Yes, yes, grading is supposed to be objective. I'm not trying to say that I let my emotions influence the grades I give, but the process of grading is really a roller coaster on the wheels of my nerves.
- First comes excitement, at the prospect of a new experience and seeing how the students dealt with the problems we gave them.
- Then comes joy, as one person seems to completely understand what's going on.
- Then comes disappointment, as someone else doesn't.
- Then comes sadness, as I'm forced to take off points because someone just forgot to do a problem, apparently.
- Then comes ecstasy, as someone not only seems like he/she knew exactly what I was looking for but also has the neatest handwriting I have ever seen.
- Then comes bewilderment, as I find someone who obviously didn't understand the problem at all but really really tried hard, put in a lot of work, and came up with a completely unexpected and utterly wrong answer.
- Repeat 2-6 in random order for about 100 more papers, intermixed with
- Anxiety as I realize that it's been 2 hours and we've finished less than half the papers, and
- Liberation as I really get on a roll and zip through 5 in a row at breakneck speed.
- At last, there is a great sense of anticipation as the "finished" pile grows large and the papers to be graded slowly vanish from the table, followed by a final sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
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