I caught a student cheating, now what?

Today in class I had a student take someone elses paper and put his name on it and turn it in. Now the student does not know that I know he did it. I am not sure how to best attack this issue. I was thinking about having a discussion with the class by explaing the situation (with out giving ou the persons name ) and then having them tell me what they would do- in the mean time I let the student sweat a little. Then after class I would confront the student and ask if had anything he would like to tell me. I am not sure the type of punishment I should give out. call home? paper? want else? I want to turn this into a learing experience for everyone.

I caught a student cheating, now what?
First and foremost, the student needs a zero for the assignment. He needs to do the assignment over and not receive credit for it. He needs to write an apology to the student whose paper he took. His parents need to be contacted about the situation. You COULD do what you're talking about, but everyone in the class knows that what he did is wrong. There's really no sort of learning to be done here except by the student who did the actual crime- and all he needs to learn is to not be so stupid. You can do that in private.
Reply:I hate the idea of bringing the class into it at this time. I appreciate wanting to have the whole class learn, but this sounds to me like a way of torturing the guilty student. I would deal one-on-one with the student. At some other time, when you are not upset with a particular student, you can do a whole session on different forms of cheating.





By the say, to me, this if the worst form of cheating, because it not only allows the perpetrator to get a grade he does not deserve, but it deprives the student whose paper was stolen of the grade s/he did deserve.





As to the penalties, doesn't your school have a policy on this? I don't think these things should be left to the discretion of individual teachers. Otherwise, one student could suffer a far worse penalty than could another one for exactly the same "crime". You don't say what age the students are, and obviously the penalty would be different if this is a first-grader or a high school student. I do think, though, that the parents DO need to know that this happened.
Reply:You are a teacher? You are an adult? why on earth are you asking that question on here? what would have happened if you were caught cheating on a test on college? the answer should be obvious.
Reply:I would have done that as a beginning teacher. After learning the disciplining with dignity, I now take the students out of the class with the offense and discuss the problem with them. Make a xerox copy. Give the original kid the grade it deserved. Then, give the kid who put his name on it a zero this time. Unfortunately gossip will take place and that may become your bigger problem.





If this happens, you may have to have a parent/student/teacher/assistant principal discussion about the seriousness of this offense on this one occasion.





Be sure to tell the student it is the same as stealing. If this were a store, the student would have been placed in jail. If this were college, the student would have been possibly kicked out of the college, no pay returned. Find a copy of the plagerism rules in your student handbook, xerox it and give the student a copy. This will not happen again to you as a teacher at that school because you will then have a reputation.
Reply:Sorry, but what kind of teacher are you if you have to come on Yahoo to get advice on how to handle a situation with a student? And we all wonder why public schools suck so bad. I'm thinking that you really aren't a teacher though.
Reply:I do not know what you teach, but either your language or review skills need to be honed.
Reply:i would call home and say 50 papers (rubbish) and 50 lines- say cheating is sevre or say i wont be angry if you tell em the truth and then just give him an official reminder!
Reply:like a previous students paper or he just got it off someone's desk???





If it's a previous student isnt that plagerism?
Reply:I wouldn't deal with it lightly, especially if you want it to be a learning experience. You don't want to teach this student (as well as the whole class) that cheating only warrants a small punishment. If this happens, you will have a mess on your hands. And, the odds are this wasn't the only incident that the student was involved in. In many schools it is a BIG problem. I say be strict and do what you have to do.
Reply:no no no, dont ask them that, you should just put a zero on there paper and if they had a problem with it you should have told them i will put a zero on anyone who had cheated, thats what my teacher does to us.
Reply:well i am a student and that would suck if i got caught cheetin so i would just give him a zero and make him do it over again on his own befor or after school one day
Reply:This is probably not a one-time occurrance. You should give him or her a ZERO on the paper, and inform the principal. Scare him or her straight!
Reply:Cheating is a serious issue, especially in a case like this where the student is not only trying to get credit for work he didn't do, but is also taking points away from someone who did do the work - in other words, stealing. Make a copy of the paper and give it to the administrator in charge of discipline. Explain the situation and have him or her call the student in. The parents should also be notified by the administration. The student should receive a 0 on the assignment, and should also receive the punishment for cheating defined in your school's rules and code of conduct.





Go over the rules your school has about cheating with your class. Be sure to impress upon them what a serious issue it is. You might want to give them a writing assignment, or perhaps have a group discussion about cheating. At first, students might think cheating is OK, until they are put in the shoes of the student whose name got erased.
Reply:Doesn't the school have a disclipline policy for cheating??
Reply:Listen.....Give the kid an F....





Cheaters are not worth the effort.....Spend your time time teaching the kids that are honest.





I would rather give a kid that got 0 of 20 a D+ that did his best.\ Than to give a cheater the time of day.
Reply:give him a zero,call home explaining to the parent and if it happens again send hi to the principal ive had a similar problem, the parent will hopefully give the child a good punishment but u should let this student off wit a warning!!
Reply:I would just place a zero on the paper, and if they came up to ask why, then explain to them exactly why you aren't giving them any marks on the paper. Don't make a big deal out of it... if the student is just craving attention you don't want to appeal to that side. If they kid is in junior high or younger, consider calling home, if he is older, don't bother.





If you feel there are underlying reasons of why the child might be cheating (a learning disability, depression, anything like that), then still give a zero, but take some time to sit down with him after class and see if you can help in some way.
Reply:This sounds exactly like what I did, but I would definitely cal home, give them a zero or have them do a different homework assignment for the same lesson after school, and make a note of it in your files. Do not come across as light or you may find that more and more students are beginning to cheat (depending on the age and how social your students are).
Reply:Use the scare tactic. What you described is perfect. The apitome of what I would not like to have to go through - prevent it from happening again to anyone I presume.