Paranoid?

I have a student who is a bit paranoid. They are adjusting his meds to help him cope with life. Here is a conversation we had this afternoon.

He storms into my office and throws his papers at him.

"You guys are out to get me."

"Excuse me? Calm down and explain to me what you mean."

"I know I am doing this work correctly and you guys only give me 80%"

"What makes you so sure you are doing work that is worthy of 100%?"

"Well, I cheated on the chapter 15 test and I only got an 86%"

"Ok, so that explains where my chapter 15 answer key disappeared to. Let me get this straight, you are admitting to me that you cheated on a test."

"Yes."

"Um....ok."

The conversation continued and the school was called along with grandma. It is all worked out now, but it cracks me up that in order to prove he was right and I was wrong he fessed up to cheating. He very easily could have gotten away with it. He scored an 86%, he is a "B" student, I didn't suspect anything.

I called grandma and told her our conversation. Her reply, "He cheated by copying the answer key 'word for word' and he still only got an 86%? Dumb ass."

I lost it. I tried to be professional, but the way she said it cracked me up. It is sad that someone would say that about a family member, but to hear this 70 year old woman say it on the phone cracked me up.

So, moral of the story. If you are trying to prove you are right, don't admit to cheating.