Midterms

Midterms are ridiculous. Especially when they're not actually mid-term. Like the beginning of October is like only 1/3 of the way through. What the hell is a midterm doing in there? It's also completely pointless to base an entire grade for a class on 2 exams. I know I should be used to it, because that's pretty much what they did for IB, but at the same time, it's so hard to focus when it's lecture lecture lecture and absolutely no assignments or anything to do. All of a sudden, the exam creeps up on you and you're unprepared and it sucks because you have to do serious late night cramming and you're tired and you're stressed and you're hoping that you'll do well even though you don't have the sufficient background knowledge. University is stupid like that. I have one class where we have quizzes and assignments, and I like it because it makes sure that the students know the material. Basing everything on a few final tests? Simply irresponsible. Not everybody takes tests well. Some people end up with minor heart attacks because they're being forced to stuff 3 months of intense knowledge into one hour long writing session. And can you blame them? It's completely one-sided. If you really want to run a class, you should account for other people's learning styles. I know it's not high school anymore, and I am on of hose people who can take tests, I don't actually have a problem with it, but really now. Have a heart, make allowances for the diversity of your students. Especially in a place like McGill, with such a large international population. You have people from so many different school styles and educational backgrounds. Why not try things out, find out what works for people? It's stupid and I don't like it.