Since I am being asked to write about one of my flaws, I thought I would talk about one with which I have the most experience. This flaw is one to which I feel many people can relate. What is this flaw you ask? My old nemesis, procrastination. Throughout my college career, I have been beset on all sides by this flaw. Why do today what I can put off tomorrow?
Being a senior, I can speak from experience on this subject. Many times I have given into the urge to put things off. Everything from readings for class to papers; you name it, I have put it off. I am in no way encouraging this behavior. When I look back at the classes I have taken, I realize that I could have done so much more had I not put things off. I am not speaking particularly about doing more course work, instead I am saying that I could have learned the subject matter more thoroughly, or put more into the papers I have written. Though it seems that I write better under pressure, I can only imagine the added benefits there would have been to writing my papers earlier. Maybe I could have explored that argument a little bit more, or worked in that one last citation which would have taken the paper from a B to an A. Whatever the case, I think that getting started early would have been beneficial.
So, I offer this advice to all who read my post. Try not to procrastinate. Truthfully, it is a self-destructive behavior. If you are planning to go on to graduate school, you will see the error in your ways. The course load in graduate school is so much more than you will ever experience in undergraduate work.
This semester, being my last, I have decided that I must change my habits. I am going to work hard to stay on top of assignments. I am trying to read everything at least two days before it is due, and I am going to try to have all my papers done early, instead of the night before. I think that this will help me prepare for the course load which I will have in graduate school.
More power to you, bro. Procrastination is a demon.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think your intimate knowledge of procrastination will affect the way you handle students who have the same flaw?
I am so bad about procrastinating. Same thing. Readings, papers, whatever it is, I know I can do it fast and do pretty well, so I just put it off. But I'm sure I'd get more out of whatever it is if I didn't.
ReplyDeleteBenton,
ReplyDeleteWe spoke about this briefly this morning. I think that one of the best plans for preventing procrastination is to allow students to work on a paper, or any assignment, in intervals. Much like Dr. Grasso does, I will most likely assign papers in parts. Take a passage and discuss it, then later in the semester apply a critical approach to that discussion.
I think breaking it up like this will help the students keep from being overwhelmed. I understand that students will still participate in this behavior, but I would hope that this will be an exception, not a rule.