Stop with the group projects!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Group projects are a tool of the patriarchy that teach girls that their role in the workplace is to disproportionately do unglamorous grunt work where as boys get to be creative “leaders “.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/group-projects-and-the-secretary-effect/384104/

Burn them to the ground!

Ugh. Truer words have never been written.

[Anonymous]

It would be hilarious if the “slackers” will get a better grade though. Maybe they don’t do the group project because they focus on individual homework and preparation for the tests. I’ve seen it happening!

That’s nothing to be proud off. They are parasites who’s grade percentage from the group project they stole credit from the kids who did the actual work.

Their final grade included the group project

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't care as long as my child is doing all the work and doing a good job. No point in complaining. I do care when another child controls it and does a bad job. We had one child where everyone worked on the project, she made some really bad edits and her writing was terrible and then she locked the project online so we could not correct it and went to the teacher saying she was the only one who worked on it (of course she locked it so we couldn't see who worked on it/accessed the document). We had our child 100% redo the assignment and let the teacher handle it but I'd rather my kid do a ton of work vs. more group projects.

It’s also true some students think they do more than what they actually do. Or think
They do a good job when the reality is opposite. That’s worse than working with slackers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It would be hilarious if the “slackers” will get a better grade though. Maybe they don’t do the group project because they focus on individual homework and preparation for the tests. I’ve seen it happening!

That’s nothing to be proud off. They are parasites who’s grade percentage from the group project they stole credit from the kids who did the actual work.

Their final grade included the group project

Not sure they “stole” the credit if it was a group project, unless the grades are separate for each portion and they claim to do someone else’s work. If it’s a grade for the entire group and they were part of it, I think it’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only does DD need to manage her own work but she needs to manage three other students in her AP class who have no interest in doing the actual work. At what point does she go to the teacher? Or her counselor?

It's mostly a reflection on her inability to work with others. This is a life skill and it's something she needs to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only does DD need to manage her own work but she needs to manage three other students in her AP class who have no interest in doing the actual work. At what point does she go to the teacher? Or her counselor?

It's mostly a reflection on her inability to work with others. This is a life skill and it's something she needs to learn.

This. That’s the purpose of a group project. There needs to be more of them not less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Group work is fine when it's evaluated correctly. The teacher should be making sure that everyone has a role and a responsibility. The teacher should be grading on a rubric based on the roles and responsibilities. Kids need to learn that sometimes tasks can't be accomplished by one person, and often that lesson is learned when they completely and utterly fail to get it done when they don't work together. A good grading policy would be individual grading for the project itself base on successful completion of roles and responsibilities and then incentive for the whole group for successfully completing the project.

I’m a former professor, and my group projects always had individual grades. No one was disadvantaged by others lack of participation, and believe me I knew who was and wasn’t pulling their weight. I also allowed sufficient time in class that most groups could complete the work there so that I was accessible and could keep an eye on things. My current HS junior just had an APUSH project run similarly. She hates the group aspect but appreciated that there was no out of class component, since having the teacher looking over their shoulders kept everyone relatively on track.

This is an important part of it. If teachers want group projects for whatever reasons, they need to schedule time in class for it. The worst part of group projects is trying to find times and locations outside of school for kids to meet. It’s like herding cats with everyone’s schedules and when they’re younger, they need parents to drive them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Group work is fine when it's evaluated correctly. The teacher should be making sure that everyone has a role and a responsibility. The teacher should be grading on a rubric based on the roles and responsibilities. Kids need to learn that sometimes tasks can't be accomplished by one person, and often that lesson is learned when they completely and utterly fail to get it done when they don't work together. A good grading policy would be individual grading for the project itself base on successful completion of roles and responsibilities and then incentive for the whole group for successfully completing the project.

I’m a former professor, and my group projects always had individual grades. No one was disadvantaged by others lack of participation, and believe me I knew who was and wasn’t pulling their weight. I also allowed sufficient time in class that most groups could complete the work there so that I was accessible and could keep an eye on things. My current HS junior just had an APUSH project run similarly. She hates the group aspect but appreciated that there was no out of class component, since having the teacher looking over their shoulders kept everyone relatively on track.

