Below I will ask you to evaluate your work on a traditional letter grade scale. As you see in the syllabus, this choice will weigh heavily in the grade I ultimately submit for you to the registrar.

I take this very seriously and hope you do as well.

My interpretation of an "A" is something like, "I put in a strong, consistent effort and worked hard to learn - I was engaged throughout, did all the work, and my performance was the best it could have been given my starting point and individual circumstances."

My interpretation of a "B" is something like, "I gave it a solid go, but this class was not my priority this quarter and I could have done better. I did most of the work but sometimes did it cursorily, late, incompletely, or without feeling that I understood. My performance was fine given my starting point and individual circumstances but if I had invested more in this class I might have learned more."

My interpretation of a "C" is something like, "I kind of barely made it through. I had trouble getting things done on time, or didn't sufficiently reach out for help, or avoided the work for this class. I entirely skipped some readings or homework problems, but I managed to still get the idea of the material more or less. In sum, my performance didn't quite meet my own expectations for myself."

I ask you to interpret this holistically and be kind to yourself - you can still get an A if you had a few slip-ups here and there. But I also ask you to be honest with yourself about your performance.

Here's a non-exhaustive list of questions to consider as you make this determination:
- Did you turn in your assignments complete and on time? (Note: for me, turning in assignments late with a good reason is equivalent to turning them in on time.)
- Did you attend (or watch later) in-class lectures as much as you could? (Note: again, for me, missing class with a good reason is equivalent to attending.)
- Did you keep up with readings, videos, and in-class activities?
- Did your assignments run all the way through?
- Did you manage to pass all the tests for problems which had them?
- Did you reach out for help when you needed it? (Note: doing this is positive!!!)
- Did you collaborate with others to contribute to our classroom community (in class, by helping on piazza, or outside of class)?
- Did you challenge yourself, or did you do the minimum?

Again, for all of this, think about things relative to your own circumstances and starting point. It may have been that you had less programming experience and having the base assignments pass tests was already a huge challenge for you, or life interceded and gave you other challenges that reduced your ability to live up to your usual expectations for yourself, or whatever the case may be - just think it through and explain so we can understand.

As I've stated on the syllabus and will explain in class, if I disagree with your assessment (in either direction), I reserve the right to reach out to you for clarification or further discussion, and ultimately the right to make a different determination myself if we can't work it out. I think the latter especially is unlikely, and in that event I promise to provide you a substantial justification of my reasoning.