At the end of each marking period, I will compute your grade based on everything you have done since day one, not just in that marking period. Your grade is cumulative. This is what your grades might look like at the end of the term:

                                        Classbooks (avg.)                        +  Writing Projects (avg.)      + "MOJO" = Grade   
                                         40%                                                         40%                            20%         100%

The numbers represent letter grades, on a scale of 40. An A, for instance, is 39. A- = 37; B+ = 35, B = 34, B- = 33; C+ = 31, C = 30, C- = 29; D+ = 27, D = 26, D- = 25; F = 18. If you don't hand it in at all, it's a zero (0).

Each time a classbook is graded, the grade is entered on the chart and automatically averaged in with all of your previous grades. Same thing with writing projects. If you don't have a classbook or you don't do the project, a zero (0) is entered.

For those of you who have not taken algebra recently (or who took it but didn't pay much attention), an average is taken by adding up all the items, and then dividing by the number of items there are. For example, to compute Waylon Smithers' classbook average, we add up all of his grades and divide by 7, since there are 7 of them:

    39 + 35 + 31 + 33 + 30 + 30 + 31 =  229       229 ÷ 7 = 32.714

Then we need to compute his average for writing projects:

    33 + 18 + 30 + 26 + 18 + 26 = 151               151 ÷ 6 = 25.167

Then we add those together, add the result to his "MOJO" score of 15, and add 1 (everyone gets one point for free), and we get his average: 32.714 + 25.167 + 15 + 1 = 73.88

Now, let's take a look at someone who failed. Herschel Krustofsky did nothing in the first marking period (except hand in the tearslip from the handbook), thinking that it didn't count, and did all his work for the rest of the term, thinking it would be enough to pass. He didn't do badly, getting C's and C+'s on his classbook, B's and C's on essays (though he did fail the midterm), and managed to get his "MOJO" back up to 15. But in the end, the numbers don't lie:

     CLASSBOOKS: 39 + 0 + 0 + 31 + 31 + 30 + 30 = 161      161 ÷ 7 = 23
     WRITING PROJECTS: 0 + 0 + 18 + 33 + 35 + 30 = 116   116 ÷ 6 = 19.33
     "MOJO": 15
     
     23 + 19.33 + 15 + 1 = 58.33

As you can see, any time you get a zero by not handing something in, you run the very real risk of failing the class. A zero hurts your average so much more than an F. An F is the equivalent of a 45; you get some points; you get no points if you don't do it at all. Allow me to illustrate:

Let's say there are three grades that make up your average. You get a B on one, a C on one, and an F on one. 85 + 75 + 45 = 205 ÷ 3 = 68.33, so you still pass. But let's say you get a B on one, a C on one, and don't do the third one at all. 85 + 75 + 0 = 160 ÷ 3 = 53.33, a difference of 15 points, which in this case means you fail.

So the moral of the story is, DO ALL OF YOUR WORK AND YOU'LL PASS!