Dear Student,

            Every once in a while, a student asks me for extra credit.  Usually this is a polite request stemming from the realization that the student’s grade is not so great, and he or she would like to raise it before it’s too late.  My answer will always be “no”, and to understand why, imagine this scenario:

            Your mom is on her way out for a little bit and has given you a list of chores to finish before she returns.  The list isn’t long, it’s the middle of July (you have no homework!) and the chores aren’t difficult: clean the upstairs bathroom and load the dishwasher. Easy-peasy, 20 minutes and you’re done. Returning home three or four hours later, your mom discovers that you haven’t done a thing, and she’s understandably upset.

            “But Mom,” you explain.  “I didn’t scrub the bathroom and unload the dishwasher, but I polished the chrome on the scooter and gave the cat a bath.”

            Will Mom be pleased with a shiny scooter and a clean cat?  I think not so much.  She would have been happy if the bathroom was glittering and the dishwasher emptied because those are the chores she was counting on, but I guarantee she could care less about sparkly chrome and by the way, the clean cat ran across her sofa and left wet paw prints all over it…who do you think is going to take care of that mess?

Can you see the analogy?  When I give you coursework to finish or ask you to study for a test, those are part of the objectives for the course.  If you don’t do your homework and you do fail a test (or three, or four), and then you ask me for something “extra” to do, I am annoyed. I think that you don’t respect the work I’ve put into teaching your class, and you’d rather do something “easier” or “better”.  Truly, no amount of “extra” work would ever be enough to nudge a failing grade up to a passing one.  Besides, I don’t want my cat bathed or my chrome polished.  I want you to give me what I asked for, and nothing else.

            I understand that you’re sorry for not studying well or finishing your homework on time, and I appreciate your desire to do better.  Think about this, though — If you spend the same amount of time doing whatever thing you thought I might have given you as “extra credit”, and do just what I’ve asked you to do, you will earn a higher grade.

In Jesus,

Mrs. B