Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
Find Lesson Plans on getty.edu! GettyGames

Re: cheating

---------

From: Maggie White (mwhiteaz_at_TeacherArtExchange)
Date: Tue Jan 27 2004 - 17:54:05 PST

Patricia Knott wrote:

> but cheating is not a mistake it's an intention and a choice.
> Where do we differentiate between mistakes and cheating and
> taking advantage?

Boy, do I agree with you here! I hear adults all the time apologizing
for their "mistakes" (Jimmy Swaggart getting caught with a prostitute;
someone driving drunk and killing another person; a man abusing his
kids; etc.). None of what they did were mistakes. "Mistake" implies
something done unintentionally or accidentally; each of those people did
something really stupid, but it was their decisions to do so. Calling
it a mistake kinda lets them off the hook somewhat.

When talking to students who are in trouble I try really hard not to use
the word mistake.

Maggie 

---