Pretty Fly

We had a big test for the class I'm TAing. We ask the students to write their section number on their exam sheets. Many students forget the section number. This is how we realize how the students really see our sections.

Most are "[time] section with [TAs name]"

Best one I've gotten so far is "10am, [room number]? with the white guy"

Now I know. I'm the white guy.

What, Me Advise?

I got a note from a student a few days ago entitled "Thinking about dropping - advice?"

He's a good student, and he's doing fine in the class, but I can see that he's a stressball. He transfered into USU from a community college, and I think he may be still a bit overwhelmed about what he's being required to do in classes here. Added to that, my class is a monster timesink. There's a big classtime commitment and the expectation is that people really need to put in at least an hour at home for every hour in class (aren't all classes supposed to be like that? 20 credit hours = full time student, right?).

So anyway, I asked if he wanted to meet up and talk about what was going on. He said he was really trying to keep a 4.0 is his core classes and my class was eating too much into his other study time. The class is also just hard. It's really not intuitive to most folks, and although it does get easier with time, we increase the speed as we move along.

It's all understandable. Major classes are obviously more important to graduation that mine. He's taking this class because it may help his grad application look better (which it may), but mainly because he really likes the subject. We talked for a long while, and I aimed him toward a few folks that might advise him from a less biased point of view.

I was able to get him to stay in the class. I hope I did right by him, because he's doing fine in the class (and not taking it for a grade), but it's always going to be a timesink.

Long and rambling post, but I'm trying to post a bit more about what's going on in my world, so there ya go.

Ugh

I loath sending the "You didn't get your 'A'" emails. I actually don't mind the "You failed" emails or the "You plagiarized so I'm hoping to get you kicked out of the university emails" nearly as much. It's so hard to explain to students - the ones I respect and know that worked hard - that they did really well, but slipped up on a minor but testable item. I know that so many students at my school just don't get A-s. Their parents are going to freak out. They think their chances for grad/med/law school are completely shot. I hate being the guy that gets to explain it to them.

It would be so much easier if I really didn't like them.

Confidential to Dude in the Back Row

Ok, so the class I'm TAing for is a large one, and when I go to lectures I always try to sit inconspicuously in the back to see what the students do during lecture. You can probably figure it out. The ones up close are listening intently and scribbling notes. The students back by me? well... Here's a quick list

• In the annoying but not completely horrific category:
• Texting (xJust about everyone)
• In the distracting and annoying category:
• getting up and leaving out the loud doorway in the middle of lecture (x2)
  
• In the why don't you just stay home category:
• Solitaire on the laptop
• Soduku (x3 or 4)
• Sleeping
• In the Oh my god get a room! category:
• rubbing the upper inner thigh of the girl next to you. Constantly. For nearly the entire lecture. Yeesh. Who knew Gruub studies gets people so hot and bothered.
  

On another completely random note, in case you didn't know how, here's some excerpts from the book, On Becoming a Woman. It's filled with such useful information about how to avoid lesbian relationships, and the dangers of masturbation. Remember! Circumcision is always an option if you can find the right "Christian doctor." Brought to you by the loving care of 1951 misogyny.

• 
  

A Lifted Pseudo-Meme!

Because I enjoyed it as Casa RV a little while ago, I'll bring you my version of:

An Activity: Draft a Response!

[Cheering!]

Info needed to craft a response to this email:

• we just finished class number nine for this session
• this is the first I heard that this guy was in my class
• This is a very technical class where every lesson builds critically on previous lessons. I can see no conceivable way even to talk about this lesson without a deep knowledge of the past nine classes.
• I came very close to splitting an infinitive in the previous bullet point. Can you guess where? Now that I look at it again, I hope you can.
  

From: 987452348756@0934785.com
To: Overread
Subject: Hey there!

Hey there! I'm G. Nius who barely hacked his way through your last class. How are things goin'? I just wanted to tell you not to drop me from this class. I haven't been to class yet because I just got back in town. Oh, and I'm not going to be in class tomorrow because I got stuck in City-Very-Much-Within-Driving-Distance. So I guess I'll make up all the quizzes when I get back?

G.

Sigh, He's actually a hard working guy and I'll try to help him out. Feh. I'm a pushover.

Enough about me! How would you answer?

Antsy and Anxious

Smell that? I think it's my impending doom. See, karma's like that (even when she's a chameleon). When you call doom down upon others, more likely than not, doom shall fall upon you. And that's a good enough saying to stitch on a pillow.

So, I think I've set my bright young scholars up for failure with a rather weak paper prompt. I basically let them choose their own topic, but I gave them suggestions if they wanted, because heaven knows that some folks simply demand to be told what to write.

The thing is that the ideas that people seem to be wanting to write about are, well... bad. This isn't a world where 'there are no know answers.' There are bad paper theses, and I'm seeing a bit too many. The paper is due on Friday and I think I'm in for a looong weekend of grading.

Also, I retwisted my ankle last weekend, so I'm not running until it's absolutely happy with me. If felt fine this morning, but I'm demanding a full day's worth of tweaklessness before I start running again. So I'm antsy. And I have no energy. And I want to eat a lot and do nothing but watch CSI reruns - and that's no way to meet and frolic with the runners-up from the Brilliant and Beautiful competition*. I'm pretty sure that's all connected to my ankle.

* I should note that the vast majority of blogs I read are written by bloggers, both brilliant and beautiful (and I bet they all appreciate alliteration as well), at least as near as I can tell :)

Update:
Zerodoll's right, NC's no good as a pseudonym. I would hate for someone to think I lived in North Carolina (eh, John?)
I figure I'll have to wait until I get there before picking a good name. It's just like you should always wait until your child is 3 or 4 years old before giving them a permanent name - how do you know whether or not they'll end up to be a good fit for the name 'Brandon' until you see if they look good in a polo shirt and feathered hair?

Also noted: 'runs' is a perfectly good label, but perhaps not for what I meant it to be. 'Running' will suit a bit better, I think.