05 October, 2005
Blogging from Proctor-land
I can think of few things more boring than proctering an exam. On the plus side, this is only 3 hours. On the minus side ... it's hard to work because I can't really concentrate since I have to maintain a presence and keep raising my eyes. Oh who am I trying to kid? It's hard for me to concentrate on anything other than getting out of here and going on my little vacation!! In two days, at this time, I will be at the airport, having lunch and a nice cocktail and waiting to get on the plane. Relaaaaaaxxxxxing. Oh. I. Can't. Wait. No, seriously.
1 comment:
I quite agree about proctoring being boring.
But two humourous incidents:
1) Students were supposed to sit with an empty seat between them, so I was checking from my desk at the front of the room. (ANYTHING to keep myself occupied.) In the back row was a fellow in a red shirt and my gaze kept going back to him because I was "suspicious" that he was sitting too close to the next student in that row.
But I finally figured out that he had such broad shoulders that it only *seemed* like he was sitting in an adjacent seat.
In my further glances around the room, I kept noticing him. (Being fixated on one person is NOT recommended procedure - because it can make an already hyper student very, very nervous.) That's when I saw that he was counting on his fingers, and my immediate thought was "that boy is definitely college material - he's counting on *both* hands!"
(It was an accounting exam if I remember correctly. And he may or may not have been using his fingers to actually count. He could very well have made up some sort of mmemonic (sp?) that he "remembered" using his fingers.)
2) A professor asked me to take over the proctoring of a marketing exam for him ... until 10.30 a.m. (I guess he had a meeting to go to so that he couldn't be in attendance for all of the exam.) But he was quite specific about the end time.
I didn't think too much about the start time, or the length that a 10.30 finish would make the exam. I just showed up and we exchanged proctoring duties - UNTIL 10.30.
So, at 10.15, I wrote the time on the blackboard and announced to the class (50 or so students) that they had 15 minutes left.
The looks of horror and panic were priceless. One brave soul explained - apologetically - that it was a three hour exam, which they had started at 8.30. So I then announced to the class I was mistaken (and I probably blamed the professor for the time error too), that that had been their shock for the morning and they could go back to work.
I'm lucky they were all young and healthy enough to take the my heart-stopping announcement.
Being able to blog while proctoring would have been a heaven-sent bonus.
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