Comments | buffbanded: week from hell part 1

buffbanded

week from hell part 1 - practical of DOOM

Sep 30, 2006 12:36

Shitty week, part 1

Electronic devices can sense when you’re trying to do something in the hour before it’s due. And that's when ( they conspire to thwart you )

ta'ing, grading, week from hell

Comments 13

writergeek313 September 30 2006, 17:30:28 UTC

Notebooks (if they're anything like my students' journals) merit one or two lines of comments. Force yourself to stick to that, and watch or listen to something entertaining while you're going through them, and they won't take too long. If it's a minor component of the class, don't pour too much energy into it. You have bacteria to worry about, and protecting your scissors!

buffbanded September 30 2006, 17:45:21 UTC

Notebooks (1/5th of their grade) are drawings of the specimens they see in lab. I don't comment much, but I still comb through all of them to make sure they drew & labeled what they were supposed to.

I guess I could just check a small sample of drawings from each lab instead of all of them, but it feels kinda cheap. And I think it would be sleazy to switch grading styles halfway through the semester.

Listening to something is a great idea though. *eyes CD collection*

You have bacteria to worry about
I don't actually. No culturing in this lab - just prepared slides, which I'm grateful for :-)

writergeek313 September 30 2006, 18:17:47 UTC

That definitely doesn't sound like something you can just rush through. And I agree that now isn't the time to change your grading methods. Every time I've ever tried that mid-semester, it bites me in the ass.

I made a 60-song mix in iTunes today, so I'll be rocking out for the next few hours.

(The comment has been removed)

buffbanded September 30 2006, 22:23:50 UTC

I forgot to mention one student referring to the featherlike shape of a diatom’s valves as “pennile” instead of “pennate”. And I do think this was an honest mistake on their part, not just them being funny, which makes it a little sad.

Overall my section wasn’t too bad. Another TA had a student who thought that Plasmodium falciparum transmits diabetes. Try not to think about that one.

She said that her stepson told her the other day that humans are archaea, and that he can prove it because "his teacher told him so."
That’s pretty amazing. Out of curiosity, how old is her stepson?

stay_please October 1 2006, 01:08:22 UTC

The latter half of your entry gave me a headache, mkthx. Physics is the closest I'd willingly get to a science class...

But good luck with your grading. And you should slap a bitch, regardless of Latina-ness. That's a protected EEO category... not that you're... hiring her.

....... I'm glad I'm on vacation this week.

buffbanded October 1 2006, 02:09:20 UTC

Trust me, grading their practicals gave me a headache too.

Physics is the closest I'd willingly get to a science class...
Again, you are a weirdo :-P
Seekritly I <3 physics most of all

I need to learn to be more appropriately assertive. I'm just so used to losing at confrontations, that they're pointless or detrimental to have unless there's some inherent power/authority bias in my favor.

Cutting a bitch over not being able to cut probably wasn't worth it anyway. And besides, I can look on the bright side - I got to momentarily regress to elementary school, sulking in the corner and working on my outraged face. Good one.

Enjoy your vacation! I so want one.

stay_please October 1 2006, 02:55:20 UTC

I'm actually surprised she TOOK your scissors to be honest, please tell me they were at least sitting on the table. Or else I'm picturing a 20-something in pigtails, snatch child-protective blunt scissors out of your hand, sticking her tongue out at you, and stomping away to the popular table with all her popular friends. Teehee.

Again, you are a weirdo :-P
Thaaaanks.

buffbanded October 1 2006, 05:15:51 UTC

Hey! It's a complement. Rare breed that loves physics above weed, rocks, or acid. I mean biology, geology, or chemistry.

Bad Buffbanded! No drugs for you!

You really do remind me of one of my friends. I'm vaguely paranoid that one day you'll suddenly reveal that you're a biology grad student where I'm at. But I'm not complaining. It's awesome to find similarly awesome people online & off.

Yeah, it was momentarily - only momentarily I say! - on the table. And not blunt tipped.

Stabbity stabbity stabbity Now I will have to fantasize about mutilating her body using those scissors

I'm just a little tired right now which makes me seem like I'm cracked out. We swears it. / Gollum

rosephile October 1 2006, 05:35:28 UTC

....Why am I sitting here thinking archaea and eukarya are *kingdoms*? I don't think I ever really learned the classification system properly, and am now easily confused. :(

buffbanded October 1 2006, 06:07:45 UTC

If you get bored
there's this
and this

Meh. I doubt taxonomy comes up that often.

I don't know if you watch House at all, but in season 1, there was an episode where a patient becomes ill and is ultimately diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, which is mistakenly refered to as a fungus on the show. I'm pretty sure v. few people were outraged that Toxoplasma got mischaracterized (- it's an apicomplexan).

buffbanded October 1 2006, 06:16:03 UTC

*facepalm* Forgot about the comparative animal physiology class you're taking. Hmmmm... I can't remember if you said that was vertebrates only either.

And here I thought weed might be a good idea. Obviously my memory does not need another handicap added to it.

rosephile October 6 2006, 07:43:03 UTC

My memory turned to shit before I tried weed, if that makes you feel any better (...maybe not. I'm just trying to say that I don't think it's affected my memory, and it seems like it only affects people's memories who smoke really regularly--i.e. "potheads", and I only smoke around 2-3 times a year).

Nope, not only vertebrates. So far, no specific *animals*, only some things about systems in the body, energy, electricity, and other randomness.

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