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Having just come out of proctoring a midterm (most boring activity known to man), I'm probably in a bad mood. Most of this wasn't precisely sucky, just very annoying.
And how the heck the the two students I'm supposed to be proctoring right now turn into only one? (Interviews conflicted with the midterm. Career Services needs to understand that while keeping employers happy is good, employers should at least know when midterm week is as a courtesy to the students).
To the TA who didn't show up: Seriously. You are doing a .25 TA. Yes, that means you get paid very little, but you're only working 40 hours all term. And you know you're going to work fewer, because your only jobs were proctoring the midterm, proctoring the final and marking one question for the final. You've already blown one of those. (And those jobs did not add to 40 hours in the first place).
To the TA who did show up: 5 minutes before the exam starts is cutting it close if you're writing the exam. If you're not only proctoring (and following YOUR suggestion of placing the books out before we let students sit) but bringing the exam books, it's not acceptable. Also, I am not a cripple. Don't make me hit you with my cane. I can understand if you don't want to stay upstairs on your own, but "oh, it's harder for you to run between the rooms to check" is not an excuse. I'd have been fine with switching if you had paid attention. And I could have brought my bag, so I wouldn't have needed to switch back. (I needed to run to my office to proctor this other student).
To the students with cell phones: C'mon. We ignore a lot of the rules here. We don't enforce the blackout times for leaving the exam. We aren't picky about having your student ID card. Don't look at me like I'm being unreasonable when I tell you to put your cell phone away. Yes, I know it's hard to cheat on this exam. That's why I'm letting you put it in your pencil case. (Yes, my husband had his cell phone out during an exam once. He's never told this story without mentioning that you can't do that, and he knew he was taking a risk).
To the student who was asking me for help with using the wrong equation: Did it occur to you that the ideal gas law might not be a good idea for a solid. At least the guy who asked if he was supposed to assume constant volume had the sense to look embarrassed after I pointed out "it's a solid". You just kept trying to figure out how to use that equation.
To the student who wanted to know how to use the equation: You're asking for help with a first year skill. If you don't know how to work with different units, convert into units that you can work with. You're also making it obvious that you didn't do the homework.
And how the heck the the two students I'm supposed to be proctoring right now turn into only one? (Interviews conflicted with the midterm. Career Services needs to understand that while keeping employers happy is good, employers should at least know when midterm week is as a courtesy to the students).
To the TA who didn't show up: Seriously. You are doing a .25 TA. Yes, that means you get paid very little, but you're only working 40 hours all term. And you know you're going to work fewer, because your only jobs were proctoring the midterm, proctoring the final and marking one question for the final. You've already blown one of those. (And those jobs did not add to 40 hours in the first place).
To the TA who did show up: 5 minutes before the exam starts is cutting it close if you're writing the exam. If you're not only proctoring (and following YOUR suggestion of placing the books out before we let students sit) but bringing the exam books, it's not acceptable. Also, I am not a cripple. Don't make me hit you with my cane. I can understand if you don't want to stay upstairs on your own, but "oh, it's harder for you to run between the rooms to check" is not an excuse. I'd have been fine with switching if you had paid attention. And I could have brought my bag, so I wouldn't have needed to switch back. (I needed to run to my office to proctor this other student).
To the students with cell phones: C'mon. We ignore a lot of the rules here. We don't enforce the blackout times for leaving the exam. We aren't picky about having your student ID card. Don't look at me like I'm being unreasonable when I tell you to put your cell phone away. Yes, I know it's hard to cheat on this exam. That's why I'm letting you put it in your pencil case. (Yes, my husband had his cell phone out during an exam once. He's never told this story without mentioning that you can't do that, and he knew he was taking a risk).
To the student who was asking me for help with using the wrong equation: Did it occur to you that the ideal gas law might not be a good idea for a solid. At least the guy who asked if he was supposed to assume constant volume had the sense to look embarrassed after I pointed out "it's a solid". You just kept trying to figure out how to use that equation.
To the student who wanted to know how to use the equation: You're asking for help with a first year skill. If you don't know how to work with different units, convert into units that you can work with. You're also making it obvious that you didn't do the homework.
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