The Wave of Panic

Quizzes and tests just seem to inspire posts. Maybe because I can type without looking at my keyboard so I can do this and still watch for cheaters

I call this testing phenomenon the "wave of panic" someone will ask a "stupid" question about a problem "just to be sure." Today it was this: "A regular hexagon has a side length of 6 cm." This inspires the question of "is six the side length or half the side length?" To which I respond it is the SIDE LENGTH. Other students overhear this question and start to panic and I get asked the same question or even sillier ones because of it. "Do you mean 6 is the perimeter?" "So 6 is the radius right?"

My other favorite from today. In one of my problems I made a mistake. The directions say find the area of the regular pentagon pictured. Then I have a drawing of a hexagon with parts labeled. So I tell the class to cross out the word pentagon and replace it with the word hexagon. No one listens and I get the questions asked 3 or 4 more times. I tell one student and she response with "oh I don't read the directions so I wouldn't have even noticed." Makes me wish that I could tape record that and play it back for her when she gets her grade. . .