<p>I know that it is late and that I should be asleep to be better prepared for the meeting tomorrow. The last question I will ask is do you think this would have been a different situation if I had just changed the wording, format, or language on the question. I will let you people know how the meeting went tomorrow and if I got the points back or not. Thank you for all your opinions and I will post back tomorrow.</p>
<p>Yes, I think if you had paraphrased the wording, it would be a different situation. The problem is probably not that you used the website, but that you copied verbatim. Good luck tomorrow.</p>
<p>I have on occasion heard of students with essentially photographic memories being accused of cheating on tests when in fact they used their natural talents in studying. </p>
<p>My d. had a different, though similar problem. She has dysgraphia, so bad in fact that she often cannot even read her own notes. So she trained herself at an early age to remember virtually every word a professor says in a lecture. (Sometimes, she can give much of the lecture again, almost verbatim, a week later.) It is an unnerving skill (especially when she takes an exam, and has a prof cavil at an answer she gave which actually came virtually right out of his mouth.) </p>
<p>If you did something the teacher instructed you not to do (unclear from your previous notes), then you need to take the consequences. (though I’m not clear it is cheating). Otherwise, the teacher has egg on his face.</p>
<p>BE HUMBLE. You may have caught the teacher off-guard or unprepared, and he may need a graceful way out.</p>
<p>I am currently taking AP Statistics, and yes, students are supposed to be able to produce paragraph answers in a specific format; however, realistically, no one writes like the College Board professionals. I’ve seen those answers when reviewing, and my teacher hasn’t even taught us that exact wording, and she’s an AP grader. There’s always going to be at least a slight variation in answers. To be honest, I would suspect of you of cheating if I were your teacher.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should have checked the key between the testing days, but otherwise it was a good idea for you to be practicing with the AP problems. I think you should bring all of your completed AP problems (from the beginning of the year, if you still have them) to show that this wasn’t an isolated event, and your intentions were to reinforce your learning, not cheat.</p>
<p>About the plagiarism issue: the majority of AP Statistics does seem to be memorizing different sentences to use on each type of question. DD has been quite frustrated sometimes when her teacher marks off on a question because one or two words are out of place, or any number of tiny nuances. It’s very different from writing an essay or a proof/solution, in that nothing is really supposed to be in your own words as far as I can tell. However, if your teacher isn’t using this strategy then he may have good reason to suspect you.</p>
<p>I’d give you a 50 just to save the headache… sure looks like cheating to me.</p>
<p>I agree with previous posters that you should bring material which shows how much and what you have been studying. Like Mini says, be humble. Neither you nor your parents should back the teacher into a corner. Offer to retake the test in a one-time sitting to prove that you know the material.</p>
<p>I hope this turns out well for you. I do believe your teacher is lazy, and if he told you to memorize verbetum then he shouldn’t be surprised that you memorized verbetum. And he never never should have given your class 2 days to finish the test knowing that he was plagerizing himself! Plus all retakes should be different (read harder) than the missed original test. More work for the teacher sure, but too bad, that is his job! Dont’ say any of this to his face and expect the principal to back him up, because that is what they do.</p>
<p>Did you change anything on your test answers, as a result of looking at the test answers at home on the night between the two test days? That is still not clear to me.</p>
<p>If you did, it was cheating in my opinion.</p>
<p>If you didn’t, I would say you should not have looked at all, at home, but it had no practical effect, so you should be (gently) chastised but not punished.</p>
<p>"…knowing that he was plagerizing himself!"</p>
<p>Touch</p>
<p>This is a post for anyone who wants to know what happened. We all woke up really early as to talk to the teacher before school started. We brought my Barrons AP Statistics Textbook, Ap exams, I also brought my own work to show that I was not lying. When we arrived at the main office, he was there with my test and his answer key. My parents and I followed him and a guidance counselor, not mine surprisingly, to an office to talk. My father initiated conversation by asking why a teacher would want to mark one of his best and brightest students during their senior year. My teacher responded by saying that this was about the test. My father proceeded to go on that tangent talking about the schools that I have been accepted to, UMich, UMD honors college, Columbia early decision, and other schools. He showed them that the answers were completely the same as the answer key; I stated that I worked on the two problems previously multiple times and never knew it would be on the test. My mother continuously verbally attacked the teachers professional skills and teaching skills. My teacher was surprisingly professional, meaning he probably dealt with parents like this before. I felt embarrassed because of the manner in which my parents were acting. I know that they are just trying to help, but I just felt sorry for my teacher. The guidance counselor resolved the issue stating that this was just a misunderstanding and that the teacher never stated that we cannot use College Board to practice for exams. My teacher understood what I did and said that this situation has never happened before and that I will not be receiving a zero. He congratulated me on my college acceptance and said that I would make a great mathematician. He stated that I could answer two different questions at a later, my father was still upset about the insinuation that I cheated. I am taking the retake on Monday due to the schedule I have.</p>
<p>Well, all’s well that ends well, I guess.</p>
<p>This will probably be my last post on this thread. I just wanted to thank all who replied and gave their opinions on the subject. For all the people that believe that I did cheat or plagiarized, thank you also because it helped me understand the situation I was in. I am just glad it is over. Before we left I went to my teacher and apologized to him about how my parents acted and insinuated that he was a bad teacher. He said that he understood where they were coming from and that if one of his children were called a cheater, he would react that way too. I also apologized about having to have this meeting at all and that I would not be doing ap exams anymore until the class is preparing for the ap exam. He told me that the problem was not that I was studying from the ap exams, he commends that instinct. The problem was that I used the words created by College Board and not my own words. He told me that this was a very weird situation because he cannot necessarily fault me for writing what I thought was the correct format to answer the question. He also cannot let this slide and allow me to continue down this road because if this occurred in college, there would not be a discussion. He hopes that I become a brilliant theoretical mathematician and already a bright student. That is why he was surprised this happened. From his experience, in college I would have failed the class and probably kicked out of school. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, because I do not think Columbia would allow for this to occur. Also to all parents who have children going to Columbia in the Fall, GO Class of 2016!!!</p>
<p>I am glad that this is over. It looks like you dodged a bullet. Take this as a teachable moment and move forward.</p>
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<p>Keep this in mind because your teacher is absolutely right.</p>
<p>Lesson learned. You should be commended for your initiative and now you know what not to do. Your teacher handled it well.</p>
<p>I know that he is correct and I am glad that this happened in high school and not in college. It could have been much worse. I also know that the teacher could have done much more than a retake. He could have gotton the principle involved or made me keep the zero. I am slo glad that the guidance counselor was there. The fact that she was not my guidance counselor made me was worried. She was the mediator in this situation and came to the best conclusion to an already peculiar situation. I thanked her for the help.</p>
<p>Sounds like you actually have a very nice and understanding teacher. He’s right though, success in life requires beyond just memorizing sample answers and that approach can get you into trouble.</p>
<p>Kudos to you for learning the lessons you need to learn from this. You handled it maturely. I wish you well at college.</p>
<p>I think you handled this really well. I think the school did, too. They recognized it as a teaching moment and they taught you. I think you’re wiser for this error, and it goes to show much we learn from our mistakes when we are willing to take responsibility.</p>
<p>My D recently discovered that her AP Stat teacher was using tests from exams that are available on the web. She asked me what she should do - she didn’t want him to think she was cheating by studying web exams. I suggested she tell him that she (and others) had found the site for old tests. He may already be aware that they are out there, he has been teaching this class a long time.</p>