Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is on extra credit. Some teachers give it, while others look askance at the very thought of it. I give it for some undergraduate course where I am allowed by my college to do so. It is never given in graduate school.

When can you get it in my classes, I offer undergraduates the chance to improve their grades throughout the semester. It has been my experience that the students who do it are those who do not need it. The students who could benefit the most from it do not come near it, unless it is the last day of class and they are failing. Friends, by then, it is way too late.

Why should your teacher give it to you on the last day of class when you have refused it all semester long?  Oh, it’s because just today you realized that you won’t successfully complete the course without it, your parents are going to kill you if you flunk this course, and you will be embarrassed by not graduating with your peers if you flunk this one little old class…

Not my problem, friends. Please think of extra credit all semester long and don’t leave any points on the table. Then, when the end of the term comes, you won’t be throwing yourself on the mercy of your overworked and underpaid professor, begging for just one more chance.

Best,

Dr. Sheri