Norman is a cheater

I was in the ninth grade at Mark Twain Junior High School in Yonkers, New York. I was not a very good student then. I did not have a very good memory.  I still don't. It is difficult for me to remember things I have read or remember things I have seen on TV or in the movies. However, I do remember things that I have experienced.

One day in the History class, Gary, a fellow classmate, came over to me and said, "Norman, why do you look so sad?"  I answered, "Gary, I go home every day and I read the assignment but when I come to class and take the tests, I cannot remember the correct answers." Gary said, "I have the same problem but I can up with a solution." "What do you do?" I said. Gary explained that he goes home and reads the book and jots down all of the key points on a little sheet of paper and then he puts the little sheet into his shirt pocket and looks at the sheet when taking the test.  "Brilliant idea,:" I said and that night I went home and did the exact same thing.  I read the assignment and jotted down  on a small sheet of paper what I thought were the key ideas.  The next morning, I put the small sheet of paper into my shirt pocket and after reading the first question on the test, I looked at the sheet of paper, and my luck the teacher caught me and grabbed the sheet of paper and shouted out to everyone in the class, "Norman, is a cheater."  My name thereafter was "mud."

In fact, if you looked at the year book from my ninth grade class you will see a picture of Norman Bodek and underneath it says, "Norman Bodek is the most likely student to get a head because he needs one."

To the teachers the greatest sin is cheating.  How foolish this is. The greatest sin is not being able to apply what you have learned.










Is that bad?

All children learn from copying their parents or siblings.  Why is it bad to copy at school?  If the child can apply what they see in their life, then to me cheating is good not bad.  We are there to learn how to have a good and productive life not to please the teachers.

I surely felt guilty for a long time as if I had committed a great crime.  But, in retrospect, what is wrong in what I did? Why is it better to have information in your head than on the sheet of paper I wrote? And, of course, now in the age of Internet, why do you need a memory to hold facts, at all?

Is Google a crook?

What is wrong is graduating high school without the skill to earn a living. That is cheating the students.

My English teacher, Mrs. Sleeper, told my friend Monroe to not play with me that I was going to become a criminal.  But, I fooled her, I didn't. And miraculously, as bad a student I was, in my life I have published over 250 management books, written seven; I am writing my eighth now. I also had a very successful publishing company Productivity Press and also taught at the Business School at Portland State University. I don't steal or take was is not mine.

Is this wrong?

It is time to re-examine our entire educational system. It is not serving all of our citizens. What should we teach to help people have a great life? Why don't we examine religion and politics. Not to preach or to persuade you but to give you an opportunity to learn and decide for yourself.

What is teaching? It is a process whereby the teacher and student learn together.

I will, with your help in the blog, look at our educational system and recommend changes, hopefully for the better.