Thing 10: Plagerism

The quizzes were much more challenging than I thought they would be. I only got a 14 out of 21 on one of them. I guess I am glad that the ones I got wrong were because I was erring on the side of caution. I am also glad that I have a wonderful media specialist who can help me when I have a question on copyright. This is a great time to collaborate!

How do you deal with issues of plagiarism in your class?
The student automatically gets a 0 on the assignment, with the option of redoing it. I will take a phrase that I know they did not write and type it into Google. When the web site comes up that they plagarized, I print it off and attach it to the assignment. The kids can not deny anything at that point. However, more importantly, I think it helps to be more proactive at the beginning. A well designed project makes it hard to plagarize. For example, with history day the kids have to connect their topic to a theme and explore its historical significance and impact. This kind of analysis demands that they use multiple resources and their own interpretation. Very hard to plagarize.

What resources do you use to teach these concepts?
For the first project that I have kids complete, my media specialist gives a mini-lesson on plagarism and citation. With easybib.com citations are a breeze. I find some 8th graders are already experts at notetaking and paraphrasing. Others are simply not there yet. Whether they are being mentally lazy or just don't have the skills, I am not sure. I often assume that kids know how to take notes, but I am not sure if they have ever actually been taught. Modeling is a powerful tool. Sounds like another great way for me to collaborate with my MS....