I got my grades for the fall quarter today. All A's. I have never gotten all A's at any point in my life. I had parents who were not big on education and really did not care if I did my homework or not. I can seriously never remember a time when they asked me if I had my homework done. So I never did it. My GPA upon graduation of high school will prove that. I wasn't even sure if I would walk until the day of graduation!!!
Now that I am older and little wiser, I am the homework Nazi with my kids. The first thing I do when they come home is check their bookbags. I see what they need to do and I make sure it gets done. I read every little comment that their teachers make on their assignments and we go over what they did not understand. Most importantly, I do not let them skate by with extra credit. I do not even let them do it. They must make their grades by the assignments given, not take the easy road out. In my eyes, extra credit is the slackers way of getting the points you need to grasp a higher grade. Are they actually retaining anything from this? NO!! When my children get out into the REAL WORLD, employers want skills, not their ability to write down 7 chapters of vocabulary words and fail every assignment given.
This quarter I had three classes that allowed extra credit. I did the extra credit for two of the three. The extra credit in one class saved me from a C. I received an email from that instructor after my grade was posted. This person told me that I really had a C before the extra credit was applied. I failed the final, miserably. The reason they gave me the A was because they knew I knew what I was doing. This particular subject was not my forte'. It was not the knowledge that I retained, but the fact that I knew how to find the answers to the questions that they were asking. I actually studied for this test, but could not retain the text. I am grateful for the A, but I feel as if I did not deserve it rightly. I emailed this person back and asked to be given the grade I deserved. As of tonight, it is still an A.
If you are reading this, please teach your children that taking the easy way out is not the best option. If you work and study hard, you can achieve the grade that you deserve. It may not always be an A, but it will be your honest effort.
Ok, I have a question, and don't think I am being harsh, but if you don't allow your children to do the extra credit, why do you alow yourself to do it? I always let my kids take advantage of extra credit, Sometimes even if to better a grade after they tried and could not grasp a concept. Although, most of the extra credit they are ofered ctually pertains to the subject at home. Also at the beginning of the term the kids often get extra credit for things such as book covers and bringing tissues (which are required of them any way)
ReplyDeleteI have always viewed extra credit, not as the easy way out, but as the "going the extra mile" in life, always going above and beyond expectations.
Just my opinion!