As the year draws to a close, things tend to get busier for students and teachers alike. Students end up with more social and personal events on their plate, and teachers have an increased amount of marking to do.
This increase in teachers' workloads is often due to the big, long, P word that we cringe upon hearing.
That word, my friends, is procrastination.
My handy Oxford Colour Dictionary (yes, I still use one of those) defines the verb procrastinate as "to delay or postpone action." We often associate it with the poor habit of leaving things to the last possible minute.
As far as I know, none of us have a collection of medals for perfection, so we are all guilty of procrastinating at some point in our lives. However, developing a habit of putting everything off as long as possible tends to make a person look sloppy and disorganized.
I began this segment of The Blogger Speaks by discussing how busy we tend to be as the school year winds down. For anyone who is part of a high school graduating class, many important senior activities occur as your final year of high school is waning. Within the past month at WHS, a senior banquet has been held, along with various other activities directed towards the senior class.
Within the past two weeks, an awards banquet has been held at the WHS gymnasium. It was with true honor that I was in attendance. Many students of all grades at WHS were recognized for their academic achievements, athletic participation and dedication to WHS activities.
Within the next week, the baccaleurate service, prom, the (infamous) prom party and the graduation ceremony will take place. For high school seniors, your life will flash upon your eyes as you come to terms with the fact that you have completed twelve years of education and are now adjusting to life in the big world.
As I recently discovered, the last few weeks of classes bring what seems like more final projects and assignments than the rest of the school year (both semesters combined). I noticed a seemingly large increase in the workload in one class in particular, Environmental Science.
A lot of students would complain to the teacher about how there appeared to be more work to do at the end of the course, primarily the small independent project component of the course which we were expected to chip away at throughout the second semester. The teacher would respond by saying, "There's more work because you've left it to the last minute."
I worked away at finishing the work to which I was assigned in Environmental Science for the last week of classes, then chipped away at home at (overdue) projects and assignments for Canadian History class, not to mention that I worked towards finishing the independent project component of the Environmental Science course.
This is the point where I go against everything I have said up to this point in this commentary.
The main reason I can think of as to why the Canadian History work was late was due to the work I was scrambling (you guessed it, at the last minute) to finish for Environmental Science.
So I'll admit it, Mr. McLaughlin, I left the independent component of Environmental Science to the end. But the independent projects I managed to complete (I had planned on attempting more) exceeded the requirement prior to the projects being graded.
I was also lucky with the overdue Canadian History stuff, however. My teacher was willing to accept the project and assignment. He easily could have deducted marks, or even given me a zero.
The point I am trying to drive home is that I was fortunate enough to get by this time by procrastinating. However, procrastination in schoolwork is often evident, therefore, a teacher will be able to determine if you put your best foot forward or crammed the night before.
I will admit, sometimes it is necessary. But it is something we should take caution to avoid when possible.
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