Is Extra Credit a Good Thing?

Sometimes extra credit makes me angry. Am I justified in my irritation, or am I being an oversensitive veal medallion?

Here is the problem: Many students have come to perceive extra credit as "instead of" credit. For example, take my student Joe Smith. Mr. Smith hasn't been doing his work. When he has, it's because I dragged him into my classroom after school and made him complete his assignments. Mr. Smith approached me after school one day and asked if there was any extra credit he could do to bring up his grade.

"Mr. Smith, you need to have all of your assignments completed before I even consider allowing you near the magical land of extra credit. Hey, by the way, you haven't turned in the assignment due next Thursday. That will be a perfect start!"

Mr. Smith replied, "No, um, what I meant was do you have any big projects or something I can do to bring up my grade all at once."

English Answer Man choked back a laugh, but he was so amused he couldn't keep the small globule of green snot from spurting out of his large left nostril. "Oops, sorry about that. Go ahead and take a seat, and finish that missing assignment."

Mr. Smith appeared perplexed. "You mean right now?"

"Now's the perfect time, my man. It's only six sentences that you're missing anyway."

"Only six sentences? You say that like it's some sort of consolation."

This time, English Answer Man managed to contain his boogers, but just barely.

I have had many conversations similar to the one you just read. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I get angry, and others I simply break down into soft tears of frustration. Thanks to all those emotional roller coasters, I have come up with my Official Answer Man Extra Credit Policy. I will be developing this policy into an ebook at a later date, but for now, I will share the outline of my policy free of charge. Here it is:

Official Answer Man Extra Credit Policy*

 

Extra Credit Must Truly Be "Extra."

This Ain't No Buffet Line

Some teachers fall victim to buffet-style assignments. Students choose which ones they would like to do, and if they don't like one or more, they ask the cook (the teacher) to whip them up something special since they didn't like any of the other options.

I never give extra credit unless the student has completed ALL of his or her major assignments.

Make Extra Credit an Opportunity for Students to Go Above and Beyond.

If there is a legitimate opportunity for students to build upon something they are already learning, I give them that chance. Are you requiring two sources for a written assignment? Make it three, and that's extra credit. Reading a story and writing an analysis of the theme? Create a news-style video presentation in order to share ideas. It's extra. I give it credit.

 

The Opportunity Is for Everyone

It doesn't matter if the student's grade is an F or an A+. Extra credit opportunities are equal access. If I'm making a special assignment for someone who needs to bring up a failing grade, it's probably not tied to specific content, and it's probably "instead-of", buffet-style extra credit. Why would I want to deny a motivated student a chance for an extra challenge just because they have already demonstrated excellence?

There is my extra credit e-book in a nutshell:

1. Students have to complete all major assignments before attempting extra credit.
2. Extra credit needs to be tied to what I'm teaching, and it needs to be a chance to go above and beyond.
3. Extra credit opportunities are for all students 

Extra credit is neither good nor bad in and of itself. It all depends on how it is used in individual class rooms.

What do you think? Am I being fair with this extra credit policy? Am I really an over-sensitive cutlet of baby cow meat? Or maybe, teachers around the globe can save themselves large amounts of stress by adopting my three simple rules for extra credit success.

*Any comments suggesting that these rules are "simple common sense" will not be tolerated.

Photo Credit #1
Photo Credit #2
Photo Credit #3