Do teachers procrastinate?

By Paul Kim

Almost everyone procrastinates on occasion, and teachers are no exception.

Teachers procrastinate when it comes to grading student papers, exams, labs and handouts, just as students put off those tiresome math problems until a block before class.

Sophomore Sammy Koenig believes that teachers’ procrastination is inevitable.

“It’s nature to procrastinate,” said Koenig. “It’s almost impossible not to procrastinate.”

Most teachers say they procrastinated when they were students themselves.

“I read a lot of books I wasn’t supposed to read and didn’t read the ones that I was supposed to read until the last minute,” said English teacher Eric Colburn.

“I used to wait until the last minute to complete an assignment and stayed up really late sometimes all night,” said world languages teacher Astrid Allen.

Allen said that a heavy workload contributed to procrastination.

“A lot of times it seemed so large that I put it off because I was worried about how long it would take, and instead of doing it, I worried about and kept avoiding it until the last possible second,” said Allen.

World languages teacher Andrew Kimball thinks that that busier students tend to procrastinate less.

“Like my students now, I was involved in lots of things,” said Kimball. “The busier I was, the less I procrastinated.”

Science teacher Steve Lantos believes that students are more vulnerable to procrastination now than ever before.

“There are many more distractions because they are much more accessible to everybody,” said Lantos. “The electronic socializing, I think, takes the place of watching TV in my day.”

Kimball said that he procrastinates more as a teacher than he did as a student.

“As a teacher, my deadlines are more flexible,” said Kimball. “I am the one making my own deadlines, which is a little dangerous.”

However, not all teachers are procrastinators. Science teacher Elsbeth Leslie says she has never been a procrastinator.

“As a student, I did not really procrastinate,” siad Leslie. “If I could do something early, I would. It stresses me out to leave things to the end.”

Her strategy? Making plans and goals for herself based on what she wants to accomplish.

Lantos feels that procrastination isn’t entirely negative.

“I learned in college that I work well under pressure,” said Lantos. “I don’t think procrastination is a bad thing. I think it’s good to procrastinate if putting off the work helps you to do a better job.” (See what students feel about the hindering effects of social media on page 4)