Episode 27: Academic Dishonesty: How to Deal With Cheating in Your Classroom

“To Catch a Cheater” could be the title of a hidden camera investigation episode of a tv news show or it could describe the job of a teacher any time something important is due. Cheating in the classroom is as much a part of the school experience as bad cafeteria lunches and popular cliques you’re not a part of. While most schools have policies for cheating on tests and essays, lots of administrators will ask (or quietly beg or loudly shame) you to take a different approach with day-to-day assignments, homework, or work they don’t deem “that important.” This can be a hard pill to swallow. Especially when you’ve taken time to create an assignment or activity you believe merits effort and academic honesty! In this episode, we’re talking about strategies we came to rely on to combat cheating in our ELA classroom and how we shifted our approach in order to take back some control of the situation.