As part of my PhD course, I am required to carry out demonstrating duties in the undrgraduate labs. It doesn't count towards my PhD as such, but it's considered good experience to do some teaching in the labs and I get paid too.

As a first-time demonstrator, I get the 1st year students who (if you believe the anecdotes of other PhD students) are a shower of idiots.

I would give them the benefit of the doubt on this, but the Demonstrator's Manual begins with the caveat "assume that your students possess no common sense, and that they are incapable of carrying out anything but the most basic of tasks without supervision". This does not bode well.

I had actually thought that my demonstrator role would be limited to advising in the labs, but it turns out that I have to, basically, act as their supervisor. Not only do I demonstrate techniques and advise them in the lab, I have to mark all of their work and discuss their performance with them. I also have to chase them up if they are late haning in work, or if they are absent from class.

This is going to be really odd - next Wednesday I'm going to have to face a group of 15 teenagers to whom I am, as far as they know, the boss.

And, strangely, no-one else seems worried about this.

Bo"Bonjour la class!"urne