SquidgeWorld Archive

Blair started doing T.A. today for the first time and wasn't sure how it would go. He had completed his undergraduate degree. While normally he would be unable to do any T.A. work, he was ahead of the others in the program. He had quickly surpassed the others in the course work and Professor Stoddard, head of the department, had authorized him to move ahead in the program. Blair realized he was two or three years younger than some of his students would be but he could use the money that T.A. would pay. He no longer qualified for scholarships and had to join the queue of other students competing for the too few grants available. Luckily he had managed to complete the majority of his degrees while still underage so was able to apply and receive some scholarships although they had never completely covered everything. Blair knew his work load had increased exponentially now with having to prepare lesson plans, teaching and marking as well as doing his own course work.

He sighed and tried to relax his tense muscles. There was nothing left to do but to do it and Professor Stoddard had assured him yesterday that he would be able to handle it. Blair looked around the storage closet that he had been assigned once more noting the cramped quarters. He tried to tell himself that hey were fascinating with the shelves of anthropological artifacts but who was he kidding. His desk and file cabinet were squeezed into the end of the room under a small window that showed a patch of weakly shining sun. The main source of light was the fluorescent lights overhead. A small shelf held a coffee pot and kettle. A layer of dust coated everything. Thus was his office and introduction to T.A. work. To make matters more depressing he still had to teach his first class in, Blair glanced at his watch and jumped, ten minutes. Blair gathered together his notes for his class and hurried as fast as he could out of his office, pausing briefly to lock the door behind himself. The class was on the second floor at the far end of the hall opposite to where he was in the basement. Blair jogged up the stairs slowing to a fast walk when he came into sight of his assigned classroom.

Blair entered the classroom breathing a little hard and looked over his class quickly just as the bell rung. Blair took a deep breath.

"Welcome to Anthropology 101. I will be your instructor, Blair Sandburg."

"What is this?" someone in back now called out. "Is this University so desperate for instructors that they are having kids teaching students now?"

Blair looked for the speaker but couldn't see him. He had reached the podium by now and laid his notes on it. It was as he had feared and his age was well known enough that his students would already know it. There were two things Blair could do: give in and run away or take the bull by the horns. Blair had never run before and wasn't going to start now. He let his eyes meet as many of the students as he could. Some refused to meet his eyes. "Nonetheless, I am your teacher. If you have a problem with that, you may choose to leave. I believe there are a few spots still available in the other class if you hurry. Otherwise, be prepared to stay and work! I may be younger than some of you but I am fully qualified to teach this course." Blair waited for five minutes to see if anyone would leave. No one did. Blair figured that they knew as well as he did that the few spots left were only for next semester and they needed this course for this semester. "Well since you have all decided to stay, you will be expected to do the work. Now we will move onto the lesson that was delayed by this foolishness." Blair launched into a lecture on Inca civilization. Just before the bell rang, Blair assigned a stiffer homework than he had planned. "Read through the chapters on the Inca and write a summary on it for the next class. I won't assign a length since you are in University and should know what is suitable. You are dismissed." The bell rang and there was a scurry as students gathered their supplies and rushed to their next class.

"Well done, Blair," Stoddard said after the last student had left.

"Professor Stoddard," said a surprised Blair, "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Stoddard said with a smile. "I knew you wee capable of doing this. However, tell me what did you originally plan for this class?"

"How did you know I changed the lesson?" Blair asked.

"Instinct, my boy, instinct," Professor Stoddard said with a chuckle.

"Oh well, I did plan it on the Incas but hadn't planned on the homework. I was only going to ask them to read the first two chapters, not all ten. Also I hadn't planned on assigning any writing assignments at least for two more classes."

"Will you be able to adapt your lesson plans to accommodate this?"

"Yes, I will add in a section on the Chopec Indians and other tribes in South America."

Stoddard laughed again. "I see I don't have to worry about you, my boy, you are a natural teacher. Although I'm curious, what do you plan to do with those students who will turn in substandard summaries?"

