This semester I'm a NINJA for two classes, Linearity II and Discrete Math. Each week is different, but in honor of National Tutoring Week, here's a "week" that has proven to be representative so far:
Monday
Lunchtime Linearity grading party. All four NINJAs gather around a table on the Dining Hall Mezzanine, eating lunch and grading the same problem ~80 times. At the end of lunch, Studio (problem set) k is graded and just needs to be entered. Studio k+1 is usually in my backpack and needs to be graded still.
I go to Linearity right after lunch. For the lecture part of class, I sit in the back entering grades and writing solutions for Studio k+2, which is due today. When I'm done with solutions, I send them out to the profs and the other NINJAs for comments/corrections, and when I'm done entering grades, I pass back Studio k. When there's time to work on problem sets after lectures, I help people with Studios k+3 and k+4.
As I leave the classroom, the professors hand me the stack of Studio k+2s.
The Discrete assignment is due the next day. The other NINJA has office hours tonight, but they're always really busy, so around 9:00 I get an email from a team asking if I'm free at all that night. Sometime between then and midnight I spend between thirty minutes and an hour talking people through proofs.
Tuesday
This is a relatively light day. If I have already talked with the other Linearity NINJAs about splitting up the grading for Studio k+1, I might work on that. (In that case, each person has about 20 papers, grades a problem, and then passes the stack on to someone else and gets another stack.) On Tuesday afternoon the Discrete prof will leave a packet of Discrete assignments for us in her mailbox. One of the NINJAs picks those up to start grading them.
Wednesday
I maybe grade Linearity, maybe grade Discrete. In the evening I look over the new Discrete assignment and then hold office hours for an hour and a half on Wednesday night! Since the assignment is new, most of the questions are about approach as opposed to how to write the proofs. There's a pretty consistent group of people that comes to these office hours.
Thursday
Another lunchtime Linearity grading party, or maybe just an entering party. If the grading for Studio k+1 was split up for each NINJA to do in his/her free time , this is for finishing that up, totaling all the scores, and then entering the grades. Then maybe we can start grading Studio k+2! If we didn't split up the grading, then this is Studio k+1 time.
After lunch, I go to Linearity. During the hour-ish of lecture I do more grading and enter grades. For the last thirty or so minutes of class I answer questions as people work, update the professors as to how things are going, hand back graded studios, and get a new stack of them.
At this point, if I picked up Discrete assignments on Tuesday, I'll have started working on the grading.
Friday
It's my turn to be the in-class Discrete NINJA! I print 20 copies of the in-class exercise the professor emailed to me and go to the 9AM Discrete class. There, I hand out the assignment and then walk around the room answering questions. The last thirty minutes of class will be more lecture/discussion-ish, so during that time I grade.
That afternoon, I have a meeting with the other NINJA and the professor. We go over what to look for in grading the assignment that will be due the next Friday, we discuss what we've noticed in office hours, class, and grading, and the other NINJA (Marguerite) and I give an update on your grading progress. If things have gone well, I'll either pass off a stack of Discrete grading from Marguerite or receive such a stack, but usually that happens on Saturday.
Saturday
Grading, grading,... in September, if Babson Baseball had a scrimmage, I'd go grade there! (Unfortunately, the season is now over....) Grade some Linearity if we've split up a Studio, and depending on which NINJA picked up the Discrete assignment, I could have a stack of Discrete. As I wander through the dorms throughout the day, I usually end up answering Linearity questions.
Sunday
I glance over the two Linearity studios that students are currently working on (both the graded and ungraded parts because people ask questions about both!), and then I have an hour of office hours in the evening! There will possibly be more grading (there's almost always more grading).
