Procrastination, Volleyball, and Homework, Oh My!

As a middle school student, a volleyball player, and a kid who loves to waste all her time online, I like to procrastinate, all the time. I feel guilty when I do, but I love not doing my work. There are so many other things I could do like: watch TV, eat, watch hours of netflix, go on the world of youtube, and a million other things. How do teachers expect us that out of the billions things I could do they want us to pick the one thing we hate the most. Homework.

I play club volleyball which can make me extremely busy. The practices are twice a week and an hour and a half each. Now I know I should not be complaining because some people have it much worse, but what bugs me the most is that almost every weekend I have a twelve hour tournament. This can consist of eight to ten hours of straight volleyball! This means there is NO time for homework! Just to my luck it seems that I always have a volleyball tournament the weekend before a big test or a big project is due. When I get home from a volleyball tournament I don't want to do homework. To tell you the truth it's probably the thing I want to do least. That is one of my number one ways I procrastinate: being too busy and tired.

When I go to practice I sometimes get "volleyball homework" it's not really homework but it’s close. I sometimes will be told to do a certain amount of sets or bumps. Or sometimes I'll have to work on my approach and block jump. The thing is with volleyball homework I do it. I love volleyball so I love volleyball homework! So sometimes I'll work on homework just not school homework.

To help with my procrastination I try to do whatever I can. I will try to plan my whole day, I try to work on one thing at a time, or l will even try the rule of six. For the rule of six I write down six things that I want to get done. I put them in order if importance and I get to work! If I don't finish everything then it just gets moved to the next list tomorrow. But to find the thing that works the best for you you just have to keep trying new things and maybe one day you will cure your procrastination forever

The thing is with procrastination you never know when you will find a way to cure your procrastination. Hopefully I will find a way to cope with my busy life and work hard in school.

Social Networking 

I am in the middle of a class project that requires me to spend much time on my computer.  With 43 total assignments, we have to type research and communicate through the Internet and computers. This much computer time is unhelpful for me because I get easily distracted checking my email, Facebook, Skype or YouTube.  These sites, yet fun, stop me from putting 100% effort into my work. I spend about 2 hours of ‘homework’ a night, or so I think, when really half of that being distracted by Facebook.

When I am really into my homework, then decide to go onto a social networking site, the
thought and interaction suddenly goes away. The sites are a trap, once on, never off. If I
carry on with my homework once I have been on one of these sites, it’s hard to
concentrate when I know that Facebook is just a click away from what I am doing.
It’s nice having homework that can be worksheets or reading books, then I do not have
to run into this trouble, but being in seventh grade at Catlin Gabel with all the electronic
work, this is rare. I am happy when I can get all my work done quickly after concentration
and good work because then, I can go on Facebook and watch TV without any
homework hanging over my head.

It’s nice having homework that can be worksheets or reading books, then I do not have to run into this trouble, but being in seventh grade at Catlin Gabel with all the electronic work, this is rare. I am happy when I can get all my work done quickly after concentration and good work because then, I can go on Facebook and watch TV without any homework hanging over my head.

Most of my nights, after sports games or practices I spend my
time doing homework until I go to sleep. I get bored and watch
TV or do something else, which takes an even longer time to get
my homework finished. A good solution that I have found is
leaving my computer in a different room, when I know all of my
electronic homework is finished. I could also print things I need
to do that are accessible on the computer so I don’t have to run
into any distractions. This way I am not tempted to go on sites
away from my homework.

When I ask my friends about this problem, most of them have mutual feelings about this ‘problem’. They feel like when they tell their parents they are doing ‘homework’, they are usually on the computer doing something other than homework. I don't like when my mom nags me to do my homework when watching TV or having fun on the computer, but now that I think about it, when I listen to her I have finished homework quickly and with more concentration to make the quality of my homework better. I have found that doing homework that doesn't require a computer in another, quieter part of the house helps me get homework done with more effort because I don't have the distractions of my computer in my room. I get stressed easily but I feel this stress comes from doing things at night that are less important than school work and having little time to do the things that really matter. This makes me anxious that I will never get that work in on time or have enough time to do it, like in the Revolutions project.

I like having the freedom to do my own research on the Internet for the Revolutions project and finding out the facts by myself. Older kids that I have talked to have found that having a limited time a night on Facebook is helpful or even deleting it altogether if you are working on a large project that requires much effort, like the Revolutions project can be helpful too.