Blair smiled wickedly. "Well I plan a short quiz on the material that should have been read, just multiple choice and short written answers that should take about half the class to complete while I look over the summaries. I won't hold the quiz against them but it'll give me time to go over the handed in work. For those who didn't do the assignment properly, I'll assign an essay of at least ten pages and give them a fail on their first assignment."

"What of those who do it?"

"Oh, they can write an essay as well but theirs will go toward extra credit marks."

"So the bad summary writers' essays will be an attempt to raise their failing grade?" Stoddard questioned.

"Yes, exactly," Blair said, nodding eagerly.

"Quite devious of you, Blair," Stoddard complimented him.

"Thank you," Blair replied with a smirk.

Stoddard and Blair left the classroom together but split up soon after, each heading to their own office.

Blair planned to so some cleaning. While he wasn't a neat freak, working in such a dusty environment wouldn't do.

~~*~~

Three days later, it was time for Anthropology 101 to meet again. This time, Blair was there ahead of the students. As they entered he said: "The instructions are on the board."

The students looked at the board and then shuffled forward to hand in their summaries before claiming their seats.

Once everyone was seated, Blair stepped around the table beside the podium. A simple chair sat behind the table. "Has everyone handed in their summaries?"

All the students responded by nodding or by verbal affirmations.

"Good, you can put away your books. You will only need a pen or pencil for the first part of the class." Blair waited while all the books were returned to the students' bags or placed under their chairs. "Okay, since this class is for a two hour period, you will have one hour to complete the quiz I am handing out. Please take one and pass the rest back."

There were more than a few groans heard once Blair announced the quiz.

"But Mr. Sandburg, we have only had one class so far," one student protested.

"Yes, I know," Blair replied. "However, since this quiz is on the reading you were to summarize, it should be no problem to complete, should it?"

There were a few murmurs throughout the class, but no distinct complaints that could be heard.

"Now you all should have a quiz in front of you so silence is required. Your may turn over the quiz and begin. When done, you can turn it into me at the front quietly. No need to disturb your fellow classmates." Blair turned and sat down to go through the summaries.

Several of them didn't require much reading before getting a failing grade. A paragraph telling him that he was too young to teach or criticizing him were not even on topic. By the time that he only had about ten left, forty-five minutes had elapsed and the first quiz was being turned in. Blair gave her a tentative course outline for to read over while waiting. When the hour was up, Blair had corrected the last summary and the marks were recorded in his grade book.

"Time is up, put down your pencils and hand your quiz forward to be picked up." Blair walked along the front row and collected the tests as they were passed forward. Blair set down the quizzes to be marked later. He had decided to be fair and factor in the grade on the quizzes in with the summary grade. He then picked up the course outline. "All those who have a copy of the outline, please raise your hand." Only about ten raised their hands. Blair gave the first person in each row enough for those who didn't have one already. "Take one if you don't have one already and pass the rest back." Blair waited until everyone had one. "These are your course guidelines. You'll notice they say tentative, that is because nothing is set in iron. If we finish a section sooner, then we will move onto the next. There will be quizzes, tests, essays and/or summaries on each section, maybe not all on each topic. That will depend on how you are picking up the knowledge. However, there will be at least one per section. Now as I call out your name, raise your hand and I will place your summary on the desk in front of you. Do not turn them over until I give the word." Blair picked up the stack of summaries and proceeded to call out names to return them. After he was done, he returned to the podium.

"You are responsible for the quality of work turned in yourself, not your friends nor myself. I do not give fluff assignments. Everything will receive a grade that will be part of your final mark. The only difference will be the percentage of each assignment toward your overall grade. Now, you may turn over your papers."

Groans and soft cursing filled the room as they viewed their grade. Only a few smiled.

