Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.
It can be terribly difficult to remain motivated in high school. For some students, success comes relatively easily, and for others it is much more of a challenge. As an educator, I find it easy to teach those students for which it comes easily, but rewarding to teach those for which it does not. There are not many things in this world that compare to the feeling when a student has worked hard to understand something and finally does. This is partially because it is a mutual feeling — the educator and student achieving something together as a collective.
One of the more unfortunate aspects of the classroom is that with class sizes of 30 and such a wide diversity of students, it can be difficult to get in that time needed to help students who need it. This leads to tough situations where students need to meet certain requirements, but have lost all motivation as the content does not come to them easily and the educator can’t devote the time needed for them. One such situation occurred during my practicum, in which one student who was exceeding expectations for their grade helped another student who was struggling by cheating on a summative test. This was the first time I had experienced cheating (at least this blatantly) and needless to say I was disappointed. I was also upset, but I managed to get a level head to consider the next steps that I had to take.
Based on my interactions so far with the students, I knew that heavy consequences would not be effective. I made some decisions about what to do next and consulted with my coaching teacher, who agreed with my course of action. I then did the following:
- Took the student who helped the struggling student aside and talked to them about what happened, the student admitted to the cheating and together we talked about why it was done and why it was wrong to do
- The student understood that while their intentions were good, the method of helping was actually detrimental to the struggling student
- I could tell that the student was very shaken from the incident, so I made clear the consequences for both them and the other student. This student would not be allowed to take a re-test on the test (the student in question is a high-achiever, and while they did well on the test, they did worse than they normally would aim for)
- The other “consequence” given was I had this student spend time during work/catch-up time helping the student that was struggling
- I took aside the student who cheated next, and tried to get them to admit to the wrongdoing, they eventually did
- The student expressed that they knew they needed to do better in the class and just really didn’t like/get Science. I told them that while I understand why they did what they did, there are better ways to improve your grade without putting yourself and other students at risk
- We had a serious conversation about why cheating — and to a further extent dishonesty — is wrong, and how the consequences can be very severe depending on circumstances
- I laid out the consequences for the student, that they would receive a 0 on the test they wrote, and would have to write the re-test to receive a mark on that assessment
Key to this entire response is that I wanted to give the student a chance. I realised that they needed extra attention from me, and decided to be compassionate instead of punitive. I identified that the student who cheated likely did so to keep their grades up to remain on a school sports team, and as a result had a conversation with the coach of that team. I let them know that my plan was to give extra review work for the re-test to the student, that would also double as extra credit to bring their grade up. I requested that the student be kept on the team at least until after they had a chance to do the re-test, and the coach and I worked together to try to motivate the student as best we could, both in and out of the classroom.
A week later, the student had done all the review I had given them, and took the re-test. Their result on the assessment significantly exceeded their normal level, and it was clear that they had put the work in. When they worriedly asked me how they did, I had the pleasure of showing them their mark, and seeing the smile appear on their face. I’ll never forget the next line out of that student’s mouth
“Yo, this is what studying does?!?!?”
I often lament about students not studying or spending time looking at the material we cover. It can be hard to find the motivation to succeed, especially when it’s in something that is difficult, but sometimes students just need that persistent push — and to see the fruits of their labour after the fact. Caring for students and acting in their best interests means that the decisions you make are always guided by what will most effectively help that student, not just in school but in their life overall.