By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed.
If youâre taking AP courses as a junior or senior in high school, youâll likely have AP summer coursework to complete before your school year begins in September. This blog post outlines how to complete AP summer coursework in 3 steps so that you donât become overwhelmed with assignments at the end of August.
How to complete AP summer coursework
For many AP classes, the quantity of summer coursework is significant. This means you canât wait until the last week of summer to dig into your assignments, especially if you are registered for more than one AP course in the fall. Complete all 3 of the steps below, and then read the bonus tips at the end of this post.
Before we begin, if youâre looking for tips for taking full summer courses, you want these 8 tips. If youâre looking for summer reading strategies, you want these tips.
1. Get absolute clarity.
You have to know what youâre doing before you can do it. Therefore, the very first step to complete AP summer coursework is to figure out exactly what your assignments are.
This may seem like a silly and obvious step, but Iâm always amazed at how many students skip it. Getting total clarity about your assignments lets you know the scope of your AP work, which is critical for making sure you have enough time to complete it all.
How to get clarity about your AP summer coursework:
- Check the source where your AP teachers are posting assignments.
- Check your school email to see if your AP teachers have sent assignments via email.
- If you still canât find your assignments, email your teacher using the instructions and template here.
- On paper (yes, good olâ paper), write down all your assignments for each of your AP courses. Itâs important to consolidate this information all in one place (hence the paper) because thatâs what gives you clarity.
2. Plan when youâll do what.
You have to make a plan to complete your AP summer coursework. As in, an actual plan. If youâre taking more than one AP course (or even if youâre only taking one), making a real plan – yes, on paper – is the key to not getting overwhelmed at the end of summer.
Hereâs how this works: You need to find a day and chunk of time to work on each of your assignments. Saying âIâll do it next weekâ is terrible. First of all, what is âitâ? Second of all, what is next week? Instead of being vague, take out an actual calendar and find pockets of time each week to work on your coursework.
Letâs look at an example. Letâs say that your AP Government summer assignment is to read the full US Constitution and summarize each of the 27 amendments. Knowing that is step one (clarity). Step two (plan) might be to read and summarize three amendments at a time. That would mean that you would need to find 9 pockets of time on your calendar when you would work on your summaries. No more âIâll do it next weekâ nonsense.
3. Execute the plan.
You know the nitty gritty of what your assignments are (clarity), you know what days and times you will work on each task (plan), and now itâs time to do the work.
If youâre at the level where youâre capable of AP courses, youâre at the level where you can make some sacrifices here and there to get the work done. Maybe you have to say no to a night out with friends, or take your computer to the beach house your parents are renting. This is what non-overwhelmed AP-students do.
I also have a few other tips to help you get in the zone when itâs time to work on your summer coursework. The following strategies can help improve your focus and motivation when youâre struggling to execute your plan.
Tips for improving your focus and motivation when doing your AP summer coursework
1. Prime your environment. Our external environment has a massive impact on our motivation and focus. When you sit down to do your AP summer coursework, make sure youâre sitting somewhere that encourages concentration. Maybe you need to go to a library a few times this summer – even better if itâs a library you havenât been to before (this adds novelty).
2. Get rid of distractions. The most important tip in this entire blog post is to work without distractions. Itâs time to get real about the impact of distractions on our productivity. Yes, Iâm talking about your phone – obviously – but Iâm also talking about your adorable cat who keeps climbing onto your keyboard, your well-meaning parent who keeps checking in to see how youâre doing ⊠all of these are distractions and they destroy your ability to focus.
3. Use timers and clocks. Donât underestimate the power of a ticking timer. When we give ourselves clear beginnings and ends to our work sessions, our brains free up space to concentrate because theyâre not focusing on when will this be over? If you truly follow my 3-step plan, then youâll have created clear beginnings and endings in step 2. Also, consider using the Pomodoro Technique or the Power Hour, two of my favorite clock-based time management strategies.
4. Add accountability. Tell someone what your plan is, and give them permission to hold you accountable if you donât follow through. When picking an accountability partner, choose one who has similar goals to you; otherwise they could undermine your efforts. In other words, this isnât the time to pick your coolest friend over your most motivated friend.
5. Try parallel work. Parallel work is when you work alongside someone else who is doing work, although you may be working on entirely different tasks. If you have a friend taking AP Literature and youâre taking AP Physics, you could both head to a coffee shop for 90 minutes once a week to complete your AP summer coursework – even though youâre doing different things. When we work parallel to someone else (with similar goals), social pressure kicks in, and this is a good thing for motivation.
6. Use these additional 4 focus tips.
Bonus tips for completing AP summer coursework
1. Don’t deny not knowing things.
When we donât know how to do something, it feels good not to do it. This is natural human behavior. However, itâs also harmful human behavior. If your AP summer assignments are challenging, or you donât know exactly what they are, you need to figure it out. Seriously, the longer you deny that youâre confused, the more stressed out youâll be at the end of summer. In step 1, when I advise that you get total clarity, Iâm not just talking about getting clear on what to do, but also how to do it. Here are my best tips for figuring things out when you feel stuck.
2. Ignore the voice in your head that says you can do it the week before school starts.
Yes, I know this voice is loud and persistent, but you have to ignore it. This is resistance talking to you, and its job is to make you justify your procrastination. First, this voice untrue: no, you cannot wait to complete your AP work until the week before school starts. Second, it is a terrible mindset to begin the school year with. If you canât bring yourself to do whatâs expected of you before your AP course even begins, how do you think youâll do once the course starts? AP summer coursework is your chance to practice doing hard things when you donât want to do them. Nobody wants to do homework assignments over the summer, but do them anyway.