Below I’m answering a number of questions for each category of Shocker. I will be responding to emails throughout break periodically, but most common questions are answered below.

If you are an undergraduate emailing about grades, the email will be deleted and ignored. It’s not personal, as said during the last week of classes!

Undergraduate Students #

What is my grade? #

I can’t talk about grades over email due to FERPA regulations. Your final letter grade is on MyWSU.

(Math 321) I got 4/9 on the final, can I get a C in the class? #

Sorry, no. We discussed how to read the grade report in class on Tuesday.

(Math 321) I got almost all of the question right on ___. Can I get credit? #

Sorry, no. The grading is, on the one hand, draconian because it is “all right or it’s wrong.” However, every individual learning target has the opportunity to be revisited many, many times(!) with each learning target appearing up to four weeks in a row and then again during the last week of classes and finals week. And remember, they’ve been open book, open note, and you had 3.5 days to do them.

Can we play chess? #

Please do! Send me a challenge on chess.com. I’m jmhammond. Please also message me let me know who you are because I ignore games from strangers.

(Math 321) I have an $x$+ grade, can you round up? (here $x\in \{B, C, D\}$) #

No.

Can I get extra credit? #

There is no extra credit - only normal credit!

How do I raise my grade? #

The semester is over and there were many, many chances to earn credit on learning targets. Your final grade is what you earned and there is no way to raise (or lower) your grade.

Can I retake learning target ___? #

The learning targets showed up four weekends in a row and then again during the last week and finals week there are no additional retakes.

You’re really into squirrels. What’s the deal with that? #

They’ve just always been my favorite animal. In fact, my wife got me a toy squirrel for our first valentine’s day back in college… It’s been a long love of squirrels!

I missed checkpoint _; can I do it now? #

No. In exchange for hard deadlines, we had opportunities to revisit the learning targets multiple times throughout the semester. This provided the flexibility of missing a checkpoint but being able to recover the material during the semester.

Are you teaching ___? #

Maybe? My Spring 2026 (current) schedule is:

• Math 242: Calculus 1
  • Getting folks started on their math journey.
• Math 243: Calculus 2
  • I’m planning to teach this one a little differently than WSU historically has. I’ll be starting with sequences and series and later working on integration techniques. It’s (kind of) how Newton originally presented it in Principia. See you there!

Graduate Students #

Returning or new GTA? Either way, I’m excited to work with you on your journey growing as a teacher. I’ll be replying periodically through break. If you want to talk sooner, send me a text on Teams.

Administrators #

I’m honored that you’re reading this! If you want to get in contact with me quickly, send me a message on Teams or text my cell phone.