Time to start worrying about your grade! I have several students coming in next week to discuss their grades. Which is generally obvious, as I post all their grades in Blackboard so they know exactly what they're getting. At least these students are being a little more proactive about it. It never fails that as soon as the final exam is over, and usually after I've given the final grades, someone e-mails me: "I know I made D's on all the tests, but I really need a C or I'll lose my ____ scholarship."
When I first started teaching I used to harp on grades and remind the students that if they weren't doing well they could come to me for help, remind them of drop dates, etc. And most of the time they didn't listen to me. So this semester I took a different tack. Just like I'm not taking attendance, I decided to treat the students like adults. The last day to drop is on my syllabus calendar, my syllabus quiz had a statement for them to sign about not whining when they get the grade they've earned (but in nicer language), etc. They are adults and they need to learn how to act like it. If I coddle them too much, they're in for a shock when they get to an upper level class. And I finally realized that no matter how much I may want to help my students, they have to be willing to help themselves first.
4 comments:
You have a syllabus quiz? Interesting.
Hey, just found your blog.
I'm teaching for the first time on my own this fall. I also think that I shouldn't force students to come through attendance. In fact, I wonder why I would want to make people who do not want to be there come to class. I was wondering how that worked out for you. I'm sorry if you addressed that elsewhere, but like I said-just found the blog.
RE: Syllabus Quiz: I came up with this idea so I didn't have to spend so much time on the syllabus (that usually takes up the entire first day of class and is boring). It's worth 10 bonus points and has 10 questions (multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank). This way I know for certain they know what days are test days, and some of my class policies. It seemed to work pretty well.
RE: Attendance
I had about the same amount of people attending as when I took attendance everyday. Except this was much easier on me! I usually handed around a piece of paper and had them sign next to their name, but then you have all this paper to keep up with, and you can't always be sure someone isn't signing for their buddy. And since I gave bonus points for near-perfect attendance, I had to go through and count days too. This is much easier and doesn't penalize the people who don't want to be there to begin with.
I've been teaching for about 3 years total, and I just finally decided I wasn't their mother. If they don't want to show up, they don't have to show up - but it's their own fault if they fail. (I have a statement like that on the syllabus quiz.)
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