Extra+Credit

=Should we use it?=

In short, probably. Extra credit can be a useful for a couple of reasons. First, it is a useful motivational tool to help students who may have fallen behind to get back on track. By giving them an opportunity to increase their grade, you are also giving incentive to master the material and meet your learning targets. This is the ultimate goal of any teacher, right? It can also be utilized to engage students who are bored by the body of your curriculum, and so may not pay attention in class. For these exceptional students, some challenge for extra credit may be all the incentive they need to continue learning.

The difficulty with extra credit comes when we give it too easily or too often. As new teachers, we want all of our students to succeed, and maybe giving copious amounts of extra credit can help them get credit for a class they would otherwise fail. We have to remember that moving a student to the next level before they have mastered the material is not helping them; it is, indeed, doing them a disservice. This is why we need to be careful when giving out extra credit assignments.

**Some guidelines when assigning extra credit**
These are some ideas to consider when you decide to give out extra credit in your class.
 * Always try to connect extra credit assignments to material learned in class, or to a learning standard.
 * Always offer your extra credit to all of your students - it never pays to be exclusive.
 * Let your students know how it will be graded and weighted before you hand it out - this forces you to know this in advance, which is crucial.
 * Do not offer too many extra credit opportunities. This can allow students to pad their grade to such a degree that it no longer reflects their understanding of and progress with the class material.
 * Never give "busy work" for extra credit. It should always be as engaging as your required assignments.
 * Always have a clear deadline for when you collect the work.
 * Think about how much of your own time will be spent grading the extra credit.