... Palm

Years ago, missing a couple of days of school -- even a week -- was as easy as writing a few paragraphs about where I went and what I did.  Throw in a few postcards and you had extra credit that put you ahead of where you would have been if you hadn't missed class.  But no more.  In fact, in this, my senior year, I struggled with the decision to miss a single Monday to attend my grandfather's funeral.

As I entered my fourth and final year of high school, I quickly realized that my puny "binder reminder" was not going to be a sufficient planner for my busy schedule.  This convinced me to pick up my dad's old Palm Pilot (he has graduated to a BlackBerry).  Now it is jam-packed with information, from my tests and homework to work assignments.  It has freed me from pen and paper, from forgetting my homework, from arriving early for a late start (a monthly opportunity to sleep in and eat a proper breakfast while teachers do pupil-free tasks).  Unfortunately, it also seems to have changed the way I look at my life.

-- Nick Giulioni

'Why are you sweating?'

I asked all 140 of my eighth-grade students to divide 10 by 2. Just eight of them wrote down 5.

I knew my students would need remedial work, but I had no idea it would be to this extent. One of the first standards for eighth-grade physical science is manipulating this equation: speed equals distance divided by time (S = D/T).  This is a foundation for upper-level skills in physical science.  Next come velocity, acceleration, and gravity.  I knew that many of my eighth-grade students would have trouble converting fractions into decimals, but I never fathomed that 10 divided by 2 would give so many of them trouble.

They made comments such as, “Mr. Chapman, this is science class, not math class.  I hate math.”   Almost half of the first periodic assessment given in November will be based on division, multiplication, and addition to solve for a scientific term.  Division remedial work was a must.

That was a week and a half ago. I am thrilled today that almost all of my students can divide and convert fractions to decimals (based on a test).  I am scheduling one-on-one tutoring with the other students to ensure that they will be able to do so, too. I realized that what they needed was a recipe, something to follow every time so that it was systematic.  I was kind of intimidated that we would get so far behind in the actual physical science material that we wouldn’t be at the level necessary to take the first periodic assessment offered by the state, but now we can move on and explore these advanced areas.  Now we can devote time to interpreting graphs, reviewing slope, and discussing how to graph speed. 

My students sometimes laugh at how excited I get in class when they master a  skill:  “Mr. Chapman, you’re crazy!” and “Mister, why are you sweating so much?”  I constantly remind them of how brilliant they are and that I am amazed at their growth. “Even if you don’t like science, it doesn’t matter; what matters is that you’ll be good at it,” I tell them. Just using the future tense instead of the conditional solidifies our work together.

-- Lance Chapman  

First Impressions

School has been in session for a few days now, and the students whom I have been thinking and wondering about all summer are now right in front of me.  I told my students that they control what my first impression of each of them is, while secretly hoping I’m making my own good first impression.  Some students like to make themselves known right away in both good and bad ways, and it just wouldn’t be a first week of school without being introduced to my first challenging scholar.

My challenge came to me with his parents on the first day of class to stress his want and need to graduate from high school this year. He told me of his not-so-stellar grade record and his determination to do what it takes to fulfill the graduation requirements. Then his parents left and his tone shifted.

First day of a new journey...

        I was scared, excited, overwhelmed, and anxiously awaiting my first day as a teacher at Gompers Middle School.  When my students entered the classroom, I was relieved and immediately conveyed to them my enthusiasm and expectations for the year.  Of course I was asked several times by my students why I had started teaching at Gompers.  I was ready for that question, but had not really prepared a response.  I initially thought about sugar coating my answer and saying some overly trite expression like “I love teaching and seeing students learn,” but then I realized that that’s not the main reason I am doing this.  Instead, I informed my students of the harsh reality that they, for the most part, are not aware of: educational inequity.  I compared other middle schools in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and suburban regions to Gompers Middle School and showed explicitly how such a disparity is a grave injustice.  After asking “How many of you want to go to college?” I witnessed every student raise his or her hand.  I proceeded to inform them of another harsh reality:  if the trend continues, only a fraction of them will achieve that goal.
        You see, I treat my student like adults.  Besides the fact that I’m literally only 7 to 8 years older than they are, I want them to be aware of the situation they are in.  I’m not going to lie, this truly did anger my students, and honestly, I’m glad it did.  It should anger anyone who believes in quality education for every child in this nation and for anyone who genuinely feels that an excellent education is a human right, not a privilege. 
          The reactions I saw that day were breathtaking.  I had each and every student’s attention in the class.  This class, that was supposedly full of students who chronically misbehaved, did not say a word and listened to what I said in the most engaged manner one could imagine.  I told my students that they have 5 more years (8th grade and 4 years of high school) to change that horrible statistic.  “I will be here for you this year, and I won’t accept anything less than your best,” I told them.  “My goal for you at the end of this year is for you to enter high school with enough self-confidence to actually say ‘I WILL go to college’ instead of ‘I WANT to go to college.’”  I’m not participating in Teach For America to have a fun time for two years and enjoy a few years off before medical school.  I’m here because I, before embarking on the next stage of my life, will plant seeds of motivation into as many middle schoolers as possible.  I’m here because I will demonstrate to my students the value of work ethic and the end result of years of hard work.  I’m here because I, unlike many, KNOW that my students have the potential to be future doctors, lawyers, teachers, businessmen and women, and politicians.  I’m here because when I’m faced with a grim statistic like the fact that my students have a significantly less chance of graduating from high school simply because of socioeconomic status and school location, I don’t accept it as a permanent flaw in society. 

