From the plastic lawn chair of Chris...
A few weeks ago I posted about a student that had cheated on her final exam. Prior to the exam I told my students that cheating/copying would result in a zero on the exam, and therefore they would fail the class. However, it turns out that my student who cheated comes from a poor family, and if she failed, she would not get the scholarship money that she needed for school. What to do, what to do.....
So here is my solution. I gave her a "make-up assignment"-- watch the movie "The Emperor's Club" and answer eight short-response questions. If she did the assignment, she would get a 60 for the class (the lowest grade that is still passing). In case you haven't seen the movie, I'll provide a quick recap. Basically the story is about a teacher who believes that developing a strong moral character is the most important part of receiving an education. He has a "problem" student that he pours into, making concessions and bending the rules in hopes of reaching this student. The movie is about their interactions and the development of each of the characters. I would recommend it for anyone-- especially those of us who teach! The teacher/student conflict comes to a peak about 20 years later when they meet at a reunion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGmK59lqRWo
One of my questions on the make-up assignment was "What did you learn about yourself from the movie?" Sunny's answer was great: "One person must have to principle and the responsibility, the most important is to should have moral, the movie taught me a lot of person is the fundamental criterion, and I hope I will try to improve." The seeds are planted, now let's see what grows!
** Sorry for the lack of pictures of videos, the uploader on blogger isn't working right for me! **
No comments:
Post a Comment