One part of my job that I don't like is grading tests. That confession might surprise students, who tend to think that we take some kind of sadistic satisfaction over marking through errors and writing "need more information here" on essays. I won't deny that the occasional student blooper ('the pheasants were revolting') does raise a chuckle, but for the most part grading exams is an exercise in frustration and self-doubt. Nobody expects all students to make A's, but we do hope that students learn things and can demonstrate that learning in ways we can measure. When a significant number of students don't do as well as expected, one wonders about one's effectiveness as a teacher.
I've been keeping a separate blog for my classes, posting information, study terms, questions, and reading assignments on almost a daily basis. It doesn't look like---based on the exams---that everyone in the class has been visiting this 'virtual history lab.' I hope when the tests are returned on Friday, traffic over there will pick up.
And I'll confess that marking tests is enough to make my already addled brain even more confused. Yesterday, while grading, I came across a test sheet where the student had abbreviated all his/her answers---for example 'dep st' instead of 'dependent states' or 'Nap' instead of 'Napoleon'. Highly annoyed, I took off points and wrote this lazybones a stinging note. Then I flipped it over to see the name of the culprit.
That's when I realized that I had just graded my test key!

