Well… his week has been an interesting one. Recently I’ve
come to realize that I really need to work on my attention to detail and
keeping on top of class work. I had failed to keep up with my professors’
schedules and didn’t see the due dates for papers and projects were coming up.
Because of this I’ve spent the last five or six days running around like a
chicken with its head cut off trying to finish them. I’ve been downing six or
so cups of coffee and it’s now starting to catch up with me and now I’m having
a harder time sleeping. Just great. Despite my best efforts in keeping a
schedule so I won’t end up in this kind of situation I’m still having problems.
Almost every semester that passes it becomes ever more apparent of my short
comings in this area. It worries me sometimes how forgetful I am and puts me in
a tight situation. I’m not worried because of the problems I’m facing now but
because of the implications it will have in my career if I don’t nip it in the
bud. When you’re a teacher staying on top of things and getting things done on
time can mean the difference between having a job and losing it.
While I am glad that this new project we’re working on, Best
Practices Handbook, is in groups I can’t help but harbor some negative feelings
toward it. Not the project specifically but group projects as a teaching method
used in classes. I’ve talked about the benefits of teamwork/group projects
before but I do believe that in some ways it hinders the learning for some
students. In my experience, since middle school, team/group projects have
provided a way out for some students to sit back and watch everyone else in the
group do the work (or in some cases the one carries the four). In the ideal
group, it exposes the members to other points of view and different ways to
solves problems or create a desired product compared to individual projects. I’ve
seen that work before and it’s great when that happens but realistically some
members will refuse to work yet take credit for others solution or product. After
looking at my team members I don’t worry about this kind of thing happening
like it did last semester. It will be interesting to work with them since their
areas of study are so vastly different than mine.
You're a guy, so you might not want to do it this way, but I have a whiteboard in my room that I've split half into 6 sections and each section is for a specific class. Well, as soon as I find out that I have an assignment for that class, I write it and the due date on a sticky note and place it in the corresponding square. Then, when I've completed the assignment, I trash the sticky note. It's a great visual reminder of all I have to do. You could totally variate that to help you stay on top of things. I honestly don't know what I would do without that board. Or you could find a simple planner and write all assignments in there. Honestly, I'm a huge organization freak, so if you need some pointers, I'll be more than happy to help you out!
ReplyDeleteI understand you're frustration with group projects; they usually bother me too. I feel like as a teacher, this is just one of those things where you'll have to know your students and who would work well with who. More times than not, you can tell who the moochers are of the group. One method that previous teachers I've experienced used is to have everyone individually turn in what they contributed to the group along with the complete group project. I really like that idea as it shows me what exactly each person did and helps eliminate mooching!
Staying on top of assignments has been incredibly difficult this semester. I feel your pain! And I also share your feelings, in general, about group projects. However, I think our class is full of quality people that do not want to bum off of their group but do want to contribute to the group's work. I am very grateful for my group. For me, I'm more concerned that I contribute my fair share. I think it will be a good experience.
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