Saturday, July 20, 2013

Back To School: Do Your Summer Homework

I know this is probably the last thing that many of you want to think about at this point, anything related to school. Not to mention, the not so fun part of school... anything that involves work, especially the dreaded summer homework. Who in their right mind decides to assign homework over summer vacation?! Do they not know that we actually do have lives, and we want to go places and enjoy our summer? I graduated high school and I still hate the idea of doing homework over the summer. However, if you are assigned work over the summer, sadly it has to get done. And if you choose not to do it, you could suffer a huge blow to your grade, and get in some sort of trouble. Not a good way to start off the year, or a good impression to give your teacher so early. So really the best thing you can do is do it, and do it before the summer ends. 


The only time I ever really had homework over the summer was the summer before grade 10, and all I had to do was read one book. It was suggested that we took notes, but we didn't have to. We didn't have to write anything. It wasn't even that long of a book, yet I was complaining. Just because the book was not one I'd typically read, and I was being forced to do it. Some teachers will assign a lot more than reading a 209 page book, with the suggestion of taking notes. Sometimes you'll have to keep journals of what's going on, answer questions, do other projects, or anything they choose. Some teachers may also do online assignments to see if you really are working throughout the summer, theres really no waiting until the last minute on that one. But no matter how big or small the assignment is, it sucks that it's taking from your summer, and that you have to do school work when your not even in school. It's really the last thing that you want to think about. 

Me being a huge procrastinator, I decided to wait until the last few weeks before school started to start reading the book. So between back to school shopping, getting my supplies together, and picking my outfit for the first day of school, I was reading that book. Luckily for me the book was short enough that I was able to do a few other things in between, but the fact that school was coming close caused a lot of stress for me. Had the book been longer or I had to actually write anything down or answer questions, I wouldn't have had any free time or been able to get done at all. And the worst part of putting off a summer assignment is the fact that, it just hangs over your head and nags at you the whole summer until you get it done. The later you get into the summer without starting your assignment, the naggier it gets, and it can cut into you having a good time. Who really wants to deal with their own brain nagging at them about homework when they are trying to enjoy a day at the pool?

Waiting until the last minute to do anything is never really the best idea. It creates a lot of stress, and then makes you feel as if you need to rush. When you rush, you don't always do your best on your assignments. I know that some teachers may not be the pickiest about summer assignments, and they may just want to see that you put effort into it. However some may be a little more picky, and you will likely have some kind of test or quiz over it. Even if the test or quiz isn't going to be a huge grade, it would still suck to start off the year with a lesser test score. 

If you haven't already, you may want to start on your summer assignments now. That way you will still have plenty of time before school starts again in August or September depending on your school. Then you don't have to try to do it all at once. You can read a chapter or two from your summer reading book and do any written part that goes along with that each night, until you get done. Starting now will also allow you the opportunity to take a day or two off from it to do other fun things. Of course you can also choose to do a lot more each night and get it done even sooner, then not have to worry about it the last few weeks of summer while you go back to school shopping and do other end of summer activities. Just don't choose to wait until the very end of summer. It really kills the fun part of back to school, and anything fun you may want to do at that time if you wait. 

Having the time to only do a little at a time is probably the best part of starting early. It allows you time to get out and enjoy the summer, while still getting a little work done. If you start to feel stressed, you can also walk away from it for a bit and not have to worry about time as much. I also suggest doing these assignments during a time when your feeling bored and can't seem to find anything else to do, which happens to me a lot in the summer, LOL. Stuck inside on a rainy day? Friends away on vacation? Nothing else to do and nothing on TV? Work on your assignments. It's not the most exciting solution to boredom, but it does help to ease the nagging feeling. I noticed that the nagging feeling  that I should be reading my summer book came up a lot when I was sitting there doing nothing, or trying to look for videos on the weird part of YouTube for some sort of amusement. "Why are you just sitting here doing nothing?! Read your book!" 

If you have other friends in the same class with the same assignment, you could possibly work together on it. Then you can spend some time with friends while your at it, and it can help to make it seem a little more fun. It also gives you a way to share what you think with others and get other opinions or ideas that you didn't think of as you go to do any written assignments. Working with friends and having some laughs can really help to relieve some of the drag on the assignment. And afterwards, you can all go out and do something fun together!

If you like reading your own books during the summer, I would suggest making the next book you read be your summer reading book. Sure it's probably not going to be a book of your interest, but it would be best to get it out of the way before you go on to your next pleasure read. You can also read it along with your pleasure reads. Read a little bit of the not-so-fun school book, and do what you need to do. Then reward yourself by relaxing with a book you love. If you aren't a reader, you can (and should) give yourself a small reward in other ways. Perhaps with a cookie or other treat after you get your work for the day done. You may also want to wait until you finish it completely and reward yourself with something slightly bigger. Perhaps you can buy yourself that new bathing suite or dress you wanted, or maybe that new beauty product you think may be nice. Or maybe you could treat yourself to your favorite restaurant after you finish. The satisfaction of getting the assignment off your shoulders and not having to worry about it also makes for a great reward. 

Getting assigned homework to do over the summer is never exactly fun, and summer homework is not something we exactly get excited to get started on. But unfortunately it has to get done if we want to get the best grade we can and give the teacher a good first impression of us. It's best to start on it early so we can have plenty of time to work on it, and still have plenty of free time. It also helps to get it done early and get rid of that nagging feeling that you should be working on your homework so that it doesn't spoil your whole summer. It's better to enjoy the last couple weeks before school homework free. 

No comments:

Post a Comment