Not here to be liked

So my final is in progress right now. I'm flooded with interesting questions. One student didn't write a certain equation on his equation sheet, so he doesn't know how to do an entire problem. I'm not sure what I can do for him, because well, he wanted the equation sheet. He just thinks that he's supposed to get whatever he wants, and he has asked me three times for the equation. Sigh.

Another student made me kind of want to cry, as he looked like he was about to when he came in saying that he had no clue how to do any of the problems. He was wondering what his grade was, and quite honestly he isn't the best in the class but he does pretty well. But he looked like he was going to burst into tears so I felt really terrible.

Finally, I ran into the chair of the department in the hall, and he asked when my final was. I said it was going on now, and that the students seemed to be thinking it was a bit too hard. His response was, "Then they're not going to like you." I felt like saying that I wasn't here to be liked, but instead to teach. Instead I just said that they'd already filled out the evaluations, so...

And now a bunch of the students hung out with me in my office, decorating my board. I think they've snapped, and really really need a break. I know I do.

Chilly in two ways

Finals have officially begun here, and as such it is very quiet. The few students you see around are walking silently, and any classroom that is full is perfectly silent. Very few faculty are around (given that all of my colleagues live in the 'burbs, they only come in if they really have to), and it's a little depressing. Then there's the bitter cold outside, which is biting.

I would have worked from home today but I have a review session this afternoon. It's kind of an interesting scenario. My students always want a review session during class, which I refuse to do. Primarily it's because there's a lot I want to cover, and having the review during classtime ruins that. Of course it backfires a bit on me, since it means I have to give a review session on my own time. In the end though it is worth it. I guess.

Either way I'm ready for the semester to be over. I'll get to teach a completely different class next semester (with mostly the same students), so that'll be a nice change.

Random thoughts

• When you have a 27 inch monitor, it's a little freaky when the background picture has your face which is practically actual size.



• A weekend spent watching reruns of Buffy, season three, is a worthwhile one indeed. Except for the need to finish off the season when there are real things that I'm supposed to be doing.



• Campus is always very quiet during reading week, and I find it is disturbing. This is nothing new, but I revisit this eery feeling. It's different than during actual breaks like winter and summer breaks. At those times, the students are just not around. Now they are, but they are all hiding and freaking out about their exams.



• The chicken and rice guy near campus here is not the greatest. I miss the one at 120th & Broadway. Here, he thinks that if you ask for hot sauce, you want to be crying while you eat. There was more hot sauce than chicken or rice, and it was a rather painful meal.



• I need to do all this analysis and am totally not in the mood. So instead, I'm sitting here thinking of random thoughts, trying to forget that I am far far from having tenure.

Class art project

I assigned my class an art project a few weeks ago. Yes, a science art project.

Actually, it was designed as a way to mildly torture them before Thanksgiving. I told them the Monday before the holiday that they would have a new homework posted online due the following Monday. That of course meant they had work to do over the holiday, and they kept begging me to change the due date but I held firm.

The actual homework was "Do something creative (write a story, poem, draw something, etc.) that relates to your favorite topic discussed in class so far." This brought in a ton of fun things like poems and paintings and I think the students spent more time on this than any other homework. And it really was a ton of fun.

And it's becoming something that has gotten several seniors come into my office to look at them, because everyone heard about them. I have to say it is kind of fun, and actually I think there was some learning that went on there, given the fact that they still had to think about what they were doing.

So yeah, I have to say as "kindergarten-ish" as it is, it was such fun that I believe it'll be a regular thing in my classes...