For me, working on the computer to do homework electronically  can be fun but also can take you away from the work that you are supposed to be doing. This is because of the distractions that social networking sites can cause and are a time-wasting trap.  For the Revolutions project we have a lot of work electronically and this makes it hard for me to get work done when having these sites a click away.

Computers; Good or Bad?

52 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls reported their average time spent on the computer to be above 42 hours per week. Most teenagers spend 30 hours per week in front of computer screens. Wow, that means about four hours everyday. Many teens are awake sixteen out of twenty-four hours a day. And teenagers go to school for about seven hours everyday, which leaves nine hours for free-time. And if they spend four hours out of nine on the computer, that means that 45% of their free time is on computers. I feel like most people in these ‘studies’ are different from the kids here at Catlin Gabel, or maybe its just me. Because we are a school where work takes priority over social status. Because we are a private school most of us who go here really want to make the most of our education. Not many students here play video games until one in the morning or stay up on Facebook, but some do. And I am guessing that in the Middle School, Here at Catlin, we are very advanced in technology, we have many nice computer carts, smart boards in almost every classroom (if there are on smart boards in the classrooms then there is a projector), but most of all, everything can be done on the computer. Especially homework. I spend about one to three hours on homework every school day. And most of it can be done on the computer. Also, there is also subjects like math, where you have handouts and textbooks that do not involve computers. I feel like once I get on to my computer, it takes at least an hour to get off it.I check emails, look on the web for current events, find the weather, and of course feed my chi-chi pet (a virtual pet that you feed and it grows). Even if my homework is supposed to take one hour, I might get distracted and spend twice as much time as I planned. I don’t even have a social network, which I know are very time consuming. Many people think that more homework on the computer is better, but I believe that less is better. Why? Because it would benefit the kids by taking less time so we wouldn’t get distracted, and the teachers because they  could assign more (I’m sorry fellow classmates). I propose that teachers give less homework on computers, and more on worksheets to prevent loss of time. A teacher may ask, “But it’s your responsibility!” I would reply and tell them about our generation and how some people’s lives are around the computer. I don’t agree that no homework should be on the computers, I just think that it should be more balanced. I was surprised when I saw that ‘52 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls reported their average time spent on the computer to be above 42 hours per week.’ I feel like I spend no more than 12! The crazy thing I heard was that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend only using to two hours per day on screens. My analogy is that the more screen time people get, makes them have less time for athletics. And that makes people more overweight. Then they are grumpy because they spend so much time on computers and don’t sleep. That makes the kids sleepy in class, and they would have a shorter attention span for homework at night. My conclusion is that too much homework on the computer can really back stab. I think that we kids at Catlin Gabel are not doing those actions (in my analogy) but sometimes I feel like that nights homework should only take me one hour, but it ends up being about three hours. I think that the ratio of computer homework to homework not on the computer should be about 2-1. But now for me it’s about 4-1. Me and my friends are not video gaming addicts, or people that don’t sleep because they are on Facebook, but I am disappointed because I always get lost in my own world when I am on the Internet. 
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSCK6K2ISTuv0seBelXyi72LM-bPhyVdFs5bXk3k-QlKpnJI-PS
data:image/jpeg;base64,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

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920123552.htm

Gettysburg

            The battle of Gettysburg was one of the most substantial accidental battles. Both the confederate and union armies weren’t planning on fighting in Gettysburg. All the roads around Gettysburg go through Gettysburg. On a map it looks like a bicycle with the roads as the spokes. When the North ran into the South, the only option was to fight.

            Coming into the battle, the South was dominating their way up the south, and into the north. With the North on the run they were in hot pursuit. Following the roads, they ran into the North a little west of Gettysburg. After pushing the North into town, and then out into the mountain range, the South was unstoppable. Although they had a great chance of beating Meade and the North, they lost their chance and were crimpled. They were fighting for slavery and states rights, for the South. They were a group of states built on nothing but farming. To the South, The North was a bunch of snooty rich people afraid to get their hands dirty, but did they get that one wrong.

Day 3 of the Battle of Gettysburg

            After suffering many defeats in the south, the North was on the run. They were trying to make it back home, but ran into the South. They were outgunned and outmanned, which resulted in a hasty retreat. After they made their hook formation on the ridges, the North, under command of George Meade, knew that they couldn’t let the South into their homes. After some poor decisions from the North sergeants, the North almost lost, but just barely got by. They held off Picket’s charge, and kicked the South
right out of the North. After this slim victory, the North, who hadn’t been too engaged in the war, woke up. With help from president Lincoln, they came together and started to really turn the war.

