Have you ever gotten to the end of the quarter and realized you didn't have the grade you wanted so you did some extra credit work to get your grade up? Depending on who you are, that may have happened to you. But some teachers don't allow extra credit, they don't think we should be able to do work that gives us extra points. So, I asked some teachers what their thoughts on this topic were, here is what some of them said:
Mrs. Lewis is against traditional extra credit; she believes that extra credit is not a reflection of what your real grade should be. In her eyes "extra credit" would be re-doing an assignment to show you understand the topic. But you should never have above a %100.
Mrs. Noeth doesn’t give a lot of extra credit. Overall, she is for and against giving extra credit. In her opinion, she gives lots of in-class participation points. We do lots of work throughout the quarter to where we as students should have enough points.
Mr. Bruns used to be against it, he used to say, “Do it right the first time.” But, throughout his years of teaching, he learned that not everyone loves history. So that could affect their ability to learn, comprehend, and remember it. But if people are willing to do extra work, they will find success. So, his rule is if it relates to the topic we’re working on, then he sees no problem in giving extra credit for extra effort.
Mrs. Nelson believes that extra credit is a double-edged sword, in her opinion it is good for kids who take advantage of it. But normally the kids who need it don’t do it, and the kids who don’t need it just boost their grade from an A to a higher percentage A. Mrs. Nelson doesn’t like project-based extra credit, she likes partial extra credit opportunities where it shows extra effort on the part of the student.
Mrs. Noethe said, “I absolutely, 100% never give extra credit unless all of the regular credit has been attempted.” She thinks if you don’t give effort throughout the semester, quarter, or year. Whatever fiscal period you are looking at, if you don’t give a good effort, you shouldn’t be given the opportunity of extra credit. Her courses specifically have many opportunities not for extra credit but for revision and corrections. Showing that you now understand the topic to the point of getting full credit.
Mrs. Hamilton doesn’t believe in extra credit, she feels that the grade you have should reflect how well you understand the content you have been learning, quizzing, and testing over. In our talk, she referenced “Bloom's Taxonomy”, which is a tool that teachers use to see how much a student understands the topic we are being educated on. Looking at the highest level of” Bloom's Taxonomy” you would be creating, making connections, making arguments, and critiquing others based on the content. If you get %100 you are demonstrating, you know the content at those levels. She believes it is on the teachers to provide students opportunities to show that they know what we have been learning at those levels. Lastly, she talked about how if you don’t demonstrate that level of understanding you can retake quizzes and exams to get to that point that your grade would reflect how well you know the contents of your learning.
Throughout this whole interview process, I would say I learned a lot about what teachers think about extra credit. But also, what teachers believe about kids' efforts in school. One thing would be teachers believe that your grade should reflect how well you know the subjects you’re learning. Another is that it seems that kids that do the work to begin with, aren’t going to be the kids that need the extra credit. But they are going to be willing to do the extra credit.
Sources:
Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Noeth, Mr. Bruns, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Noethe, and Mrs. Hamilton. Thank you all for helping!!
What do you think about extra credit?
Are you for or against getting extra credit opportunities as a student?
Which teacher’s extra credit opportunities do you like the best?
Replies
If you were to have one class a teacher had to offer extra credit. Which class would that be for you personally, and why would you want it to be that class? Do you want to know the topic better or do you think that you would want the extra cushion when it comes to your grade?
I think that getting extra credit should depend on the assignment and the critical state of the grade. I personally think that extra credit should be something that teachers should do more of. Sometimes teachers do not have enough points in the grade book, which could result in a bad grade incase of a bad test. Teachers are constantly saying that they want us to pass, this is a great way to show it.
Doing more extra credit could be a good idea, but that also adds more work for the teachers. So the question is, do you think that would be something they would be willing to do for students? Now imagine the kids that don't put in effort for them, do you think they would put in extra effort for them?
I personally hope that teachers would be willing to do this for us as students. I believe that it is their job as teachers to try their best to try and get us to pass their class even though it might not be our best subject. I also don't think that some kids would try for the extra credit the teachers offer.
I think what you said about it depending on the class is very true. If you are in a situation where you haven't been doing your work and you expect the teacher to do extra work on your behalf when you haven't even done your original work, you shouldn't be given the opportunity for extra credit.
I think that extra credit is great If your grade is struggling and you need more points to get it up. Extra credit is so worth doing it helps grades and makes me feel better about them. I am for extra credit. If a kid really needs that boost to help them in school that's when it's great. Mr.Bruns has the most extra credit in my opinion. It's easy extra credit and really helps my grade.
Extra credit is very worth doing, I don't think students realize how much extra credit can help your grade even if it goes up one point. That one point could get your grade from a 93% up to a 94% and that would then be a A not an A-.
I think that projects that give 5-15 extra credit points are good for the person, teacher, and class. I think that extra credit opportunities are good as a student. If the extra credit is on the test, it might save your grade from a lower letter grade to a higher one. Ex. B+ to A- or C+ to B-.
That is true if the extra credit is a part of a test and it is giving you more opportunities to get points if you aren't feeling great about how your test just went. You can try the extra credit which is normally harder. Which class would you say you appreciate this most in?
I appreciate extra credit the most in Mr. Bruns' class and Mrs. Hamilton's class. In Mr. Bruns' class, it is more of projects, while Mrs. Hamilton's extra credit is more of questions on tests and quizzes that she feels are harder and require a deeper understanding of the topic we have been learning.
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