Blair smiled and started speaking again. "Now, I'm not heartless and I realize some of you considered it a fluff assignment and didn't do the work required for it. For those of who scored below a `B', you can write an essay on the Incas to try to raise your grade. Those who score a `B' or higher will also write an essay. However, your essay will count toward extra credit and will not affect your current grade. For the current topic of the Incas, your summaries and make up essay will count for seventy percent of your grade while the quiz counts as thirty percent. Be warned that the percentage that I have given only counts for the Incas. I will have your quizzes graded and returned to you next week. At which time, all essays will be due. It will be seven days until Anthropology 101 class meets again. I suggest you use the time well. Now, you may use the remaining forty-five minutes of class to work on your essays either here or in the library." Blair looked over the class as they compared marks and grumbled. He could see that the ones who had done the summary on the assigned topic were pleased with themselves.

One girl in the third row spoke out. "You said the quiz we just did counts as thirty percent of our grade."

"Yes, I did say that," Blair repeated.

"How can you qualify that?"

"Did you do the assigned reading?"

"Well? yes," she claimed.

"Well then it should be no problem since the quiz was only on the assigned reading and half of the quiz was multiple choices to give you a sporting chance this time. Do not expect it on every quiz or test given. If one does the assigned reading in this class, then they will have no problems passing with at least an average grade. For those who apply themselves, then they will earn a higher grade. After all, the old adage is true: you do reap what you sow." Blair then sat down at the table to start grading the quizzes.

Just before the bell rang, Blair told the remaining students that they could go. He gathered the remaining quizzes to be marked into a book bag and placed the marked ones into his backpack. Blair had a counseling meeting with Professor Stoddard in fifteen minutes.

~~*~~

Inside Stoddard's office, Blair sat in a chair before Stoddard's desk.

"How did it go, Blair?"

"Fine, I decided to have the quiz count for thirty percent of the grade on the Incas. I believed that they will take me seriously now." Blair grinned devilishly. "Or at least that is what their reactions give me to believe. I do believe I managed to shock some of them and some might be looking for something else if they wanted a bird course."

"Well done, Blair, I knew you could do it. Now, how are your own classes going?"

"Doing good, Professor Stoddard, and I think I know what I want to do personal studies on as well," Blair enthused.

"What might that be?"

"Tribal watchmen! Every older society had them and you can even say modern societies as well with the police men and women. Well at least loosely, considering they don't have the enhanced senses that the ancient societies had. However, I think I'll concentrate more on the ancient tribal watchmen."

"Will you be able to collect enough data to write papers on it or even to do a master thesis on it?"

"Yes, I can. Although my modern references may a little restricted considering that it is unlikely that there is a modern sentinel, a watchman with all enhanced senses, living in today's time." Blair smiled mysteriously, as he privately thought that he could find such an individual.

"Well, good luck to you, Blair. I'll look forward to reading them."

"Thank you Professor Stoddard," Blair said with a wider smile and practically bouncing in his chair from excitement from the thoughts of doing this particular research. The pleasure of his triumph in his T.A. class was only adding to his enthusiasm.

"Your welcome, Blair," Professor Stoddard said with a smile at Blair's antics and demeanor. "I'll see you next month for our next meeting. I would like you to consider joining my expedition this summer to Central America to study a newly discovered Inca temple. It would look good for when you apply for next year's grant."

"Thank you, I would be interested," Blair replied thinking that it would be interesting to see if he could find any evidence that the Incas had tribal guardians. He knew the South American tribes did. Besides, perhaps Stoddard's next expedition might be in South America and closer to the tribes that he had already started researching as to those who had had evidence of tribal guardians. After all, it never paid to burn one's bridges.

Blair left Stoddard's office to return to his own. Discipline had him finishing the quizzes before returning to his own private research. This was the research that made his pulse quicken and his enthusiasm to soar. He caressed the monolith by Sir Richard Burton that he had found last year. It was this book that had sparked his research and the dream of finding one of the ancient watchmen in this day and age.