GO TO CLASS!!

I have just posted my grades for the fall semester and, unfortunately, lowered the grades for about 20% of the students in my classes – the highest percentage ever!  There were three ways students should have predicted this:

·       I announced it at the first class,

·       It is printed in my syllabus, and

·       At the beginning of every class I obviously take and record attendance.

Given that the class in Introduction to Critical Reading and Thinking, students should have critically thought about these three pieces of information and figured out that attendance was important!

As you are looking forward to the next semester, one major tip is to GO TO CLASS!  This should not be a daily choice.  You always go to class; you do not start the day deciding whether or not to do so.

One problem is that, when you miss class, it is difficult to go to the next class.  You missed the transition from class to class and feel slightly out of step with the rest of the students. This is important whether or not the professor takes attendance.  Except for a rare instance, you cannot pass a class if you do not attend!

Professors take attendance in a variety of ways.  My classes are between 25 and 30 students and I work to learn everyone’s name, so I have index cards that I sort into piles (present or not) at the beginning of each class and then transfer that information to an attendance record.  Others have an attendance sheet the students sign at the beginning of each or selected classes, have students log on to a digital program, submit some in-class work, simply run down the names on the class list, or some other system. 

As you are wrapping up this semester and looking forward to the next, if you are not happy with your final grades think about this one crucial part – how was your attendance?  If not good, start now to change your thinking about attendance for the next semester.

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on upper right link.