Final TA-ing

It was with mixed feelings that I marked the last student's presentation on Friday, knowing that this might be the last class I'd be teaching here in Flinders. Over the past 4 years, being a part time TA (teaching assistant) has provided a refreshing change in-between all my experiments and writing, and the time spent interacting with students often provides something extra that I find enjoyable and meaningful as well.

Most of their final project presentations were very well-done, although I did start to fidget and fiddle with my pen after sitting through 4 hours of presentations (non-stop, one batch of 6 students every hour). How did I manage to sit through so many consecutive lectures in undergrad?? Heh :)

One thing that I didn't know whether to be amused or frustrated about during the presentations, was that several of the students actually said during their presentations, "I didn't go to this place to get the data because I couldn't be bothered to", or "I didn't do the measurements for this other bit because I was too lazy" ... which may appear cool or funny to friends ... but definitely doesn't bode well for their presentation marks. I mean, doesn't common sense tell you that ?!?! I guess it goes to show that sometimes, you'll find that common sense isn't quite that common after all. *shrug* :)

With a wistful sigh, I filled in the last mark in the grade-sheet, and as we made our way out of the lecture theatre, I turned and chatted with several of the students. Watching them talk with such interest and passion about the things they had learned the past semester, and knowing that we had played a small part in contributing to building their knowledge and understanding of the subject, brought a smile to my face (and for those cynics out there, no, they weren't trying to suck-up to us. That was their final assessment, their marks had been entered, and they knew this).

Scenes from 'the Emperor's club' and this series of comics came to mind, and I was reminded that even though it can be frustrating at times, teaching can be just as (or even more) fulfilling. Having been in their shoes, I find myself appreciating my teachers even more, and I'm also thankful for those students who make teaching such a joy, and a worthwhile experience.
I'll miss TA-ing here :)