off with my head!!!! :)

plagiarism.

what a lovely word. what a lovely concept. truly, right now the word is the bane of my existence!

two parents, two boys who decided to cut and paste their book report summaries from barnes & nobles. go figure. all they had to write was a 100 word summary of the plot of their novel. nope. one was too lazy, one didn't "understand" that it was plagiarism. two upset kids, two sets of upset parents, two administrators, two guidance counselors and two teachers. two phone calls, two office referrals, two days, toooooo much.

and what about the fact that the kids cheated? hmmm. certainly not as important as blaming me because i have ruined children's self esteem BECAUSE I TOLD THEM DURING EXAM WEEK. my bad. is there ever a good, convenient time to be caught for your crime? ("gee, officer, yes i killed that guy, but can you arrest me next week because today i have something else to do...") apparently, i should have had better timing. amazing. i am thinking if austin had done that, we wouldn't have had to worry about timing or a later date...he would have been dead or grounded until his is 32...apparently, the greater concern is how upset the boys are. they are so 1) ashamed 2) remorseful 3) confused because he didn't know it was plagiarism 4) unable to concentrate anymore because he is so upset and/or 5) unable to do well on any more exams because he is so upset over this.

more energy has been spent pointing the finger at me vs. dealing with the actual kids and what each did. one parent is going to have a huge meeting because she will NOT be accepting the zero, and i am to blame. meeting apparently will be with me, the principal, the school board, jesus christ, ghandi, the dalai lama, members of the grand inquisition, lee harvey oswald, a flock of angels and various kings and queens. i have respectfully declined any further ass or ear chewings from any of these parents, as i have just done my job.

i have written to the administrator in charge of dealing with the two office referrals and asked for a papal dispensation on having anymore contact with these people. let's hope she is going to be nice about it and deal with it herself. there is really no reason why i should have to be subjected to anymore abuse.

i need an angel penny! :)