I was the sexiest TA ... until I realized I was the sexist TA

[katekat]

I got my evals from last semester's work out of my box today.  Great fun, and the nice part was I got a bunch of compliments on my day of teaching (which was totally unexpected and totally lovely).  My favorite eval was submitted by someone who rated my work as "satisfactory" but who didn't think I was effective, or interested in the progress of students, or a fast grader, or kept an open forum for airing out ideas.

Their comment, however, is PURE gold (all original spelling):

sexiest
I asked 10 guys & 10 girls
all guys got B's on their essay
all girls got A's!

Now, understand, I was reading these while walking back to my car, so at first I only read the first two lines (because the papers were slightly folded). So yeah, for about 10 seconds I actually thought the student had taken a poll of the class and they all thought I was hot.  I was a little weirded out, a little flattered, and then I read the last two sentences and went, "OH!  dear.  this is perhaps why this person had grades they were dissatisfied with."

I'm amused enough by the misspelling that I can't really take it seriously (although it did sorta make me want to go and try to sort by gender just to see what final grades were).

And in other, related news, I am in THE MOST CRACKTASTIC class ever.  And I think I'm going to love it.  Actually, sonder, you'd immediately get an A for everything you've been working on. 

Weird Science!

In the boundaries between so-called hard science and simple spoonbending lies the realm of Weird Science -- where certainty doesnt exist and people called “experts” battle for control of the meaning of words like “proof” or “fact”.

As with all ACTLab New Media courses, we explore these ideas through making. There are no written assignments or exams. Instead you will produce two mini-projects, one substantial final project, and a website on which you document your semesters work. All our classwork has the goal of providing ideas and methods for those projects. ACTLab classes are about learning to think for yourself, to work creatively, cooperate in complex endeavors, and question received knowledges.

Class is in studio and discussion format. This means that your active participation is a requirement of the course. During the semester we expect you to contribute your own ideas and arguments to the discussions, and to be willing to take the responsibilities and risks such contributions imply.

There are no written exams. Instead you will use the theories and tools you acquire during the semester to MAKE STUFF! about some aspect of postmodern gothic. What you make can be in any form: sound, installation, video, computer animation, collage, sculpture, assemblage, performance -- you name it. You will do this in stages, starting with simple projects and moving to more complex ones, using humor, irony, uncommon approaches, and bizarre techniques


For the first class, one of the TAs brought in a project he was working on - it's going to be a steam punk rocket launcher.  The course rules?  No flamethrowers, no hurting yourself or others (or putting them in a position to hurt you), and no bullshitting.  The woman beside me who'd taken the class before is finally going to finish her dildo theremin.  Yes, I did say dildo theremin.

Comments

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

I hope you take video/photos of the things from your wierd science class to share with us. sounds cracktastic indeed!

I've got to try and remember to use sexiest in this student's context sometime. Like...

"You sexiest sonofabitch! You wouldn't vote for Hillary 'cuz she was a woman!"

Ok, lame. It's 11:30 on a Friday night. Can't do much better than that :)

[katekat]

i'll have a website for the class, so you will see (well, what's possible to see!)

and LOL, i couldn't believe he'd (i'm pretty sure it was a he) said that!!

and dude, you so rocked the funny.

[sonder.livejournal.com]

heheh. I lean toward a more arcane bent. Brute physics are....indelicate.

any fool can build a rocket launcher.

I engineer weapons that REND SOULS.

[katekat]

true, and that is why they would crown you their leader and follow in your footsteps.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD. I WANT TO TAKE THIS CLASS. Sweet, sweet steampunk postmodern gothic crack. It needs to be in all institutions! *_____*

[katekat]

I had the most gigantic grin on my face through the entire first class - I can't fucking believe it's, you know, a class! Actually, my advisor told me not to tell anyone else in the department a full description, because while she thought it was kind of cool, she knew they'd never understand. It's like the great secret portion of the college (art-fight club?) :D

[gray-ghost.livejournal.com]

ROFLMAO....you have to post this to academics_anon. The kid who wrote that eval was one special little snowflake.

[katekat]

you think i should? just as the "random eval" kind of thing?

[gray-ghost.livejournal.com]

Yes - it will start a huge discussion. I guarantee it.
And check this creepy shit out:

http://i40.tinypic.com/11tqy52.jpg

Some things should not be done with software.

[aesiron.livejournal.com]

Barack Bush is kinda hot.

[katekat]

EWWWWWWWWWW.

[lorelei-frolick.livejournal.com]

LOL!
Oh... those people who can't comprehend they might be evaluated badly because their work sucks... oh no... It's because you're prejudiced.

I've had to deal with a couple of those at work *sighs and rolls eyes*

[katekat]

It *totally* is!! All my evil prejudicial fault. Makes me wonder who the evaluator was, because I had so many bad papers it's impossible to know.

And eek, at work? That's even worse! At least at school I have a feeling none of my profs would take that seriously. At work there have to be dumb bosses who will believe anything. *hugs*

ps, LOVE the icon

[aesiron.livejournal.com]

A dildo theremin. Hm. One wonders how she intends to play it.

[katekat]

really, you wonder? cuz i think i have a huge idea *grin*