Finals

It’s that time again when we have to control final trimester exams. Our reputations as the strictest teachers at the school, long cemented with the older kids, increases with ever cheater we expel. Rumors of our methods must have percolated even to the newbies since 8th graders we’ve never controlled before also shudder when we walk by and cheer when they realize we are not entering their classroom this time just like the others. One of Luc’s former students made the sign of the cross when Luc walked particularly close to the door of the 9th grade A class, the soon to be cheating student’s prayer was answered as Luc had been assigned 8th grade C for the Bio test, one students prepare extraordinarily elaborate cheat sheets for due to the amount of drawings and chalk board information provided during the trimester. When we do enter a class there are always a few students who moan making the “what am I going to do now?” sentiment audible. One classroom Luc entered had several students immediately jettison their cheat sheets out the nearest window even before he initiated his thorough inspection routine, so the odds of getting caught are discouraging at least some from playing the cheating game. We can sympathize with how professional sportsmen must feel when receiving the jeers in front of a hostile crowd, we try to convince ourselves that this is somehow an honoring of our principles or at least our proctoring skills, but it is mostly discouraging. Of course the one or two students who actual studied applaud our entry knowing their high marks will not need to compete with the usual hordes of cheating-inflated scores. We now have a whole year of experience, so it’s easier to manage our final exam duties, but it’s tiring facing such a hostile crowd day after day. Luc had a particularly intense proctoring schedule, appearing on the afternoon duty roster 10 times and we only have 9 tests, so that meant he was assigned to both 8th grade classes D and E for mathematics. Janet had less proctoring duties since she is only available during the morning when the 9th and 10th graders studying. We suspect they are trying to keep our no-nosense tactics away from these classes so as not to depress the passing rates.