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Make suggestions, report errors > About stolen worksheets
About stolen worksheets
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ichacantero
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About stolen worksheets
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Hi everyone.
It took me some time to be able to write this, and I hope it�s not taken the wrong way...
Today I was reading the posts, as I�ve been doing for some days in a row and what I�ve found is that most of the posts are about stolen material... what�s worst, these are the topics with more replies. It�s so disappointing that sometimes interesting topics get lost because the stolen material topics overwhelm them. I do understand that it IS a horrible thing and that we should report these cheats, but I feel that we give to much importance to this issue.
Even though the topics in the current forum are separate, they are almost mostly about stolesn worksheets, so I�d like to suggest (this is if Victor thinks it�s a good idea, and doable) that there is a separate forum for stolen material... I�d also like to add that there are some things I really miss about the former forum, and it�s the "latest topics" "hot topics" and the possibility of searching by date. I know it�s a lot to ask, but I�d like Victor to consider adding these or similar features little by little.
Thanks for reading :)
Icha
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15 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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Hi Icha,
I agree with you completely. It seems that some people would prefer to post messages on the forum relentlessly on this topic. I think they are actually reinforcing the behaviour. It is like telling a child repeatidly to stop rocking on their chair. all of a sudden the whole class are all leaning back on their chair hoping to catch your attention!
My favourite analogy - WHAT EVER YOU DO, DON�T THINK ABOUT A POLAR BEAR.
How many of you are now thinking about a polar bear when before I told you not to - you would never have considered it???
Paradox and human behaviour - such an interesting topic.
Oi! I told you not to think about polar bears!
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15 Dec 2008
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eng789
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Vickiii, what a great picture.
People should stop trying to fight windmills.
I would complain if some took my ws and submitted under their name, but how can you stop someone from taking your vocabulary list, throwing it into a wordsearch maker and adding a nice border.
A couple of years ago I made a Comparative/Superlative ws. While I was going through some members� wss, I gave a double take. Someone had used the exact clipart of 3 men that I had used in mine and asked the same questions. If I had sent mine in, everyone would have shouted, COPY.
I have a question, if I used different parts of different members� wss to make a test, which I think came out very nice, and sent it in, would it be considered a copy?????????????
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15 Dec 2008
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wolfy
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To quote Terry Pratchett " If there was some cave somewhere in the world with a big red button and a sign in it saying "End of the world switrch, Do not press" the paint wouldn�t even have time to dry" |
15 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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Hi Eng,
Some people would say yes but I don�t think so - the whole stolen thing goes to far sometimes - we should use each others work to inspire ourselves. I saw Frenchies santa game and thought it was perfect for my rudolph unit - so I made a game that was nearly identical with different grammar and vocabulary questions - stolen - I don�t think so - inspired - absolutely!
If you are worried just ask the author and then place the link on the information section so that people can get the originals to support the material. I didn�t ask FrenchFrog - but no one accused me of stealing...
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15 Dec 2008
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ichacantero
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I do hate it when people steal, and not specially if they steal from me, in fact, I get angrier when they steal from someone else, since I feel for that person. I don�t think we should stop reporting and trying to stop cheats, I just think it should be done differently, because in my case, I benefit much more from ideas and suggestions from other teachers, than from theft reports.
I don�t think it�s stealing when you use other people�s ideas, but you have to make plenty of change, more than half for it to be called original.. I�d say at least 80% of it has to be modified. That is, if you keep some of the clipart, you must change the content (BTW... I think you must always change the text, like said before, it should serve as an inspiration... not a copy;)) But, I�d play it safe.. make your own from scratch, even if it�s inspired by others. Many members have been inspired by french-frog�s and vanda�s worksheets, and I admire that they�ve done their own versions of vanda�s and frenchfrog�s designs... I�ve even seen many of picture dictionaries using the same idea I use... and I�m glad to have inspired those people. If I didn�t want my designs to inspire others to make similar ones, I wouldn�t have uploaded them in this public website. So, like I�ve said in the past... stealing is horrible and I will also fight for it to end... but not at the cost of not being able to learn about other teachers experiences because their voices can�t be heard though all the noise made by and about theft.
Thanks for your replies!!
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15 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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Hey wolfy - very appropriate! Terry Pratchet is an awesome author.
HAve you ever touched a red element to see if it really was hot? you know those ones covered with glass? They just look like someone has turned a light on underneath some glass... You wouldn�t really know it was hot unless you touched it! |
15 Dec 2008
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marmar363
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Hi Icha,
I agree with all your suggestions, and I�ll follow them as soon as possible.
The only problem is that my "pending tasks list" is too large... |
15 Dec 2008
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marmar363
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I feel inspired today.
Just one thing left: a separate forum for stolen reports. |
15 Dec 2008
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anaisabel001
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I really agree with you. I�ve only been on this site for a few weeks and I find it very, very interesting but I must tell you that I feel a bit confused about all the comments about "stolen worksheets.
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16 Dec 2008
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Thank you!! 