By Tiffany
I really liked what you had to say about group work. I have many of the same feelings about it. I have seen many teachers, sadly, use group work as a way to get their other work done. This is unfortunate because group work can be extremely beneficial to students if used the proper way. Also, students do need to be instructed on how to work effectively together. I know I was never shown how to work with others and I do think it caused me to resent working in groups. It wasn’t until this program that I was able to see the benefit of working with others.
Finally, I do think that it “sucks” regarding students getting “the short end of the stick.” If group work is not successfully carried out than students may learn to label others. Some people do not know how to work with others and this could be the cause of their minimal effort in the group. Therefore, other students may not want to work with them and may resent them for something they do not know how to work with. Then you have the other end of the spectrum, the lazy students that just do not care. I think as a teacher, we need to be aware of all of the groups we create and to monitor them closely enough to make sure that everyone is benefiting from the group. Perhaps if one student does not work successfully in a group, you may want to have them work by themselves on occasion; just a thought.
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