I’m getting ready to submit the final grades for my Fall 2004 classes and I’m bracing for the inevitable wave of complaints from students about their final grades. Fortunately, at least for my big 100-level lecture class, I have teaching assistants who take the brunt of the complaints.

It makes me think -- why weren’t these students more concerned about their grades earlier, when they actually could have done something to improve their situation, as compared to after the semester when there’s basically nothing that they, my TAs, or I can do to substantially improve their grade?