On Giving Exams

Sitting here in my classroom laboratory, it's amazing to me how different it feels being on the other side of the exam. Yep, today is the final laboratory practical for all of my students. They need to prove they've learned a lot and can think through geologic ideas.

I need to prove that I've created an exam that is fair, covers all the relevant material, and can be completed in a two hour segment of time. So really, testing day is a way to test the students to make sure they have attained some knowledge, but also it's a day to test the teacher to see if they got important information to their students.

Watching my students, I wonder if it's possible to tell how comfortable they are with the exam. One student looks like they just woke up and are wearing old man glasses. I bet he lost his contacts earlier in the week because I've never seen him wearing glasses like that.

Another student of mine still hasn't taken their coat off yet. I'm in a t-shirt and I'm pretty comfortable. I wonder if he keeps the coat on as a way of saying, "Hey, if this material gets too tough or I feel uncomfortable in any way, I'm getting the heck out of here." He doesn't interact with anyone else in class and is really quiet. He's super respectful and all that, I just wish he would involve himself a little more. I think he'd get more out of it that way.

I have another student with shifty eyes, who I keep a look out for. It's hard to distinguish between nervous shifty eyes, "I wonder if that fossil is free to look at" shifty eyes, or just plain, "I wonder what answer that other person put down" cheating shifty eyes. For the most part I'd like to think my students are honest and the material is fair, but you never know. So every once in awhile I do the room eye scan, just to make sure.

All I can say is, I'm glad I didn't have an exam to take today!