Cheating kids

I guess when you teach the same class for few years, you can simply recognize their handwriting without even looking at their names on the cover when you're marking their works. Few times I caught my pupils cheated when doing their homework especially when they were given cursive writing task. Cursive writing is introduced in Year 4 syllabus. Rasanya dulu pun memang dah ada cursive writing ni. Zaman tok naduk dulu. No wonder the senior teachers have such beautiful cursive writing. There was one senior teacher, she told me that they even have the special pen for writing cursive back in old days. Nowadays, the stakeholders realize that cursive writing is a good practice for the kids to write quickly. They believe that this skill is important for their higher level education when writing notes and etc.

So, last year I caught two of my pupils cheated in their cursive writing task. How do I know they cheated? Usually I asked them to do the task in the class and if they do not manage to complete it, I will ask them to complete it as a homework. These kids did personally write few lines in the class. When they go back, they asked their assistants, whom I believe to be their mothers to complete it for them. Two different styles of writing. The first few lines was horrible and suddenly it turned so nice and tidy. No eraser mark on the book ( the beginner will normally write and erase few times when it comes to cursive).

That's when the curiousity comes. To prove that I was right, I asked these kids to come to me with a pencil. Before I proceed to my so called investigation, I asked them did they personally complete the homework or someone else was doing it for them. Mampuih nak mengaku depan cikgu. None admit that they were cheating. Takpa cek..... I asked them to rewrite few words.Tergagap gagap nak tulis. Shaky and messy. Langsung tak sama. Haha. Check mate! Kantoi gitu ja dengan cikgu.

Maybe they feel so hard to write it that they ask for their mothers' favour to do it for them. Ye lah. Baru nak belajar benda baru. Terkial kial lagi. Teacher pulak bagi masa sehari ja untuk siapkan. Hehe.I did not get upset. I just found it so cunning. I told them its okay if you cannot write cursive nicely as it is a learning process. Baby pun merangkak dulu sebelum jalan. Ye dak? Few tries and surely they'll improve.

Ni dah masuk tahun kedua dorang belajar cursive. The kids yang kantoi tu pun dah makin lancar menulis. No more assisted by their mothers. Sendiri bikin. Serik dah kot kantoi buta buta dengan cikgu. Hehe.

Moral of the story, be honest to yourself and others. :)