One of the simplest ways to ruin your grade in a class is to ignore what you are asked to do.  This sounds so obvious that you are probably wondering why this topic needs to be covered.

Think about the following examples of students not doing what they are asked to do.

• You don’t turn in an assignment when it is due
• You don’t follow the correct format for an assignment
• You don’t put your name on the assignment
• You don’t give the information about your course section on your assignments
• You don’t attend out-of-class events as required
• You don’t respond to email requests from your professor
• You don’t meet the requirements for an assignment (e.g. word count, topic)

How do you assure yourself that you follow the directions?  Most students don’t deliberately ignore the directions.   Most of the time, students just simply forget or overlook some of the directions.  Here are some ways for you to assure you are following the directions.

1. When you get an assignment, make a checklist of all of the requirements.  Then before you submit the assignment, use the check list to review the assignment.
2. If you are working in a team, try to find a team member who is compulsive about following directions.  Every team needs one person like this.
3. Develop a standard format for all typed assignments that is automatically placed on all assignments when you do them.  The format should contain your name, you class day/time, and your section.  Use this even if you are submitting the assignment by email.
4. If you want to deviate from an assignment for creative reasons or some other reason, discuss this with the teacher and document what your teacher approved in an email to the teacher.
5. Record dates/times for out-of-class events in your cell phone. (See the Topic: Keeping Appointments)
6. Develop a routine of checking email at least 3 times per day.  Do this at specific times during the day.

When teachers grade assignments, one of the surest guarantees for point loss is to miss the basic requirements.  The above guidance should assure that you will not lose these points. .