Extra Credit

Dear Teacher,
It’s near the end of the semester, and I’m worried about my grade. I missed a few assignments and there were some weeks I couldn’t do my assignments because I had family problems. I need to pass this class. Can you give me some extra credit to bring up my grade?

Dear Student,
You are right: we are nearing the end of the semester. In two weeks we will be writing final exams. I’m glad that you are working on your current assignments and also that you care about your course grade, because one of the best ways to earn a good grade in a course is to care about that grade.


I do not use extra credit in the course, for several reasons.
Extra credit means work beyond the required work in the course. We complete assignments each week, to practice the skills and ideas in the textbook readings and class assignments. Based on this work, a student should have accumulated over 100 individual grades – enough to create an average and result in a course grade.

In the past, some students have believed that they could ignore the required work and find extra credit work that would be fun. There are choices in each assignment; hopefully students will find some fun aspect in each assigned work.

As part of my work as teacher, I write assignments, teach about their ideas, and then grade the assignments students submit. I enjoy teaching; I spent a lot of hours each week on this job. Extra credit would mean even more hours for me: writing up assignments, explaining assignments, and grading additional papers. I would rather spend my preparation time, trying to make assignments for the complete class even better.

Keep doing your best on the assignments we are completing each week. Read the instructions carefully, ask me if you have questions about the work. Submit the work on time. In a few weeks I will begin averaging semester grades; I hope that yours average out to be what you wish.