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ESL forum > Message board > Cheaters??    

Cheaters??



Zora
Canada

Cheaters??
 
Hi friends,

I was just reading a post about worksheets being reported and I really must say that I hate it when I hear the word "cheater".

Worksheets are not always reported because someone stole them from somewhere or took them from another site. In fact, quite a few being reported are because of other reasons - cliparts that have watermarkers, an exercise in the worksheet that was taken from a book, a smattering of a foreign language, flashcards that are incomplete (i.e. not four in a set) or quite simply because it is a template and was uploaded by accident in the wrong section... there has even been the case that a person uploaded more worksheets than was allowed.  A computer glitch that time and not that person �s fault at all.

"Cheater" implies so many other things. It implies laziness, a great disrepect toward others and an inherit deviousness which is not the case a lot of the time. People make mistakes. We assume things because, quite simply, the rules have changed quite a bit from when I started up. We assume we can do things and find out later that we can �t anymore. Or when reading the rules, which are a long list, we can overlook or misunderstand something... but this does NOT mean that the person who uploaded the worksheet was out to cheat the system, pull the wool over our eyes or pull a fast one. It could simply be that they made a mistake and that is it.

We shouldn �t assume that such a person "cheated" and is a "cheater" or bad person. We all make mistakes. Heck, sometimes, I need a magnifying glass to see the watermarks on some clipart when they are reported for that reason. So obviously, the person who used the image probably hadn �t noticed it themselves until after it was reported and it probably was a genuine mistake.

Now I know that the site is getting bigger, growing and I realise the need for stricter rules. I also know that there are bad apples out there but those ones are far and few between. We shouldn �t be so quick to point fingers at others, just in case, one day, "we" make a mistake and find ourselves being branded unfairly as a "cheater".

Cheers from Birmingham- (- I am on holiday with my lovely English gent Wink )

Linda



28 Sep 2010      





english-in-mind
Argentina

Oh Zora! I feel that way! Once I made a mistake and after that I didn �t do anything wrong but I feel very bad when people treat me as a cheater! You explained things clear and this is my feeling right now.Thanks for those who believe in me!

28 Sep 2010     



PhilipR
Thailand

I have to agree with the clipart watermarks sometimes being invisible to the naked eye (haven �t ordered that e-magnifying glass yet). I wonder how the Worksheet Police �s finest spot them.

Also, there is indeed no reason to point the finger at someone too quickly. Genuine mistakes do happen. However, some mods think it �s their duty to guard the Holy Worksheet Grail with all means available. Better safe than sorry. Let �s report anything fishy, if it doesn �t smell after all, others will vote for it to stay, they reason. I prefer the innocent until proven guilty approach.

Cheer up, folks. You can �t even keep your kitchen floor spic-and-span unless you �ve got an obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder. You don �t really want to develop the Internet equivalent, do you? I often don �t even look at the reported ws page because all this pettiness gets to you after a while, although I do like a good argument once in a while. 

Let �s just open the site for everyone to download what they want and nobody one will need to upload (fake) rubbish in order to download valuable goodies. 

28 Sep 2010     



libertybelle
United States

I totally agree with you Zora!
The only exception is when someone takes a whole page
from another member and uploads it as their own.
THAT is cheating.
(we have the best rules in the world here - if people don �t read them -
then that �s their downfall!)

28 Sep 2010     



anaisabel001
Spain

I fully agree with you.   Clap
Zora, Have fun!!Hug
Mistakes, obviously, show us what needs improving. Without mistakes, how would we know what we had to work on? (   Peter McWilliams)

Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes.  (James A. Froude)

28 Sep 2010     



cs1980
Portugal

I agree with you!

28 Sep 2010     



yolprica
Spain

I totally agree with you. We should focus on making and getting good material which is really useful for our classes, which is what most of us do and stop worrying about things which are not important such as watermark on cliparts. I don �t mean that we shouldn �t follow the rules but sometimes the end justifies the means.

Yolanda

28 Sep 2010     



tancredo
Portugal

I absolutely agree with PhilippR. Very reasonable.
I once had one worksheet reported (repetition, they said) and I felt really bad because I had no intention to do it. To tell you the truth, I don�t even remember having uploaded it a second time. Sometimes, moderators remind me of fly catchers - always on guard to "kill" the insect.
Let�s be tolerant.
Libertybelle, you are right,too.
 
Warm Regards for everyone!
 
Leonor

28 Sep 2010