Proctoring...gone wrong.

Last week I proctored my first practice ACT exam at a high school on the south side (I have now become an expert on the various neighborhoods of southern Chicago).  Throughout the duration of the ACT course, the students are encouraged to take practice ACT exams on Saturday mornings, under real-life circumstances, in preparation for the real ACT in April.  I was given the what some may term as simple task of proctoring the exam; a task that I assumed would consist of me sitting at a desk towards the front of the room, keeping time while leisurely reading a book.

Boy, was I was wrong.

A handful of students took it upon themselves to devote the four hour testing period to catch up on weeks of sleep, while others decided to whip out their combs and nail files.

Most students selectively chose their favorite section and decided to throw small pieces of paper around during the rest of the test.  When a small piece of paper fight led to a dictionary being chucked across the room I realized that I had to take control.  So, I walked towards the back of the room and I did something that I have seldom done before; I raised my voice.  And I broke out the sarcasm.

"Seriously, do I need to actually separate you two?  Some students in the room actually want to go to college and don't need to be disrupted."

Surprisingly, it seemed to work and the students stopped throwing things at one another.

As I walked back towards the front of the classroom I heard one of the female students voices, "What the hell are you staring at?"

Luckily I had been facing the opposite direction so I knew she wasn't talking to me (those who know me know that I sometimes have a staring problem).

"I ain't staring at you, you b*tch," the girl to her left replied.
"You didn't just call me that.  You wh*re," she retorted.
"It's better to be a wh*re than a b*tch," the other student shot right back.
"Ohh," the class echoed in unison.

I marched towards the girls and took my place directly in between them.

"How about we argue about this after the test?" I suggested, slightly fearful that a fist fight was going to break out any moment.  "I am going to stand here for the rest of the test," I stated as I took my place.

A moment later I hear loud tapping, as I glance over and see a student forcefully tapping away on her cell phone.  I figured this was better than a dictionary being tossed, or a fist fight, so I pretended not to notice.

"Excuse me," a student in the back row called for my attention.
"Yes?"
She's distracting me," he stated.
"You don't seem to have opened your test booklet yet and we're on Section 3, so please tell me what she is distracting you from," I replied.

The boy quieted down and returned to gesturing with the girl outside the window.

I sure showed them.