This is an important part of it. If teachers want group projects for whatever reasons, they need to schedule time in class for it. The worst part of group projects is trying to find times and locations outside of school for kids to meet. It’s like herding cats with everyone’s schedules and when they’re younger, they need parents to drive them.

How about zoom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only does DD need to manage her own work but she needs to manage three other students in her AP class who have no interest in doing the actual work. At what point does she go to the teacher? Or her counselor?

It's mostly a reflection on her inability to work with others. This is a life skill and it's something she needs to learn.

This. That’s the purpose of a group project. There needs to be more of them not less.

Funny how you place the blame on the girl doing the work and not on the slackers.

How about if all the slackers in the class are grouped together then they will get the failing/ mediocre grade they deserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't care as long as my child is doing all the work and doing a good job. No point in complaining. I do care when another child controls it and does a bad job. We had one child where everyone worked on the project, she made some really bad edits and her writing was terrible and then she locked the project online so we could not correct it and went to the teacher saying she was the only one who worked on it (of course she locked it so we couldn't see who worked on it/accessed the document). We had our child 100% redo the assignment and let the teacher handle it but I'd rather my kid do a ton of work vs. more group projects.

It’s also true some students think they do more than what they actually do. Or think
They do a good job when the reality is opposite. That’s worse than working with slackers.

What was interesting is they locked the project so no one could actually work on it. I was surprised that they would do that and not have an adult or another child edit it as the writing was really bad given their age (granted different kids have different strengths but this child was in many of the same classes and they all worked heavily on writing skills).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only does DD need to manage her own work but she needs to manage three other students in her AP class who have no interest in doing the actual work. At what point does she go to the teacher? Or her counselor?

It's mostly a reflection on her inability to work with others. This is a life skill and it's something she needs to learn.

This. That’s the purpose of a group project. There needs to be more of them not less.

Funny how you place the blame on the girl doing the work and not on the slackers.

How about if all the slackers in the class are grouped together then they will get the failing/ mediocre grade they deserve.

Take this story with a grain of salt, even if it comes from your daughter. You only got second hand information from a teenager that may not have a lot of experience with group projects.

You didn’t personally check and know what work was done by who. Give the other kids the benefit of the doubt and teach your daughter a life lesson of dealing with frustration from working with others. It will serve her well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't care as long as my child is doing all the work and doing a good job. No point in complaining. I do care when another child controls it and does a bad job. We had one child where everyone worked on the project, she made some really bad edits and her writing was terrible and then she locked the project online so we could not correct it and went to the teacher saying she was the only one who worked on it (of course she locked it so we couldn't see who worked on it/accessed the document). We had our child 100% redo the assignment and let the teacher handle it but I'd rather my kid do a ton of work vs. more group projects.

It’s also true some students [b]think they do more than what they actually do.[/b] Or think
They do a good job when the reality is opposite. That’s worse than working with slackers.

lol! YES. And then they grow up to be husband's and fathers. My husband thinks he's man of the year because he helps when I ask him to help. Would he just do it with no supervision or tasking from me? Hell no. It's exhausting.

[Anonymous]

It is a life lesson. Working with others is a big part of your life.
Honestly, my DC would prefer to do the project without much input unless she trusts the other students. When she complains, I remind her of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It would be hilarious if the “slackers” will get a better grade though. Maybe they don’t do the group project because they focus on individual homework and preparation for the tests. I’ve seen it happening!

That’s nothing to be proud off. They are parasites who’s grade percentage from the group project they stole credit from the kids who did the actual work.

Their final grade included the group project

Not sure they “stole” the credit if it was a group project, unless the grades are separate for each portion and they claim to do someone else’s work. If it’s a grade for the entire group and they were part of it, I think it’s fine.

Are they actually part of the group if they did nothing? If they did 0% of the project, they actually are taking credit for someone else’s work.

It would be good if teachers would group the slackers together so other students can actually have the intended benefit of group work - collaboration with others who contribute to the project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only does DD need to manage her own work but she needs to manage three other students in her AP class who have no interest in doing the actual work. At what point does she go to the teacher? Or her counselor?

It's mostly a reflection on her inability to work with others. This is a life skill and it's something she needs to learn.

The slackers need to learn that not contributing will only get you so far. Then, in the real world, you get fired.