Next week is the last day to drop a class without a record of enrollment. That means I need to have my first test given and graded by then. That way any students who are failing my class, certainly a non-zero number, will have the opportunity to drop the class with no record on their transcript. For some of them it would be wise.
However, I find that most underprepared or undermotivated students just can't do that. Either they have magical thinking about their ability to turn their grades around, or dropping my class brings them below the minimum of 12 hours needed to get federal financial aid. So they limp along, performing as poorly or worse on the final day as they are right now.
This year I tried a different tact than in previous years. I told them flat out, "if you are getting below a C with the few things you have turned in YOU ARE IN TROUBLE. Nobody improves their grades from the "little works" to the exams. You need to change what you are doing drastically or you won't make it." That warning couldn't be more clear.
Well, they looked whipped and then immediately...did nothing about it. So be it. Why do all humans, myself most of all, overestimate our ability to change directions?
I don't get this either. I think it has to do with needing to carry the credits, though.
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