Tips to help teachers prevent and catch cheating and misbehavior.

1. All work done outside of class has a higher risk of being copied. Try to keep all important and valuable learning experiences in class where you can monitor students. Not only do some parents help too much with student work, students may copy off each other, off a student from another class, from a previous year student's work, off the Internet, and so on.
2. Students may try to cheat on assignments during class. If you don't want students to work in a group, you need to be in front of the room watching students' heads and eyes when not engaged in helping other students.
3. To prevent cheating on tests, ask students to roll up their sleeves to their elbows. This will help prevent students from writing answers on their arms or keeping a cheat sheet in their sleeves. Ask students to move their chairs in so their stomachs are touching the desk. This will help prevent students from looking at their laps or elsewhere in case they have a cheat sheet, are sitting on a cheat sheet, or have a cheat sheet on the ground or back pack.
   Have two or more versions of the test so students may not look for answers from their neighbors. Make sure to check the tables for writing when handing out the test. Never allow cell phones because of text messaging or taking pictures of your tests. Have students remove their hoods and turn the bills of their hats backwards. This will allow you to see the students' eyes the entire time they are taking the test.
4. To catch students who are using a cell phone in class, watch for students looking at their lap. There is usually no reason why a student needs to be looking at his or her lap. Just walk over to that student and ask for their phone even if they put it back into their pocket.
5. Many students will try to listen to their iPods during class. To prevent this, look for the wires for the mp3 player. Have students remove the wires hanging from their shirts. Don't allow students to wear hoods during class. This lets you see if the students have wires hanging from their ears. Some students nowadays also have sunglasses with an mp3 player built in.
6. If you don't allow chewing of gum, spend 20 seconds during class and scan the room watching students mouths. If you see a chewing motion, ask the student to spit the gum out. This can also help if you don't allow any food or drink in class.

More information on classroom management can be found at
www.lessonplansinc.com

Additional articles concerning Cheating in this issue of Teachers.Net Gazette are;

• Who's Cheating Whom? - Part 1 Alfie Kohn
• To Tell the Truth Leah Davies
• Dealing with Dishonesty Tom Lucey
• Cheaters! from Teachers.Net Chatboard
• Using Test "Cheat Sheets" To Enhance Student Learning from the Science Teachers Chatboard