sometimes i'm just too darn nice

my day:
* up at 7:15, breakfast and new from 7:30-8, shower/get ready by 8-8:30, out the door by 8:30
* met with a student from 9am til 10:15am
* class from 10:20-11:40am
* met with two more students from noon until 1pm

this would be fine except... the 9am student made an appointment with me last week...the two students who showed up at noon did not.

after class, i went to the copy machine room to run off 100 quizes to give tomorrow, found someone else using the machine, went back to my office for 10 minues, then as i was about to head back down to the copy room and try again and then go home, i ran into my students in the doorway of my office.

me: "hi.. what's up?"
student: "we just have some questions over the practice tests we've been working on... where are you going?"
me: "i don't have office hours right now, i was on my way out"
student: "but you were here at this time last week"
me: "yes, but you emailed me and made an appointment last week"
student: "oh yeah, i forgot to do that... but aren't these some of your extra test week office hours?"
me: "no, i had office hours last night, and i have office hours all day on thursday... today i'm doing my own work"
student: "oh sorry... can we still ask questions?"
me: "since we're all here, sure... in the future, if it's not my office hours though, you really should make an appointment."

oi.

if they had emailed first and i had planned to be on campus an extra hour, i'd have no problem. my students can ask for all kinds of extra help and i'll help them out with a smile and explain and reexplain things until they get it... if they want to ask questions i figure i should be around to help them understand better.

BUT, for as much energy as i put into being a good TA, if i feel they're not being respectful of my time, i get really irritated really quickly. this is time #2 when that's happened. time #1 was when a student made an early morning appointment and then never showed.

in the end i forgive them, but really, if i'm giving half my week this week to being useful for them when i have my own homework to do AND i'm giving a graduate seminar lecture tomorrow, the least they can do is show up when i planned to be around or make an appointment, rather than make any time i happen to be on campus time to show up and pick my brain for help. i'm really nicer to them than i should be for being around to help.

so oi.

now to get to my own work.

later dudes.