<p>The other day in one of my classes we were assigned a group project. The project was perfectly suited for me and one of my friends. But of course, the teacher assigned partners (via random drawing) and now I am stuck with someone else, who is happens to be not the most efficient worker.</p>
<p>Now, I understand that assigned partners provide a chance for students to interact with other students that they normally wouldn’t interact with. I understand that in the real world, you often won’t be able to choose who you work with. And I understand the challenge is to create quality work with someone you normally wouldn’t work with.</p>
<p>However, history proves that some of my best and most memorable projects were with a partner that I chose myself. It’s the already established chemistry and deep understanding of one another that I think is the root of a good partner project. In an assigned partnership, you do not have time to create that bond.</p>
<p>The aforementioned assignment was to create a short film, and we are expected to work on it outside of class. This simply exacerbates the awkward situation, as we now must schedule personal time with each other.</p>
<p>And needless to say, I often find myself doing most of the work on these assigned group projects.</p>
<p>So what are your guys’ opinions on this? Should teachers assign partners- especially in the case of a creative project or if you’re expected to work outside of class?</p>
<p>call me immature (and lots of people do… ), but i’m really shy and if there’s any hope of getting together after school, then i have to work with someone with whom i’m comfortable. and lots of teachers argue that it helps social skills and expanding comfort zones, but i’ll be shy no matter what, and, i mean, it’s called a comfort zone for a reason. i can participate in class discussions/debates and if it’s a group of more than two, then that’s a whole different story – way less awkward then</p>
<p>plus i thought group projects are supposed to be “fun.” it’s not fun if i don’t like my partner</p>
<p>(And having to choose a partner is always pretty suckish for me anyway because no one wants me to be their partner…it’s especially bad when there’s an odd number of people in the class and the teacher decides the best solution is to make a group of three that includes me and two kids who are already best friends. I’d prefer that everyone experience that awkwardness rather than just me.)</p>
<p>clementines2016- I agree with you. It’s hard to give a complete and meaningful effort when you are uncomfortable. I consider myself a social person but I am still uncomfortable fully expressing myself with an unknown individual.</p>
<p>Yeah, in elementary and middle school, I always preferred for the teacher to pick groups, because no one wanted to be my partner. I mean, it wasn’t like they DIDN’T want me, they just wanted someone else more. However, now in high school, I have a lot of classes with my friends, because when you take honors classes, you see the same people more often, so picking groups isn’t as bad of a task. The only classes where I wouldn’t have someone to partner with is Euro (because it’s full of many juniors, but the teacher usually randomly assigns) and English (my friends got moved to another class ).</p>
<p>In elementary + middle school I had no friends so when a teacher said “find a group” I started freaking out because everyone would groan if they had to work with me. Now, it depends on the class, but I know I have people to work with if need be. The only problem with assigning groups is I’ve seen teachers do it based on skill level. Also, there have been times when my friends get assigned to work in one group and I have to work with someone else.</p>
<p>Nope they shouldn’t do it. But there will be problems. Some people will have to work alone. I have always worked with groups of mine and teacher didn’t assign anyone in my group. so, I had freedom to choose my team mates.
I didn’t have problem like this.</p>
).</p>