What can I do to improve my class readiness portion of my classes for college near the end of the semester?

They do something similar here in Australia, called class participation. Ours is that you have to attend a certain number of classes and participate in class discussion. There is no way i know of to get this back, it is there to encourage regular attendance.

But don’t early morning classes just SUCK!

Hopefully, you’ve been communicating with the professor along the way and just not blowing off class without letting him know. The only way you’re going to know if you can salvage your grade is to make an office appointment. He will probably not offer you extra credit; that would be unfair to those students who read the syllabus at the beginning of the semester, and have been making it to class on time each time.

Here is exactly what I told my daughter her first semester. Early morning classes may suck, but most jobs expect you to be there at 8 – 8:30, and if you commit to taking an early morning class, your responsibility is to get to sleep at an earlier hour the night before so you can get up on time. Not all of college is about academics; the life skills are as important, and those include time management, and communication with those who are in charge of the work you are responsible for when there is a problem/issue. Your responsibility is to make it to class, read the syllabus and understand the expectations, and commit to doing what it takes to meet the expectations of the professor; that is part of the grade. If you miss class, let the professor know by e-mail either before you miss, if you have a conflict, or immediately after, if it’s accidental.

I was in a writing class that had a policy that if you missed four classes it was a automatic fail. I knew this but I still exceed it (it was a 8am class). I talked to the instructor and she was cool with ignoring my attendance since my papers were good.

This was at a Community College and we only had 25 people in the class. At a big university with 300 people in a class you might have less luck.

My classes start at 8am as well, but I’m up at 4:30am due to ride situations with my boyfriend. I usually plan out my homework the previous night so I can work on it before class. It helps keep me up and prepares me for class.

Also, the way I see it is that YOU are completely responsible for your grade and they will reflect your motivation and dedication. That alone should be motivation enough for you to get enough sleep and wake up in time for class. Communication with your professor is important as well.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the admonitions that I should have gone to class. I am well aware of that, but it is a little too late for that. I am all about the problem-solving. What can I do with the situation I have now to make things work out how I need them to work out.

So I really appreciate the practical suggestions for what I can do, or at least try at this point.

Johnpowell, I appreciate your experience/suggestion. That is encouraging!! My class is about the same size, so maybe I can talk to my professor about it and get something worked out.

Please keep sending the practical ideas for this situation! Thanks!

I’ve never heard the term “Class readiness” before. I’m guessing, like @FishGutsDale did, that this is equivalent to “Class participation”.
Make sure you go to class, have all your stuff, always be prepared to answer questions asked by teachers.

Go to bed an hour or 2 earlier, it’ll be a lot easier to get to class. I used to go to bed at 2am almost every day, couldn’t wake up before 10 for the life of me. These days I’ve been going to bed at 11pm or midnight, and find myself always awake by 8.

At my school that is the hardest part to make up, because it’s the easiest part of the grade to get so my professors are generally not going to let you make up those lost points.You can try, but I wouldn’t expect a good result. Lots of people have early classes and still find a way there no matter how tired they are (My friends in my 8:30 class often get 4 hours of sleep but we all still come every single weekday).

Speak to your professor, (as has been suggested) and work out a deal. That’s your only surefire option in terms of bringing that up.
Professors will usually just go by the book unless you give them reason not to, and so making them aware you’re making an effort should help the situation.
Ask them what you need to do in order to raise that portion of your grade, and stick to it, plus a little extra of what was told to you. In my experience, if the professor has said _____ will help improve your grade and you do it faithfully, it works.

@hug_of_war Why are people going to sleep at 4?

I’ve never had a class that took roll after the first week. There was an 8 am Psych class that I blew off. We got a syllabus that gave us the chapters for the weekly mc test. The second week he showed videos of live cats getting their open brains getting shocked. At 8 am-that was it, brother! I just showed up on test day and took the B.

However you do understand that one of the most common dreams is you find yourself on the last day of the semester and you are on the way to take the final. You skipped so many classes that you know you are going to fail-that recurred until my late 50’s

@Sarcasm well college students like to stay up late

That’s a terrible reason.
I liked to stay up late too. Know what I did? Took classes that didn’t start till 6pm.
Time management, kiddos!