group work

I have found my group to be a challenge. I have found all my groups this semester to be a challenge. At least in this class no one bangs her head until she bleeds, threatens actions with a gun, or faints during class. sigh It's hard to concentrate on any of my other classes with the overwhelming feelings I have from the other one. Coming to mentorship class is such a break. The preparation is minimal, the in-class work is straightforward, although the expectations are not very clear.

We had to compile a goup tool kit submission. One group member was away when our submissions were returned to us. I was very frustrated and this frustration was shared by others in our group when we were told that all of us received a perfect mark on our ideas. We thought it was clear in several of our submissions the amount of work that had gone into them. There were ones where hours of work had been invested and others that looked like they were whipped up in the half hour before class. One member said this was exactly the case between his two submissions. Had we known that we were only being marked on the idea and not on the presentation or development I think the amount of effort might have been different leaving more energy for other projects.

But this is not supposed to be a gripe session.

Who becomes the leader in a group of leaders? We were given minimal time in class to compile/edit the best of our ideas and then had to meet outside of class to complete the scrutinizing/purging. I volunteered to assemble the final products and spent the weekend doing this. It's a theme this semester that in group work everyone gets the same mark/credit but one or two people do the majority of the work. Does that mean the other people have learned how to optimize a situation and get the credit with minimal effort? Does it mean that some people have control issues? I have a lot of anxiety about my grades. I have discovered that the best way for me to ensure a good mark is to be involved right up to the end. If I'm not involved I can't really criticize the product or the mark but as an involved participant I can contribute the most. I *want* my voice to be heard. I guess if I wasn't concerned then it would be easier to let go.

I'll be glad when I'm done with group work for this semester. And I'm glad I'm facilitating and not part of the group in the fall.