Thursday, June 4, 2009

Final Exams

So do those words bring back any memories??


They do for me...


I am sitting here proctoring a final exam and looking at these students really bring back some strong memories. Looking at their scantrons and the six sharpened no.2 pencils (just in case 5 break). Seeing their feet nervously jiggle and their head in their hands. Every once in awhile they stare at the ceiling hoping the answer will pop into their heads...


Does any of this ring a distant bell??



I know for me it reminds me of making note cards, and late night study sessions over Oreos and milk. Re-reading chapters and highlighting notes. Making silly rhymes and songs to remember the order of some bit of information. Hoping my brain will just hold on to all this information for a couple more hours. Firing off questions with my friends just before the test begins hoping I can squeeze just a little more info in my brain.



Wow can I tell you how glad I am sitting here proctoring and not taking. I have stopped look at the tests that I proctor...they make me feel so inadequate. I mean really does one calculus question really need to look like that??? Like Q-Bert wrote the test...

I don't have the heart to tell them that most of this stuff will never come up again in their lives...In fact most of the stuff they learn in school really doesn't ever get used again...

...except the ABC song...I use that all the time.

...OK and maybe i before e except after c...but that's it.

What bit of info that you learned in school helps you now? I'd like to give my students some real life stats!!

More later


-A Ro

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