            Gettysburg was a real turning point in the civil war. As one of the two battles fought in the North, the Union fought hard and strong and eventually claimed victory over their former brothers. With an end to the war, came changes. Three new amendments were instated: the outlaw of slavery, the establishment of citizenship and due process, and the right to vote for all male citizens. Only a short while after the war, president Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Also post war the North was hardly touched, but after the charge to the sea, the South was a disaster. All the land and farms were destroyed. The South still has never forgiven the North for that.

            The Civil war really changed America into its current form. If it weren’t for president Lincoln, there would never had been the emancipation declaration, and without that there might still be slavery today. The Civil war was made up of many battles, but out of them the entire one that turned the tide the most, was the battle of Gettysburg.

           

            http://www.history.com/videos/the-battle-of-gettysburg#the-battle-of-gettysburg
Short Summery video of Gettysburg

Work Periods

                                 

                                 Work Periods

Work periods, useful or not?  Revolutions has many individual projects that require lots of time to complete.  Personally, I think that work periods are useful as it comes closer to the due date on March 16th.  I tend to wait till the last minuet to finish my projects.  Near the beginning, when revolutions was assigned, Work periods were not necessary to complete our work. They were not needed because most of us were not sure on what to do for our presentations, or what order to finish our work in.

Now that we are approaching the due date I think that work periods are extremely helpful.  Now we are past the halfway mark and it feels like the revolutions project it sneaking up behind us.  I think that at least one work period a week is great amount of time to have in order be done with one individual project, plus the daily work that we strive to finish every night.  If we have just one work period a week we can complete many necessary parts of the revolutions project. 

Every week brings new challenges, like a new project in modern language or English to finish on top of the revolutions project.  Completing homework and big presentations from five classes can be a real struggle for me.  I learned from my past projects that I am a huge procrastinator.  With revolutions not setting a due date can be very hard for me to make sure I get all my work in on time. In one work period I can set due dates for every assignment, and then I can complete one of them every night until I have compleated them all.  That’s why work periods are completely useful.

Procrastination

As much as we would all like to deny it, we all procrastinate, especially with long term projects. I have run into this problem many times with this project. It’s not due for another month, so why should I waste time when my favorite television show is on? In the back of my mind, I always know the answer. If I don’t do it today, I’ll have to do it tomorrow. I have had to force myself to do lots of things in this project. How else am I going to get 43 assignments done? When I procrastinate, I feel so guilty. I’ll be lying in bed at night, and I can’t sleep. I’ll think over my day, and I’ll realize that I didn’t do anything for the Revolutions project. This means that I have to do twice the work tomorrow, and I actually consider getting out of bed at 11:00 at night to margin note Chapter 7 in our textbook, but I always decide to get some sleep instead. The only way to avoid this terrible feeling is to actually do the work.

I chose to do this project in a specific order. The first thing that I did was find some friends to work with on two of the main projects. We picked the topic of the Underground Railroad, and every work period we had, we worked on that. At home, I worked on all the little things first, like the stained glass coloring, or passing my geography tests on Sheppard Software. This way, I get all the easy assignments out of the way, and then I can just focus on the bigger ones without worrying about the smaller things. Other people I know are doing the big things first to get them out of the way, and I think both strategies have benefits and faults. With my strategy, I have to make sure that I leave enough time to do the big things and put lots of effort into them. People who choose the other strategy have to make sure that they don’t forget about the little things. Whatever strategy a person chooses to use, there will always be some pros and cons.

"Procrastination manifests itself within every aspect of your life." -excerpt from David McRaney’s blog

           I have used some different strategies to help me with this project. I planned out all the assignments and when I wanted to be done with them. I broke some of the bigger projects into chunks. For the Literature Packet, I decided when I wanted to be done with each individual story, so it was easier not to procrastinate and then do them all in one night. I split the reading into groups of 5 pages. I also chose to plan out what I wanted to have done by each of the Mondays, not each individual day. This way, if I have a lot of other homework  in other subjects on one night, I can do that first and not get off track if I don’t get everything I wanted to done. It also gives me the weekends to catch up if I was busy during the week. I have also found that it helps if I do one thing a night, even if it is something small like one story in the Literature Packet. This way, the big project doesn’t feel so big. I’ll always want to procrastinate. I can’t change that, but I can change how I deal with it.

Picture from: http://shortsandlongs.wordpress.com/

For more information about procrastination, read David McRaney's blog: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/10/27/procrastination/