random student habit

The Chinese students' textbooks tend to be more like workbooks. They have material in them to read, but they have lots of exercises to do. Well, Brad gives in-class exercises for them to do from the textbooks.

Interestingly, they refuse to write in the books. If there is a chart to fill in or questions to answer, they will NOT write them in the book; instead, they will find the edge of a scrap piece of paper and write answers there. Often a sheet of paper has so much small writing on there from the various classes and their various textbooks, that it's indiscernable what they've written. It intrigues Brad everytime when he tries to give an assignment. Because of their refusal to write in their books, they'll forget their answers when called upon moments later.

P.S. Yes, they own the books and it's not against any rule. Every now and then, you'll see a few stray markings in a book, but it's not the norm.