Earlier this week I posted part 1 of “End of Semester Woes” and I continue that here. If you haven’t read the first part it might be helpful to read that here. At any rate, these are my feelings at the close of the semester as an instructor and an student. Today I’ll be focusing on screwing up as a student, seeking forgiveness (maybe too late), and what to hope for.
It’s a peculiar fact of life (it doesn’t have to be a fact but it seems to be) that students, no matter how much they are warned, don’t do the work they need to do in order to pass the class. They find out much too late that they should have dropped the class, should have started doing their homework, should have studied for the test, or should have been doing something else. That’s a lot of “should have.” Sometimes, though, there are too many of them to make up. Sometimes it is too late. That said, it never hurts to ask.
If you’re going to inquire about your grade you should get your facts straight. Figure out what assignments you missed, why you missed them, and what your grade is currently. Try to figure out whether or not you could pass (mathematically) based on which assignments are left and how many points they are worth. Armed with this information you at least demonstrate that you understand the current situation. It would also be appropriate to explain that you messed up by not doing the work in the first place. Rather than asking for two bonus points, or the ability to redo assignments, you might simply ask if there is “anything” you can do to succeed in the course.
This last part is very important: accept the instructors response. Some will tell you that you failed and there is nothing you can do. Some will tell you that you failed and that you should treat it as a learning experience (which you should because it is). Some might find reason to allow you to make up some of the work you missed. Some might give the entire class an extra credit opportunity. Perhaps there are extra credit opportunities you didn’t know about (though, if you read the syllabus you probably would). Bottom line: you messed up. Own it. Move on. Accept the consequences. Do better next time.