Rare..."not-like-me" post

Plagiarism.

It is the absolute WORST thing one of my students can do. I've been home all day (and yesterday since snow closed school) editing rough drafts of research papers. It's not an easy task...much like it is not an easy task for my students to pull resources, materials, time, energy together to write their research papers. I know how much they put into them, so I don't consider it a chore to edit them.....IF they do it the right way.

The wrong way? Plagiarize.

You don't plagiarize in my class and get away with it. I absolutely abhore and detest plagiarism. Granted, I realize it's going to happen. I don't expect their papers to be completely free of it. I'm not a tyrant or anything, but I do have high expectations - especially when I provide 2 weeks worth of class time to do the research, note cards, bibliography, provide the proper "how-to" instruction, and then give them time to actually type the paper. I consider that VERY kind of me. My teachers never gave us that oppotunity, nor do many of the teachers in the county allow this kind of time for their students. However, since I teach in a rural community, and I realize many of my students don't have the needed resources outside of school, I choose to give them the time they need.

I've watched my classes over the past couple of weeks. Many of my students took advantage of the time they were given, and they worked hard to get their work done....the right way. As usual, I also had a few who chose not to use their time wisely. And, as I told them at the beginning of the semester, once you get behind you will stay behind. (I also told them I am always right....they're beginning to learn that that statement is more true than they first imagined.) These few chose to listen to music instead of doing their work. They chose to disrupt class, show no effort, and now they are paying for their lack of initiative. Typically, which is the reason for my rant, when they finally realize their poor time management, they turn to plagiarism, which results in the boiling of Mrs. Jones's blood.

Okay. I'm done. I rarely get like this. I just detest apathy and lack of initiative when I have given ample time and opportunity for the work to be done the right way. It is not fair to the rest of my students who decided to do things the right way for the slackers to get by with it. So, now I have to decide on an action plan. The policy is that plagiarism results in a zero....period. That's the first plan of action - instill fear of failing. In the past, at this point in the semester, when a student plagiarizes and I catch them (never a question of "if" - always a matter of "when"), this is when we find out if they want to put forth enough effort to continue moving forward....or just give up. I'm all for pushing them forward, but I can't give them the will power. Which is why they just need to listen to me to begin with and just do what I tell them to do when I tell them to do it. That sounds very prideful of me, but I feel like I'm good at my job, and I'm good at preparing them for this part of their senior year. I can't save them all, though.....as much as I wish I could.

Okay, I'm really done now. Today's lesson: If you plagiarize in my class, you will be caught, and when your teacher happens to be pregnant....do whatever it takes to keep her fat and happy.

My posts will return to their normal content from this point forward.