<p>I think the title explains itself. We’ve all had sucky experiences where we’ve been forced to work with less than desirable partners. Here is a chance to share your story or just vent.</p>
<p>Here’s mine:
In 9th grade global we had a project that was loosely based on The Amazing Race. Each group was given a continent, and we were supposed to make all sorts of clues that would help the “teams” get from one important landmark to the next. My group was assigned Asia.</p>
<p>I first notice a problem when one of my teammates fails to realize that Switzerland is not in Asia. We end up assigning each person a section of Asia, and I get the Middle East. For the next few weeks I work my butt off coming up with important locations and clever clues to get to them. When my teammates and I meet up again, I am horrified. First, they’ve spent more time thinking about making pretty boards and posters than doing their project. While my clues led from Jerusalem to Tikrit to Mecca and Medina, their locations were places such as a spa in Japan (and not some historical thing, an overpriced tourist spa) or a restaurant in Korea. They had completely missed the entire point of the project.</p>
<p>I ended up handing in my own work separately, because we were given both group and individual grades and I wasn’t going to let my grade suffer because of my idiot groupmates. I was furious later when I found out that they all still got B+s. None of them turned out to be real academic superstars, as you might have guessed. Now whenever we have group projects, I make sure to work with people I know will pull their own weight.</p>
<p>Hmm I’ve had plenty, but the most recent one was a final assignment given by my Global History teacher. It was worth 4 test grades and it was an all or nothing kind of assignment. I was grouped up with two other people so we divided the essays and questions up evenly into three parts. On the day that it was due, I had completed all the work and both of them together hadn’t done at least half of the work. So, basically I got four zeros for doing everything I was supposed to. Not fun. :-|</p>
<p>^That really sucks. I hate groups projects mostly because there is no way to get people who don’t want to do the work to do it, and you suffer because of their laziness.</p>
<p>The last time I had a group project I was like “Ok, you three look up all the vocab words and write sentences with them. I’ll write up the other three essays, type up notes for the class and make the powerpoint presentation.”</p>
<p>I’m pretty bossy and a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to projects. It isn’t pleasant.</p>
<p>=D work with kids ranked in the top ten. thats what i do. or just work with hard workers and correct their mistakes. it really isnt that hard…if youre bossy during the proj why not be bossy while picking groups?</p>
<p>The projects that suck are the ones where the teacher assigns the groups, and unless you have a restraining order against your groupmate, you two are working together.</p>
<p>The irony is I don’t think teachers realize that they are forcing their hardworking student into a partnership with an unmotivated slacker who won’t do their share.</p>
<p>anyone ever had the teacher deliberately put you with someone else who they know slacks because they think you’ll teach them something because you work hard and then you’re screwed for your grade?.
not cool.</p>
<p>God where to begin… every group project ever assigned. In my global studies class we often had to share laptops and once we had to do this project on one and i was assigned to work with a kid who couldnt identify america on a map… of america. I dont know where teachers came up with the idea that if you assign a smart kids with an idiot, that some how that smart kid was the spark the idiot needed to begin his scholastic career.</p>
<p>I’m one of those perfectionist GPA-whores, so, naturally, I took over for my group project in Honors English, even though my partners were both competent. We had to do a fake “newspaper” for the Catch-22.</p>
<p>Well, I was determined that we design our newspaper in Adobe InDesign, since I’m a yearbook nerd. Unfortunately our publications class hadn’t upgraded yet, so I’d only used the program once previously, at three-day workshop. But I was the only one who knew what I was doing, so I had to design it all (eight 8x11 pages), place all the stories, find and place all the pictures, print it out, assemble it, and write my share of the stories. </p>
<p>The other two just wrote their stories and emailed them to me.</p>
<p>i usually just end up doing group work by myself. this is mostly because i don’t trust other people to do a good job, so i just figure i should do it myself.</p>
<p>I usually boss people around now in group projects. I always rewrite anything they do into somewhat reasonable english. I’m not brilliant when it comes to english, but certainly better than some of the lazy/just plain stupid people I’ve worked with. I always due about 95% of the work. Other people are so lazy. One person typed the thing due that day (in school, cutting other classes) and used chatspeak in it, like “u.” Luckily we didn’t go that day, and I redid everything they messed up.</p>
<p>I still don’t understand why teachers pair you with some random people. Do they honestly think they’re going to create life-long relationships?</p>
<p>Pick the pros when you’re picking groups. If the teacher assigns groups, then basically accept that ur bf’ed. (you got some work ahead of you). As a caveat, don’t be bossy and anal to the point of annoying lazier groupmates. Just slying take over and let them think they’re contributing. You don’t want to be busted later by groupmates who bring the defense “he / she didn’t LET me do anything”. Then you seem like you’re robbing him of his education. (lol we both know better). PEACE</p>
<p>I take the “hardest” courses at my school.
