Extra Credit

Never have so many students inquired about their grades than at the end of the trimester. Something clicked in their brains this week as we were studying for our final exams and everyone suddenly became keenly interested in their GPA. I think mothers had something to do with it. I had students with Ds and low Cs asking for extra credit. I even had a mother of a student email asking for extra credit on her son's behalf! My answer must be a determined, "No!" Extra credit is for exemplary work that in some way stands out from everyone else's in a positive way! If the only exemplary aspect of your work is your astounding lack of effort, I am not going to be so moved as to offer you extra credit to make up for your laziness. You need to be conscious of the credit your are receiving, or not receiving, as the trimester unfolds, and you need to put a little effort in sometime before the last week of the trimester.You must earn your grades, and if you are earning a D or an E, than that is what you are going to get. I am not rewarding your last minute attempts to compensate for your poor work ethic. I honestly believe that I am being entirely fair in letting you, my students, live with the grades you earned. I am in the business of rearing adults and in respect of that I am going to treat you as such. If you want an A or a B, earn it, and I will be happy to deliver.