Teacher accused almost all my class of plagerizing, including me, its not true though!?!?

Question

I went home like everyone i was accused of using 2 websites (word for word copied) . first of all, i never saw one of these websites in my life, and its not about the same subject, and the other one doesn't even exist!

she called all the parents already and my mom told her that my dad will call her today. so he is but also my friend was accused of using her textbook but its not true either. so my dad is calling today to tell her that i will not re-do it, and also, me and my friend will go see her at lunch to prove her wrong.

should we notify the principal or vice-principal, because over half my class got accused of it, and we didn't and we have prove that we didnt!?

principal or keep it to ourselves?

Answer 1

The easiest way to deal with this problem, as it appears you have done, is to get the teacher to commit to exactly where she believes you copied from. I mean exactly! While with your father, have a copy of the entire website (b/c the other doesn't exist) and ask the teacher to point out where the problem is specifically. Hand it (a photocopy of your assignment and a website printout) to her when you do this...the truth will become self-evident. Back yourself up and do not be rude about it. Your father will deal with the principle if it is needed. I am d**n sure I would cause employment problems for that teacher, if you were my kid and were falsely accused.

Answer 2

Let your parents speak to your teacher first.

If you have anything to help prove that you didn't plagiarise, then let your parents and your teacher know. If you have written notes, photocopied pages that you've used from books or have website links where you got your info from, then use this to help prove that you didn't cheat. Anything that could help show the process of you putting information into your own words, could be shown to the teacher.

Answer 3

Something is really wrong here.  I can't imagine any teacher basing claims of plagiarism on a nonexistent website and one on the wrong subject matter.  Unless there is other evidence that she is completely crazy, I have to think that she misused some program to check for plagiarism.  I would also be prepared, by the way, to have her tell you that with regard to the nonexistent website you got the URL wrong, and she told you something different.  I'm not saying you are wrong - I'm saying she probably told you the wrong name and will correct it (but tell you that YOU got it wrong) in your meeting with her.

I think I would wait until after your meeting with the teacher to notify an administrator.  If you can demonstrate to her calmly that your paper was original, then you won't need the principal or vice principal's help, and getting them involved would only cause problems for the teacher which could, in the long run, cause problems for you, should she decide to retaliate.  If she is unreasonable at the meeting and continues to insist that you plagiarized despite evidence to the contrary, THEN you need to go to the vice principal.

In your meeting, remember that only YOU really know how you wrote the paper, so that puts you in a strong position.  You can remain calm, knowing that you did not do any of the things she might accuse you of.  Don't blame her - that is likely to make HER defensive, which won't go well for you.  Just calmly suggest that somehow a mistake seems to have occurred (don't even say that SHE made the mistake) and have your facts in order.

Good luck!