Partner up! Request for the teachers out there

[Mickey'snewestfan]

My DS has dealt with this issue, he has been the one left until last that no one has chosen. It doesn't happen every time but it has happened a couple of times. Now, when they say they are picking for a group project he gets very nervous and worries it will happen again. It makes him feel horrible when this happens.

Another thing I hate about group projects....that same DS was in his Gifted and Talented Industrial Tech class with his friends and they picked groups for a project. He was with two of his friends. This was right before the winter break. They were expected to work on it over the break and it was due right after. BOTH of the other kids went away for the ENTIRE break, one didn't get back until days after it was due. (my DS had NO idea they were going away when they picked groups)

Basically my DS ended up doing the ENTIRE thing himself. We ended up footing the bill, the materials needed came to about $100. And all 3 kids will get the same grade even though they did NOTHING, absolutely nothing.

Again, I have to apologize for my profession on that one. Who assigns kids a project with peers over the holidays or, for that matter, one that costs $100. Some teachers have no sense.

I feel as though, for the most part, group projects need to be assigned so they can be done in class or so that parts can be divided up and then done alone out of class. My kid will occasionally need to meet a partner at lunch, or they can get a pass to skip homeroom and meet in the library. I think once or twice he and a partner have both stayed for study hall and the late bus together, but our school doesn't appear to give assignments that require anything more than that and I am grateful. At my school we don't even go that far. Everything is done in class.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Again, I have to apologize for my profession on that one. Who assigns kids a project with peers over the holidays or, for that matter, one that costs $100. Some teachers have no sense.

I feel as though, for the most part, group projects need to be assigned so they can be done in class or so that parts can be divided up and then done alone out of class. My kid will occasionally need to meet a partner at lunch, or they can get a pass to skip homeroom and meet in the library. I think once or twice he and a partner have both stayed for study hall and the late bus together, but our school doesn't appear to give assignments that require anything more than that and I am grateful. At my school we don't even go that far. Everything is done in class.

I agree, projects should never be assigned over breaks. Ridiculous. I know my family is almost always on the go during breaks (time for Disney!) and families can't change vacation plans because the teacher assigned a project 2 weeks earlier.

I also have group work done entirely in class, but that's elementary school. My own kids have had partner/group projects in middle and high school. Fortunately much of it could be done via email or at lunch. I confess to having been stuck more than once with the entire bill for the final project, though. Unfortunately, the teacher has no way to know which families will promise to pitch in, but skip out on paying up.

 

[Skywalker]

The students who panic or stress out over the picking of partners - well, the more times they have to do it, the easier it gets.

Um, no it really doesn't. Sometimes it gets more and more painful.

 

[Mkrop]

Wow they need to be adults in grade school???? How about you wait until they enter High School at least. I hated group projects and I hated my kids having to do them. I see no good to be had doing them. I am long past school age as are my kids and so far had no problems with group projects since and I do them a lot. Not one thing about doing group projects in school helped me with my adult life, but it did make me feel horrible all the time. Flame me if you wish but this is one thing I will not be changing my mind about.
tigercat

I am so truly sorry you had to deal with that in school, I truly am! But if we elminated everything that brought down someone's self esteem in school, there would not be much left to school. For me it was speaking in front of the class, it was pure torture, and I felt like I was a complete failure everytime I had to do it. Do I still hate it as an adult, yes, could they have waited until HS or college to make me do public speaking, sure, but it was not realistic and I needed that practice. I still hate it with every fiber of my being and it is still complete torture. When I do it I shake, and my voice shakes...it is not pretty, but some days it is necessary.




The thing that makes me laugh in this thread is that no one is the slacker or had the kid who is the slacker

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Um, no it really doesn't. Sometimes it gets more and more painful.

It's kind of like saying the more times you burn your hand, the less it hurts.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

My DD had a partner type thing last month for school. Only it wasn't a project. They had to write these narrative stories and then swap out (assigned) for proof reading purposes. So DD turns in a 5 page double spaced typed paper. She had spell checked on the computer and then asked me to proof it for her. She's way more Type A than me. I would have been the kid that tossed something together at the last minute (the slacker) . Still have no idea where she came from.

Anyway, DD goes to school and the partners are assigned. She got paired with this boy who gave her 2 pages, written in pencil. And his entire response when he heard the pairings "YES!! I got the smart girl!!"

 

[N&B'smom]

Again, I have to apologize for my profession on that one. Who assigns kids a project with peers over the holidays or, for that matter, one that costs $100. Some teachers have no sense.

Um, no it really doesn't. Sometimes it gets more and more painful.

Precisely!

 

[Disney Doll]

I hated group projects when I was in school.
Invariably I was always placed with someone who had no desire to do any of the work.

It had nothing to do with somone who was a C student being placed with someone who was an A/B student...it had to do with lazy. A hard-woking C student was fine...we'd work together & get it done. Maybe I'd be the "idea" person and they'd be the "bring it to life" person because they were creative as opposed to scholastic...that was fine.

What I hated was the kid who wanted to do nothing....come up ith the idea or work to bring the idea to life....I even had one high school teacher who grouped me with a kid like that and said "At least he'll get one good grade this year because I know YOU'LL do the project". Uh, OK...how does that help him at all???????

 

[cabanafrau]

I hated group projects when I was in school.
Invariably I was always placed with someone who had no desire to do any of the work.

It had nothing to do with somone who was a C student being placed with someone who was an A/B student...it had to do with lazy. A hard-woking C student was fine...we'd work together & get it done. Maybe I'd be the "idea" person and they'd be the "bring it to life" person because they were creative as opposed to scholastic...that was fine.

What I hated was the kid who wanted to do nothing....come up ith the idea or work to bring the idea to life....I even had one high school teacher who grouped me with a kid like that and said "At least he'll get one good grade this year because I know YOU'LL do the project". Uh, OK...how does that help him at all???????

Thank you.

Pretty disgusted at the animus of some teachers towards good students who get A's, whether they come easily or with blood, sweat or tears. Funny, football coaches rarely show that type of bias toward the naturally gifted player.