Control Freak??

Ok do I really have the essence of a control freak??

Today I supervised the NCEA level 1 maths exam at Taita College. It was great!! I loved exam supervision!! There were 120 students seated in the hall, and we supervisors (there were 4 of us) were to walk around the hall, looking out for cheating and anyone with their hand up.

I was quite amazed at how many empty seats there were in the exam room after the exam had begun at 9:30am. Approximately 20 students didn’t turn up to the exam!! I didn’t think it was humanly possible to not turn up to an exam but apparently I was wrong. And a lot of students left after the first 45 minutes. Out of 120 students approx 30 stayed till the very end of the exam. Some students spent the 45 minutes at the beginning of the exam when they weren’t allowed to leave just sitting there with their arms folded not doing anything! I was pretty amazed. It’s quite different I found observing students sitting an exam as opposed to actually sitting an exam yourself. Observing students sitting an exam is a fascinating experience indeed!

After the first 45 minutes students were allowed to leave the exam. If students left the exam they when their paper was collected had to go to the back of the hall and get their papers signed off. Some students I attended tried to run away before they got signed off and then I had to go after them and tell them off- “Hey come back here. You know you are supposed to get your paper signed before you go! Get back here!!”

I was in control!! Felt so great!! When students put their hands up we had to come over to them and either collect their exam paper or take then to the bathroom (other causes included running out of ink in pens). There were a lot of hands up throughout the exam and so I was running around attending to various student. Yeaa exam supervision is so much fun!! (After the exam I said that to Alissa our lady in charge and she thought I was nuts! Haha maybe I am ;) )

After the exam ended I was in a really happy mood (still am :) ha ha!!). During the exam I felt so in control! I had to tell students what they had to do (i.e. “Go stand over there and get your name signed off….etc) and they did it!!!! Such a great feeling to be in control! Although I would prefer a smaller class size…120 students is a bit much for a class :)

…so then as I was walking around the hall I thought “so do I really have the essence of a control freak??” Heheheheh!! :) :0

Before I went home I asked if I could take a copy of the exam paper because I wanted to have a look and see what it was like and also so I could do it myself for fun, so I got myself a souvenir! (Teachers are allowed a copy of the exam papers after an exam has ended; I got one too!) On my way to the train station I met Sonia who was going to supervise an afternoon exam and told her how happy I was!!

I can’t wait till my next exam supervision session next Wednesday – level 1 science!!

There are two conclusions that I can make after today’s ‘work experience’:

1) Exam supervision is FUN

2) I am a potential CONTROL FREAK