Avoiding the mob

It seemed as if they were invading the campus. Thousands of the miniature creatures milled about the senior lawn. Their small bodies were so numerous that the tops of their furry heads were all I could see. They were everywhere. They were Freshmen.

My group of friends has always stayed on the opposite side of the campus from the quad/“Senior Lawn.” Our spot was a large path under an overhang (valuable real estate because of rain protection). Unfortunately, that’s all our area was, as it lacked all furnishings. But we finally planned to give up our area and claim our rightful spot on the lawn. That was, until we saw the mass of tangled bodies that was once the most desirable area on campus.

Was it worth it to face the overpopulated quad to earn the coveted table? No. Was the senior lawn as desirable a plot of real estate as our covered territory? No. So why not get the best of both?

Getting Ready for School

Getting ready for school has been the same every year: Go to the store and stock up on supplies; look at my class schedule to make sure I know where I’m going; and of course check out my new teachers and see what other students have to say about them.  The only difference this year is: I am the teacher.  Yes, I’m that first-year teacher shopping at all the teacher stores getting excited about finding borders for my bulletin boards, looking  over my rosters every day to try to memorize the students' names before I even see their faces, and searching for professional -- yet trendy -- wear at every shopping center in the Los Angeles area.

I’ve made it through a summer of teaching at Locke High School in Watts as a Teach For America corps member and arrived at my new school, Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale. This is a public school that's run independently of the school district. ECHS was founded in 2000 by Alison Diaz as an "alternative school of choice."  The school is small, with the total number of students adding up to about 500.  That means the students attending ECHS receive a very personalized, hands-on, rigorous college prep curriculum.  The teachers work collaboratively to make learning interdisciplinary and focus on social issues.  Students are required to complete a specific number of community service hours to graduate and learn how to become stewards of their community.  We take the students on class field trips to Joshua Tree and Catalina Island every year and advocate for becoming conscious of the environment we all live in.

Coming from Summer Burnt

During their summer escapades, some students tan. Others burn. Either way, students proudly (if painfully) display their marks of summer fun as they reluctantly find themselves in classrooms. But this year, like many students, I return to school displaying both tan and burn.

Luckily for me, my olive skin protects me from the sun, but I’m returning to school already emotionally exhausted from the homework associated with AP (advanced placement) and other honors-level classes because I crammed my summer homework into the last few days of the vacation.

Pre-teaching Reflection

It never crossed my mind that the majority of my students would naturally assume that I was from Beverly Hills (I’m actually from Indiana) or ask me why I have reddish-brown dots on my arms (freckles). It also never occurred to me that these children, many of whom are four grade levels behind in reading, would complain that we as teachers do not give them enough challenging work. As a first year teacher who has had only one month of teaching experience in a low-income middle school, I have learned more from my students in one month than I have from four years of intense learning at a university.

It comforts me to know that when I would treat my summer school students like scientists, they would naturally be more attentive and engaged. When I introduced the nature of DNA, a girl asked me what happens when one of the nucleotides disappears or changes to a different nucleotide. I was thrilled. My introducing a college-level standard of genetic mutations gave these students confidence. It didn’t surprise me when I learned that 91% of my students had mastered the academic objective for that day. So, reflecting on the lack of “challenging work” that these struggling students brought up, I often wonder if we, as educators, are not establishing high enough expectations. Yes, they are struggling, but perhaps they find no reason to learn. I realize that as a first-year teacher, I do not possess a wealth of experience, but I also know that when students are fully engaged, they will respond due to pure curiosity.

I truly do believe that in order to be successful, one must envision and never lose sight of the perfect outcome. Frustration, barriers, and unforeseen circumstances are inevitable, but make the end result that much more appealing. Having just completed an intense summer school experience, I will be sharing my reflections during my first year of teaching at Samuel Gompers Middle School as a Teach For America corps member. I welcome feedback and look forward to sharing my reflections.

-- Lance Chapman