Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I wish I could give out all the right answers

In the class I TA for, the students are in the middle of their first midterm.  Different then most midterms - its a programming project.  We aren't allowed to help them like we usually do on projects, and sometimes I really like that, but sometimes I really just wish I could give out all the right answers.  I hate seeing these kids (well I guess they're not really kids) struggle and obviously put in so much time and effort and then ask me a question that I'm not supposed to answer.

Secretly, I totally would help you if I could, but I'm not supposed to, so I don't  (well...that is the majority of the time)

But then again, there are some guys who give me lip when I tell them I cant answer a question, and that makes me really not want to help them at all.

And then there are times when someone will ask me a question SO nicely, I just cant help but respond....and then I feel like I'm giving away too much!

And then there are times when someone will preface their question with "I know you might not be able to answer this, but..."  I hate that, because 90% of the time I cant answer it, but probably 40% of the time I end up answering it reluctantly. Ok maybe not that much, but sometimes I feel like I answer too much (although the students probably think I'm not giving away enough).

Its really not as bad as it sounds, but sometimes I just wish I could give more help on exams.  Why cant everyone just get an A?

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