Answer: Ask me "What does this mean?", "How do I do that?" or "What am I supposed to do after this step?"Bonus ulcer points: if you ask me 7 such questions and you're the one who asked if "this is all we're doing today or are you teaching us something?" during the problem-solving session, then went to go see something your friends were doing at freshman orientation.
--WotC
"What does this symbol mean?" when it's been used for half the semester.
ReplyDeleteUgh I had a student literally yell at me after she failed my class because of all the times we "weren't doing anything" during class. These were, of course, workshopping sessions for their papers. I very narrowly avoided saying "maybe *you* weren't doing anything....."
ReplyDeleteAppropriate response: hearty laughter.
ReplyDeleteMy usual reply is "yes, that's part of what the question checks to see if you know."
ReplyDeleteThe only student who's ever really persisted ("But I can't answer the question without it! You have to tell me!") also tried on the final to write two different answers on a definition question on the final, with a note that I should choose the correct one. And then, a couple of days later, to come to my office to make sure I'd given full credit.
The punchline: they still couldn't tell me which one was right. Totally hadn't bothered to look up the answer.
The further punchline (and of course you saw this one coming): neither one was anywhere near right.
"Today, I ask YOU the questions" is a response I sometimes use. They're not thrilled about it but they do seem to understand.
ReplyDelete