7 Tips for Completing Your Summer School Course on a Tight Timeline
July 2, 2019
Although VHS does not hold you to any deadlines or due dates, we understand there are external pressures and deadlines that require students to complete their courses under tight timelines, especially in the summer months.
Here are 7 tips to help you meet those deadlines:
Communicate with your teacher. Let your teacher know as soon as you can what your deadline is for completing your course. Be courteous and professional. Work with your teacher to meet your deadline.
Use the tools available to you. There are tools built into VHS’s learning environment that can help you to plan for and meet your deadlines.
- The Pacing Tool. This is a scheduling assistant with automated reminders for important course milestones, such as when to submit your proctor approval application for your final exam.
- Free Online Tutoring. All VHS students have access to free online tutoring. Do not let yourself be held up—ask for help when you need it!
Avoid submitting multiple assignments on the same day. It may seem like a time saver, but it’s actually more efficient to submit assignments as you go. Your teacher can grade and provide feedback on each completed assignment while you work on the next one. This also allows you to apply feedback from your previous assignments and potentially earn a higher mark.
Maintain academic honesty. Students under pressure to meet a deadline may miss steps when paraphrasing or citing sources. Work flagged for potential academic dishonesty may delay the grading process. Check out our series on academic integrity for tips on maintaining academic honesty, here.
Check your VHS news feed regularly. Important information, announcements, and upcoming deadlines for things like OUAC are frequently posted here. Be sure to pay close attention to news items—they’re there to help you!
Schedule your exams early. Integrity Advocate, a partner company of VHS, is an online proctoring service. No proctor approval application is required to use Integrity Advocate as your proctor and there’s no additional fee! If you choose to complete your exam with an in-person proctor, submit your proctor approval application at least two weeks prior to the date you intend to write your final exam.
Budget for extra time. Assignments, tests, and exams take time to mark. Reports take time to process. We recommend booking your final exam at least 10 days prior to your deadline for having your final grades. If your institution requires a hard copy, we recommend you book your final exam two weeks prior to your deadline to account for time to send your report via post. Hard copies of reports can be sent more quickly via courier for an additional fee.
VHS teachers and administrators are happy to help you meet your deadlines. If you have questions or concerns, please contact us at 1-866-679-9377 or info@virtualhighschool.com.
