Flunking my own exam

Everything's in place for an early-morning final exam: Students in their seats, muffins in a box accessible to all (because it's a long exam and I don't want anyone to faint from skipping breakfast), first half of the exam in students' hands, essay question and blue books on the desk up front. Students have to complete the first half of the exam and turn it in before receiving the essay question, because they're allowed to use books and notes on the essay question but not on the short-answer questions. I've used this system many times before and in fact I'm using it in two classes this week, which is where the problem arises.

The first student to finish the short-answer questions turns in her work and picks up the essay question and blue book, but then she sits at her desk looking puzzled and scribbling a few tentative notes. The second student who picks up the essay question, though, doesn't even make it back to her seat. "I think you gave us the wrong question," she says. 

She's right: I gave my Honors Lit students the question intended for my Comedy class. I had to run down to my office and retrieve the correct question.

What amazes me most about this incident is that the first student was actually trying to answer the question--about literary works that the class had not read. These are pretty good students, but I wouldn't expect any of them to make much headway in analyzing stories they've never read or responding to theoretical concepts we've never discussed. I'm impressed that one student tried, but I'm sorry that she felt she had to.

Today as I've been making my way through that massive pile of papers to grade, I keep being tempted to insert snarky comments like If you must include a dictionary definition, make sure you spell the name of the dictionary correctly, but then I remember that I'm the one who gave my students the wrong exam. We all make mistakes! Sometimes the best response to a little oops is to forgive ourselves and move on.