A new toy
My Mother’s Day present arrived. A new laptop! :shimmy::typing::worthy:
Oooh, I love new toys. Particularly ones that involve technology. Oh, the power! 
I bought a Dell because I could customize it the way I want. Hubby is an engineer and the government buys Dells, so I figured if it was good for them, I’d go with it. I’m just tickled that I can now do wireless Internet. 
Oh, remember the story about crazy Dad who was mad because I DARED to give his son a late penalty for the week-late essay? Hoo, boy, it gets better. The kid plagiarized the entire thing off the Internet. 
Wasn’t hard to grade that one at all. Nice big old zero for that grade. I decided to stay one step ahead of him, and I e-mailed my principal to give him some of the background. Figured, just in case… I also printed out the web pages, highlighted the paragraphs that were directly lifted, and photocopied it for myself. Gee, wonder if Dad will want a conference? :blahblah:
Did anybody watch 24? What did you think?
Michelle posted in Writing @ 5:41 am | Viewed 3044 times
Melissa Says:
I have a friend who is a college English instructor. In the past week, she’s had two students plagiarize.
Larissa Says:
Yay on the new laptop!!!! I need a new one desperately. And all computers we buy will also be Dells. We’ve had good luck with them, plus, Dell gave us a computer to replace the brand new one we lost in the hurricane. We’re loyal Dell customers now!
And ugh on the kid and the parent! I admire you–I don’t think I could ever be a teacher…I have NO patience, and girl, I think every one of you should be paid a LOT more than you are!
beth Says:
Yay for new laptops!
Hope it’s just what the doctor ordered for you. I’m assuming your wireless network is secured with something like WEP - or at least not just left with the default router settings. If not, I recommend either you or hubs look into that - unsecured home wireless networks are some of the best ways for those with nefarious intentions to gather up personal information or use your equipment as an untraceable (or at least, untraceable to them) hopping off point for doing bad things on a larger scale.
As for plagarism - catching that was one of the things that made my day when I was teaching. Maybe it’s my evil side coming out a bit, but it always astounded me that they thought I wasn’t going to check. Hope that the dad can be easily convinced to see that it’s not you who has the problem here. Fingers crossed!
Kelly Says:
Too funny about the plagerizer. SErves him right getting caught. I watched the first hour of 24 but had to tape the last hour so I could flick over and watch the series finale of Alias. I’ll finish watching 24 tonight.
Tori Lennox Says:
Congrats on the new laptop!!!
As for the little plagiarist, they just never learn, do they? No matter how many get blasted on the news, they just keep doing it. Amazing.
Stacy Says:
Cool on the new toy…you’ll LOVE it!
Ugh about the dad and boy. Good going on keeping copies and I do hope he’ll learn his lesson.
Gina Says:
Yay for the new laptop. I want one of those myself. Maybe someday. For now, the desktop will do. As for the plagarism, it seems the Internet makes it so easy for kids to get away without really working. One of the soaps I watch has a story line with this very topic too. Glad you caught him.
April Says:
Woo Hoo on the lapop!:woot: Love wireless internet. Love it!
Good job catching the plagarist. Want to know what’s sad though, dad is so caught up in “my son is perfect” that he’ll probably still argue it :sword:. Good job on getting copies of the proof and spreading the word to your principal! At least that way you have some good backing for when he comes calling!:slap:
MaryF Says:
Way cool on the laptop!
Good job catching the cheater. How did you know where to look?
I watched 24 - poor Jack! Can’t catch a break. Loved that Martha had such a big role, too.
Peggy Says:
I want your new toy!!:hissyfit:
Rene Says:
Congrats on the new laptop. Wireless Internet rocks!!
What a charming student you have. Easy to see where he got his behavior.
Stephanie Says:
Whhhooooo hoooooo! what a lovely present. Hope you create many wonderful stories on it!
kacey Says:
okay, I had to close my eyes on your comments in case anyone gave away anything about 24 before I have a chance to see it… BUT, Way cool on the new laptop!! What fun!!