<p>So my teacher allows us to use one piece of paper (a cheat sheet) on the test with anything we want that could help us out on our test. I found a set of flashcards for the chapter I was studying and thought it was helpful, so I used it on my cheat sheet. However, the test and cheat sheet were identically the same (she gets her tests online ...) and so she accused me of cheating. </p>
<p>I was given the first offense: A referral to the vice principal, Saturday school, and an F on the test. I don't know if this will go on my permanent record; he didn't say. But I'm assuming referrals go on your record, doesn't it? If it is on my record, would that make me look extremely bad to colleges who will be looking at my record?</p>
<p>I am hoping to get into a UC (such as UCI or UCR) or CSU.</p>
<p>From your story, it looks like the teacher was dishonest, unless she also said that you could not use web sites to get material to put on the cheat sheet.</p>
<p>Nope, she said nothing whatsoever about not being able to get material from the internet. I forgot to mention that I got the flashcards from a website called Quizlet. I copied one of the flashcards into Google’s search engine and it popped up 3 other websites with the same exact questions, in a format similar to that of a test that can be easily printed out. </p>
<p>I found tests for different chapters which are exactly the same as to what she puts on her actual tests. I know this because after every test we take, she makes us write down the questions we got wrong and write the correct answer. I compared the ones I’ve written down to the ones online and they are exactly the same.</p>
<p>It looks like you are being punished for potentially exposing the teacher’s laziness. Unfortunately, it is likely that the school administration will side with the teacher, so unless you and your parents are willing to fight a big political battle or become martyrs on the subject, you may not have too many options.</p>
<p>Sounds like you did nothing wrong and the teacher has the problem. Your parents need to get involved. You need to make a list of the various Internet sites where you found the flash cards as well as show how you got to those sites, and them you and your parents need make an appt. w/ the school administration. Show them how easy it was to find the material. The teacher didn’t limit your resources so can’t punish you for using the Internet.</p>