Photos of students wearing the funny hats are going viral online after Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz posted them on Facebook.
– Mid-term exams are usually stressful and scary for students, but because of the hats, our exams have become fun and less stressful, the teacher tells Dagbladet.
He was surprised
One of the school’s four pillars is “character” and Mandane-Ortiz says it is important for her to remind students that they need to have “integrity” and work hard. When she came across an anti-cheating hat shape from Thailand in 2013, she decided to propose something similar to her students.
CREATIVE: The teacher didn’t expect students to go that far, she tells Dagbladet. Photo: Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz / Facebook
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– I asked two students to make a very simple anti-cheating hat. Surprisingly, the students made creative hats. Everyone thinks their classmates’ hats were fun, she says.
Students are 1st to 4th grade at BS Mechanical Engineering.
Up to the BBC explains the teacher who was looking for a fun way to ensure “integrity” and honesty in the classroom.
– It was very effective, he tells the newspaper.
“Sorry, your legs are too heavy …”
He took the task seriously
It was when the students were supposed to take their mid-year exams in October that the teacher asked them to make their own “anti-cheat hats”. The hats should have made it difficult to ignore what the neighbor had written on her exam – and the teacher thought she would help the pupils’ mood before the test.
He also awarded five extra points to students with the most imaginative hats.
EXTRA POINTS: Students who completed the hat assignment received extra points in the exam. Photo: Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz / Facebook
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The teacher expected the students to do something simple, but that wasn’t the case.
– Some of them made complex headdresses in just five minutes, using everything they found around them, he explains.
Others used hats, helmets or Halloween costumes to complete the task.
Paid DKK 2100 for the “dream smile”
Online winning streak
After posting student photos on his Facebook profile, he received thousands of likes in just a few days. It didn’t take long before they were picked up by the media in other parts of the world.
EGGEHATT: Mandane-Ortiz says the students think the assignment was really fun. Photo: Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz / Facebook
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Mandane-Ortiz is said to have been inspired by a technique adopted in Thailand in 2013, where a photo of students wearing large ear flaps went viral. Each student had a large piece of paper stuck to either side of their head so they couldn’t see what the person next to them was doing.
Many of his students are said to have finished their exams early and none were caught cheating, says the teacher.
– They said they were very motivated, Mandane-Ortiz tells Dagbladet.
