The second marking period is coming to a close and final grades are rolling in. The marking period officially ends on January 24th, so students at River Dell are trying to up their letter grades.
Genesis automatically computes grades in decimal form and rounds up but if a teacher also wants to assign extra credit they can. Ms. Seiss, an art teacher at River Dell said, “I am willing to help any of my students with their grades, as long as they are willing to put in the effort.”
Towards the end of each semester, teachers find that students ask for extra credit, extensions on work, or just to round their grade to the next letter grade up.
Mrs. Carney, an English teacher at River Dell shared, “I don’t offer extra credit.” This is because Mrs. Carney makes sure that the assignments she offers are balanced so that no one assignment makes or breaks an entire marking period. This system makes it easier for her students to recover from a bad grade and maintain good ones.
Although not all teachers give out extra credit, some do curve tests or offer students a chance to gain bonus points. For example, Mr. Valentino, a science teacher to many freshmen and juniors at River Dell told us that usually, “I’ll offer extra points, maybe on a 40 question study guide if you finish it, that’s a point, or if we play a Kahoot and you get first place, that’s a point.”
All different sorts of students ask for a raise in grades, but Mrs. Carney noted, “I see it mostly in very high preforming students, who are just on the cusp to move up a letter grade.”
River Dell’s grading system is fair for students, A grades ranging from 90% to over an 100%. B grades run from an 80% to an 89%, while C goes from 70 to 79%.
At the end of the day, every student should be responsible for their own GPA and not rely on teachers to change it. As soon as they notice their grades are dropping, they should meet with their guidance counselor to figure out what their next step should be.
“I would hope my students are conscious of their grades through out the entire marking period, not just at the end,” said Ms. Seiss.
