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
I think extra credit is a good choice but only if you don't go over 100%. I am for extra credit oppurtunities, but again, if you go over a 100% in the gradebook I dissaprove it. I like Mr. Bruns' extra credit the most because you can literally watch movies and all you have to do is write a paper
I like extra credit especially when you go over 100%, I like the cushion to your grade when you have a test coming up and you don't know if you're going to do that good. That way if you have over 100% you can make sure your grade will stay at an A. Do you have any grades above 100%?
I like extra credit. I think that it really helps a lot of people and if you put in the effort to do it then your grade should benefit from it. As a student I am for extra credit. I like Mr.Bruns' extra credit opportunities the most and they have helped me out a lot.
In my opinion, it helps students by offering extra credit. If we as students are willing to put effort in to help our grades, then we should be able to get extra points for that extra effort. I also think that you should try hard for your grade to begin with, so if you haven't tried then you shouldn't be given extra credit.
I like being given the option to do extra credit. Always having that to back me up if I don't do well on an assignment or a test. I agree the most with Mr. Bruns's opinion on it. If a student is showing enough effort to raise their grade by doing something extra, then they deserve to get those extra points.
I think falling back on extra credit is a good point, sometimes you try hard on assignments and study very hard. But you just didn't have a great test-taking day that day. Then you should be able to retake and hope you do better or do some extra credit.
I think that extra credit is a great chance for students to bring their grades up and it has a higher chance of student's passing classes. I like the idea of extra credit because there is an opportunity to get a better grade if you're unsatisfied with your current one. I like Mr. Brun's options for extra credit because he provides a wide variety of ways to recieve extra credit.
I would have to agree with you, extra credit is a great chance for students to bring their grades up. And like you said it can also give them a higher chance of passing a class they may not have if they hadn't done some extra credit.
I haven't thought about doing extra credit because you have nothing to do, but that is a good point. If you have nothing to do in a class and want to get some extra points. I see no problem with doing extra work for extra points, especially when you are ahead. Have you ever done extra credit when you had nothing to do?
I am for getting extra credit opportunities as a student. I am for getting extra credit opportunities as a student because if my grade gets too low and I do not understand what I am working on, I can do extra credit and get my grade back up.
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