funny how that works out...

I gave an exam in one of my classes today. I have three categories of people in this class:

1. People who are always there, who pay attention, who ask questions, who are respectful.

2. People who are there most of the time, but who like to chat with their friends and screw off a little in class, meaning I need to stop sometimes to glare at them to get them to shut up.

3. People who can't be bothered to come to class at all. (I don't require attendance, for reasons you will see in a moment...suffice it to say, things have a way of working out).

By and large, the grade breakdown was this:

Group 1 got almost all As and Bs. The top 7 or so grades were from this group.

Group 2, a few got Bs but most got Cs, and a few Ds.

Group 3? Ds and Fs. In fact, my biggest FAIL was someone I suspected of looking off another paper, but didn't have enough evidence to feel comfortable yanking it out of his hands and declaring him a cheater. (But, interesting...on several of the calculations, his parameters were based on those given on the ALTERNATE form of the test, that is, the one the people on either side of him had. Doing Forms A and B (and even C and D if necessary) are very much my friend.)

I'm not quite sure if it makes me a hostile vindictive wench to feel pleased that the people who put minimal effort in earned the worst grades, or if it makes me a Champion of Fairness to feel pleased that the people who put the most effort in earned the best grades.