Mr. Menkens Scandalous Cheat Sheet

Another first year teacher story and comic for your enjoyment. Submit yours and watch it come to life as a 180Dayz comic. Go to this link for details: https://180dayz.com/180dayz-new-teacher-book/

Enjoy Mr. Menken’s story about one student’s scandalous attempt of cheating on a final. Read his story below the comic.

“My first experience teaching was at the college level. I was a T.A. for an introductory biology course. One of my main duties as T.A. was the administering and grading of exams. It was finals week, and I was administering the final exam for the course. The exam was a big deal for the students, as it accounted for 25% of their final grade. The test itself should have only taken the average student about forty-five minutes to complete, but the students had up to two hours for the exam if needed. After they completed the exam, the students would raise their hand and I would come and collect it and they were free to go. During the exam as I walked around the room monitoring the students, I noticed from the corner of my eye one young lady was constantly glancing down at her seat. I slowly made my way over and as I got closer noticed the corner of a paper with some writing on it was sticking out from under her. She had a cheat sheet between her legs! This was a clever move on her part, as it would be highly inappropriate for me to go over and look between her legs (she was wearing a skirt), let alone the disaster that would ensue for me professionally if I tried to reach down there and attempt to confiscate the paper. I decided a more tactful approach was in order. I announced, “Class, instead of me collecting your tests when you are done, I want you to come up to the front of the room and place your finished exam on my desk.” You could imagine the horror that came over the culprit’s face when I said this. For the rest of the exam I sat in the desk next to her and waited for her move. She didn’t budge. She stayed the entire two hours glued to her seat, for an exam that should have only taken forty-five minutes! After the allotted time had passed I informed her the time was up. “Here you go,” she said as she handed me the exam. “Oh no, you have go up like everyone else and put it on my desk,” I replied. “It helps me stay organized.” Upon hearing this the young lady began to rock her hips back and forth in her seat; in some sort of pelvic thrust movement that really should not be done within a classroom environment. My guess is that she was hoping to crumple the paper with her legs and move it up her skirt somehow. Her ploy didn’t work however, as the paper slipped out from under her and landed on the floor next to me. “What’s this?” I exclaimed. She knew right then she was busted. Moral of the story: The more distasteful your students’ attempts at cheating become, the more tact you must use in exposing them!