Importance of Doing Responses

     Every semester, I notice a trend among students. Quite a few don't bother to do the first of the responses. While it is the students' prerogative to choose which responses not to do, I believe that the ones at the beginning of the semester are the most important for the following reasons.

• The first responses allow me as the instructor a chance to get to know the writing style, and allow me to provide feedback on what I'm looking for in future assignments, particularly essays.
  
• I am generally more lenient in the beginning of the semester regarding certain errors as students adjust to the response system.
  
• The responses are designed to incorporate material gone over in class, and give the students a chance to practice assimilation of those skills.
  
• The responses build upon one another. The skills practiced in the responses often require the skills of the previous response to successfully complete it.
  
• As the semester progresses, the responses become more difficult, and require more of the students in terms of writing ability and critical thinking. Skipping the first responses not only means having to do the more difficult responses, but having to do them without first practicing the necessary skills.
  
• Not doing responses early on with the expectation of doing the remainder of them is a bad practice as the future is uncertain. Other school projects can get in the way. Work schedules can conflict. Personal issues can arise. Holding onto a number of responses you can choose to give up when necessary allows flexibility for the uncertain.
  
• There's no guarantee students will get the grades they are looking for on responses. One or more "f" grades can quickly ruin the overall response grade if there are no responses left to give.
  
• Not doing a response means nothing. It's not an F, it's a 0, which contributes nothing to a grade.
  
• Not doing the early responses begins a habit of not doing them, especially as the difficulty increases.
  
• Other classes become more demanding as the semester wears on as well, and sometimes your best effort will be directed to them instead of this class, and your responses may reflect that.
  
• Not doing the early responses sends a message to me that you are not serious about the class, and will attempt to "catch up" later on. It is best to not have to try and catch up at all, but succeed from the outset.
  
• There is no extra credit outside of the responses. Failure to do responses will not result in lenience later on in the form of other extra credit.
  One response can make all the difference. One response is the difference between an F and a C on the overall response grade. The same is true for the difference between a C and a B, or even a C and an A. It is better not to assume that simply doing a response is enough to get you the grade.
  
• It is best to know for a fact that you have the response grade you desire before the end of the semester by getting in all of the responses as early as possible.
  

     Reasons for doing the early responses should be clear, and I encourage students to not only do the early responses but all of the responses. Treating them all as necessary to the grade is the best practice to ensure getting in the requisite number of responses.