Eu stiu cum putem sa-l ajutam

One of my fifth grade students came to all three lessons last week without his homework done and without his notebook and textbook. Today, I noticed that he had done at least half of his homework, and I mentioned it to him as he left the classroom.

"I'm glad that you tried to do your homework today," I said in Romanian. "For tomorrow's class, finish it all and come with your book, too."

"Okay," he said, and then he left.

"Mr. Peter," said one of my stronger students, "I know a way that we can help him do his homework."

"Really?" I said as the rest of the students left and only the student with the great idea remained. "What can we do?"

He hurriedly explained his plan, which I didn't fully understand, but I grasped that there was some kind of writing things down on a loose-leaf sheet of paper.

"I didn't understand your idea," I said as I sat down in a student's chair to lower myself to the student's eye level. "Could you repeat it, please?"

"We can write the homework out on a piece of paper, then give him the sheet and he can copy the homework."

Great plan, kid.

"I'm glad that you're thinking about helping your classmate, but that's not a good way to do it. Does that really help him?" I asked. "What does he learn if he just copies? Nothing. You only learn if you do the work yourself, and if he starts copying in fifth grade, he will never learn how to do his own work."

I noticed that the student's gaze was drifting up and to his left. Was it because he was slightly embarrassed at his plan being shot down, or was it because he considered my concept of academic honesty quaint? Either way, I decided to wrap it up.

"So now you've heard my opinion, and I hope you understand why it's not a good idea to have your classmate copy from you," I said.

I really do hope he understood. But what impact can 30 seconds of discussion have on my student's mind when he sees copying as a legitimate way of "help" in all his other classes?