Asking Too Much

Sigh. Five bad apples spoiled my bunch today.

Is it too much to ask that students turn in their tests? Seriously. I gave them a test and an answer sheet. A favor, really. Wasting all that paper so they could each have their very own test to mark on as they pleased. All I requested in return was that they turn in BOTH the test and the answer sheet. The answer sheet, obviously, to grade. Funny thing, all turned that one in. The other test I needed back so I could make sure who had what test. Not too much of a problem, because they sit alphabetically, and I hand them out by rows, so I pretty much knew which answer sheet to use. But most importantly, it was so that no test left the classroom.

I saw one young man turn in his answer sheet. Then he carried his question test back to his seat. I stood up to gather some answer sheets to grade. I announced to the class, "Remember to turn in BOTH the test and the answer sheet, with your name on both." The young man remained seated. Upon grading all tests, and putting them in alphabetical order, I saw that he never turned in his questions. It was not such a big deal today, because I gave an open-book test. But you can bet that on the next test, that young man is getting a one-of-a-kind test. One with all the answers opposite to the regular test, not just questions in different orders. For example, his test might have 9 true and 1 false, whereas the other kids would get 1 true and 9 false. I'll sniff out a cheater if that's his purpose.

The other 4 bad apples left their tests in the room, but without their names. And it was the last class, the class I lectured on being sure to NOT make the mistakes of the other classes.

I think somebody has ODD. That's oppositional defiant disorder, to you laypeople.

Or just some ornery little sh*ts, as teachers used to call them back in my day.