Cheating

The first time I was pressured into cheating that I can remember was in fifth grade. I was done with my work early and my teacher encouraged me to go around and assist students who were having trouble. As I was helping my friend, she convinced me to just show her the answers to save time. I did not feel comfortable, but I did not want to seem like a goody two shoes in front of my classmates. I lowered my worksheet so she could see, but little did I know, my teacher was listening from outside the door the whole time. She came in the class and scolded me in front of the whole class. I was so embarrassed. After researching student cheating in my Intro To Education class, I discovered that younger children do not always cheat with bad intentions. Most of the time they are eager to stay on task, but may become distracted. Looking at a neighbors work is usually just to help them catch up and not because of laziness. In higher grades is generally when pressure from peers to cheat can begin. Since I understand how it feels to be called out in front of the class because of cheating, as a teacher myself, I intend on pulling a student aside privately and discussing the matter one on one to save them from the embarrassment. How do you plan on handling cheating in the classroom?

Group Work

How much group work is too much/not enough?

• Especially for younger children, I think group work is important because they are just beginning to learn how to socialize and work with others. Having the room set up so that students are in small groups is a good idea. Children usually strive to follow directions. If they get left behind in the lesson or miss a step, they can easily ask a neighbor for help which will encourage socialization and working well with other students. If a lesson calls for scissors, markers, etc., and a teacher puts some in the middle of each table for everyone to use, this can promote sharing with others, which is also an important skill to teach younger children. However, as kids get older, they may find their way around distributing the effort equally amongst all group members and decide to slack off. Personally, from working in groups in the past, I dislike being put in groups now because I would rather get the work done my way on my time. Especially because sometimes students don't contribute as much as the rest of the group. With kids, however, it is important for them to work in groups and to teach themselves these basic skills.