Pros and Cons to an Online Class

This term I am taking an online government class through my school. I am required to take government before I graduate and next year I have a full schedule so I will not have the opportunity to take it as an actual class that I attend every day. I have never really been the one to procrastinate, but an online class is completely different and the work schedule is something that is new to me. Part of me is glad I have this experience of taking a class where I have to manage my time efficiently, but also part of me regrets taking it as well.

Pros:

I am taught time management:  By taking this class, I am forced to monitor my time in an efficient manner. There are no deadlines to when I have to complete each assignment, except for when I have to finish the class which is June 22^nd. There are eight units, with multiple sections within each unit, and I am expected to have everything done by the time that date rolls around. This is different for me because I am used to having teachers set due dates for certain assignments; that is why I didn’t have a procrastination problem. Now though, since there are no due dates, it is surreal for me to have to monitor my progress and set personal due dates for myself.

I can do it when I have time: I lead a VERY busy life, so I can do my online class when I have time to myself. This is nice because I can do the class whenever I want, without feeling like I am going to get penalized for turning in an assignment late. If I have immediate homework in my actual classes at school one night, I don’t HAVE to do government that night!

Cons:

Procrastination will bite me in the butt: Taking this government class is all about monitoring your time. There are some nights where I feel too tired from all of my other class work and I don’t want to work on government. Being a typical teenager, I would rather sleep than fill out worksheets and read. In my other classes, there is always SOMETHING more I could be doing, like reading, blogging, or doing more worksheets in order to get ahead in my classes. However, when I get ahead in other classes, I am really getting behind in my government class. There are eight units, and I am only half way through unit three; I started this government class in March; it is now almost the middle of way. I really need to pick up the pace if I want to get it all done in time!

It is tedious:  This government class is full of readings and worksheets; that is honestly all it is. I personally get very bored doing the same thing over and over. The worksheets contain vocabulary words as well as key points in our government that we are required to learn. On every vocabulary sheet, the “U.S. Constitution” is supposed to be defined. After unit one, I knew what the U.S. Constitution was and what it did, it doesn’t need to be reiterated to me EVERY unit. Motivation is harder to find when it is just tedious work that does nothing for me.

Every day I regret taking the government class because I feel like I am putting too much on my plate at once. I have seven other classes, and this one was just an extra topping that wasn’t really