Cheating Students

Aimee: Hey, Gilda. We're both teachers. I have a question. Have you ever caught a student cheating on a test?

Gilda: Many times.

Aimee: Oh my goodness.

Gilda: Yes. And I don't know other countries but Venezuela, it's pretty common especially in high school.

Aimee: Is it?

Gilda: Yes. And when it comes to the time of midterms, we have to be ready. We have to create like five models of the same test to avoid any cheating events during the test.

Aimee: Really?

Gilda: Yes. Also, they come up with all some sort of supporting material to the class that… Yeah, every day something new, like nowadays, with the use of cellphones and smart phones in the class they do incredible things. So we have to be like police officers during the midterm, checking their hands, their pockets, their hair, because some girls with long hair, they paste a piece of paper, they glue it to their hair.

Aimee: Oh my goodness.

Gilda: And they are like looking at it. Yeah. So they're experts in, yeah, in cheating.

Aimee: It sounds really common. So you've had to deal with that quite a lot.

Gilda: Yes, yes. Just based on my experience. So all these cases, I've had them in my class. Yes.

Aimee: And what – how did you deal with that? What do you do when you catch a student cheating?

Gilda: Well, it's very uncomfortable because you have to stop the class. And so, the students are, some of them, like, most of them are concentrated in the test. And then you have to stop and call their attention, normally, out loud because otherwise if you go like slowly, quiet, they might carried off of the paper or whatever they have. So yeah. But then, you kind of gotten used to it and teachers ask them to leave the classroom.

But nowadays, with the law, with this new law we got in teenagers and children in Venezuela, so if you caught students with a piece of paper cheat sheet, you have to take it from him or her and ask them to continue with the test.

Aimee: Okay.

Gilda: Or just like eliminate those parts with the answers that a person had on their paper. Yeah.

Aimee: Sounds like you're still giving them an opportunity to continue then.

Gilda: Yes, yes. Exactly. Although, like you feel really upset, you kind of understand like, okay, give me that please continue to do your best. That is what we are supposed to do. Yeah.