Extra Credit...

Hey Mr. Shoes...

What can I do to pass this class??

This was asked of me this morning by one of my students... who has done very little this semester to learn any of the material... hasn't completed the extra work that I gave them the option of doing...  hasn't come to class... and now with one week left in the semester, she is curious as to how she can pass...

I did have a student one semester tell me that if he didn't make at least a 'B' in his classes, that his Grand Father would have him deleted from his will...

Poor guy... I guess it sucked to be him... no?

There is a study that suggests that the longer one has been teaching, the more that teacher 'dumbs' down his/her classes... I guess the idea is that we become more jaded the longer we teach.  

I went back and reviewed my final grades that I have turned in over the past three years (6 semesters) and compared them to a three- year period from earlier in my career... my grades are lower.  


I would think that has to imply that I haven't 'dumbed' down my material, but instead, I've possibly have become more strict about my grading policies and what I am willing to accept from students.

I had a colleague some years ago that probably subscribed to this theory presented above.  One could always tell when he had an exam pending... some of the coeds would come to his office for 'study sessions'... they would all wear their tightest t-shirts and shorts...  He thought he was being sly... but they knew it would work.  The male students were greatly resentful of this 'competitive advantage' the female students had over them...

Some of my students do not like it when I count off points for misspellings when they submit assignments. I assure them that their employers will grade them on a much stricter basis than I do...

Nothing wrong with aiming high!!

And then there is always the question of 'extra credit'...

~shoes~