I’d like to call this a week off, but that’s not completely accurate. True, there were no classes this week, but as I previously mentioned, there is still a lot of written work to do. To make a long story short, I have finished two research papers for the TEFL classes, and a large portion of my final Independent Paper for my Master’s degree. I still also have a culture project for one class that I haven’t given much thought to yet.
The real problem is the collaborative course project. I’m “collaborating” with two other students from the TEFL class, one of whom is my Japan traveling partner, and the other is just a girl from class who has been to Japan in the past. We had an “organizational meeting” for this project about two weeks ago, and we split up assignments. I was eager to take on the role of “leader” and do the organizational work since I know what I want done and I know what grade I want- I don’t want those decisions made for me by some slacker. Well, to sum up the problem, the girl from class has sent me her share of the work, and it’s a little weak. She knows this and promises revisions soon, so I can’t complain too much there (yet). My Japan partner, on the other hand, has done nothing but contacted me to let me know he couldn’t attend a meeting last week. ZERO work on the project.
This thing is 50% of the grade in one course. I already have a pretty good idea how this thing is going to play out. Two of us are going to have this thing finished next weekend. Someone will be emailing me a few days before it is due wanting to know how the project is going. One of the three of us is probably going to fail the course. I am NOT nice enough to sign his name to the paper without a significant contribution. I do not tolerate “slackassiness” (a new word!). Will this keep him from going to Japan? No, not by itself; if he gets dropped from the program, it won’t be my fault.
I’m patient; there is still time before this thing is due. Oh, how I hate collaborative projects!
Actually thinking about this whole project… How or when will I *EVER* collaborate on designing lesson plans in the future? My understanding is that I’ll be very much on my own when teaching overseas, so it seems worthless to assign us to collaborate now.
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July 24th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Apparently, even if he goes with you to Japan, you won’t be collaborating with your partner much. If you can’t get him to help while your’re here, what possible gems of wisdom and cooperation could he offer when you get there? Good luck with that!
July 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
P.S. You’re not really that patient (neither am I, though). Waiting for partners to “step up” can be agonizing!