The “hard” courses have a limited amount of people in them. There’s about 40ish total of honors/AP people. I know that about 10 - 15 of them work up to their potential. The rest are lazy, and I have no idea how they are still in honors. Well, I know quite a few cheat. But yeah, “take hard courses” may not always work, since I always get stuck with idiots and/or slackers. And because I’m in the top 5 of the class people that work with me basically see it as a free ride for them.</p>
<p>I was going out of town winter break of freshman year, so my lab partner took home the mice we were cross-breeding. I cleaned the tank before it started, took it out to his car, made sure everything would be fine all week, and then came back to find that he had replaced the wood shavings with (now water-soaked) kleenex and killed off all of our mice - and left them in there. Ugggh yay :]</p>
<p>Oh and what’s also lovely is when someone else volunteers to make a powerpoint, but his/her computer mysteriously crashes the night before it’s due. That was an all-nighter and the girl was totally on AIM for a few hours at least.</p>
<p>The best solution I’ve found is to take control immediately and offer to do everything before someone else messes it up - which sounds ridiculously bossy and arrogant but it works.</p>
<p>first off, Gimeyourstresballz, just because someone is taking a harder course doesn’t mean there aren’t lazy people in it. i’m in the IB program and there are a lot of them.</p>
<p>i absolutely despise group projects. i got to pick my group once for an oral in spanish. ya i picked the smart people who aren’t normally lazy, turned out fine but it was difficult. oh in 8th grade we did a class newspaper type thing. i was the editor and our teacher didn’t help or anything, just gave me control of everyone, including some really mean loudmouths. it was supposed to be in the time period of Lewis and Clark but people turned in stuff for how girls could get boys or make the eyelashes big. so the wrong time period. i had to put them in tho because it was all they wrote. i ended up writing 5 or 6 aditional articles to one or two i had written because i needed to fill space. i also typed everyone’s and made the layout. a recent science project was a nightmare too. it was a class project but we also had small groups. we were supposed to be going to Mars. i did all our research, a huge poster, typed up notecards for the 3 other people… it was horrible. during this project found out someone didn’t know there was no gravity in space, he wasn’t in my class. i have had one good group project. it was for english and i was with 3 friends and we all work really well. other than that group projects suck and teachers still think they are easier… boy are they wrong.</p>
<p>HAHA WOW! Mine happened this week. I am a senior in a junior history class because I decided that I wanted to do AP. Well, let’s just say we had to write a group paper. Whatever the hell that is. Yea, well we assigned parts and one girl went ahead and wrote the first half. She didn’t know how to write a thesis statement which the whole project was based off. Well I received the paper from her for correcting at 1AM the night before it is due and she wrote it wrong. I wouldn’t of been ****ed had she written the essay and sent it to me earlier. We had to do a bunch of other stuff which we didn’t get to present because she stopped us during our presentation for being THAT bad.</p>
<p>It was embarrassing and I hate this class. AP US His. sucks.</p>