There are 8 weeks of school left. Sounds like awhile, but in reality that is only half of a single semester. So why is it important? To answer that, we need to consider it in a certain way. My way to consider it is thinking of it as a deadline. During the semester, you work on assignments your teachers give you. Whether that is a simple homework assignment or a long term project, you are given an initial deadline, the due date of the assignment itself is the EXPECTED time for you to finish. The teacher’s late work policies vary from teacher to teacher, but the general rule is the same. You are supposed to finish work on time, and similarly, so are teachers about grading the work. Their deadline, however, is the grading period. In these periods, your current grades are basically check-pointed. They are saved, with missing assignments being permanently registered as zero’s. This is, likely, for the sake of teachers not having to fix too many missing works that some students are probably not wishing to do until the last moment. The key to grades is keeping up with your deadlines, and the same applies to your teachers when it comes to grading them.