<p>But then, sometimes the projects turn out so nice (like the one my D did of Hearst Castle's swimming pool), that your wife won't throw it out and it's continually in the way in the garage.</p>
<p>I think I posted this on another 'whining' thread several months ago but here goes:
In 10th grade biology the project was to map out our yard on a large piece of paper we were given, identifying all the plants. My parents happened to be avid gardeners and we had lots of interesting landscaping. My mom took me around identifying all the plants and talking about them. It was sort of a bonding experience. But I had too much to fit on the paper, and it ended up pretty messy. I got a 'C'. :(</p>
<p>Another downside of group projects: where the teacher asks the students to evaluate the group. One girl did almost nothing and what she did do was not usable (she wrote with all small letters, no caps and used no other punctuation, e.g. And the purpose of the project was to describe specific sites on the trip, and she would say "spend the afternoon on a guided tour.") Anyway, my daughter gave her a C and thought she was being generous. Since teacher made them "share" the reviews, the girl and her friends are now not speaking to daughter. Apparently, some other groups are undergoing the same "group dynamic." I know you will tell me this is real life, but it seems so lose/lose.</p>
<p>In eighth grade, D had to make a poster of one side of her family geneology. The problem was, the teacher insisted the students had to use the father's father's side. Well, we only have a few generations of info on that side, and, the ones we had had very small families (grandfather was an only child, and he himself had no cousins), so D had very few names. If she could've used my Mom's family, she could've gone back 13 generations, but the teacher nixed it.</p>
<p>So she make a very nice poster of a tree, with all that she had done very artistically (she's the one of my two who does have drawing talent.)</p>
<p>but the teacher gave her a low grade. His comment:'' You did your part, but your family didn't."</p>
<p>PrimetimeMom-I still remember my mission project! I was so upset after my weeks of work I got an A-. It had working lights, furniture, paint, everything. Some people with really unrealistic ones covered in flowers that took less time got an A+.</p>
<p>Group projects in high school were horrible. So many students knew how to slide through them and rely on us that actually cared about getting things right and having good grades. I've had everything from group tests, to art projects, to presentations. But, teachers seem to be wising upa bit and having them be more in-class, or something that can be done in one weekend. Still, they can be done away with. Kids get plenty of interaction with peers at school--it's not like they can't work in groups!</p>
<p>In college, I've already experienced group work a lot in two years. This semester alone I have two lab classes that we have to work together. One of which we end up meeting at least twice a week out of class for several hours to write up lab reports and work on a seperate project for the end of the semester (design). One of my engineering classes has group homework. My professor had said to assign each member a problem (there are usually 5-6 problems each time and 4 of us) and meet and go over them all. But, that isn't a good way to learn. So, we each do them all, and go over them and write them up as a group. You can see that this leads to a double amount of time spent on this class. Hopefully I'll do better on the test...not liking his group homework ideas. We get plenty of group interact simulating real-world experience in lab classes, etc.</p>
<p>I don't think that the teachers/professors realize sometimes how time consuming this all is. In high school, I went to school from 7:45-2:30, spent at least 45 minutes just getting to and from school, an hour or two in sports, a few hours doing homework, and what time does that leave for fun/family? Or even sleep?</p>
<p>Now, I go to school or work from 7am-5/7pm every day. Then, homework. Maybe some sleep when I get around to it! Crazy life.</p>
<p>We have found that the best projects of models of Indian villages, cities, etc. involve using miniatures. My daughter's fifth grade model of an Indian village was done in the top of a bracelet box. She made mini teepees out of brown grocery store bag paper and toothpicks, used tiny worry dolls for the Indians, spread sand on the bottom of it all, etc. She carried it in proudly in one hand on the due date, and it was a class favorite. Besides, we have kept this one since it takes up little space! She did the same thing with an urban scene in the third grade. Her tiny skyscrapers were made from folded index cards that had colored pencil bricks, windows, etc. The streets were paved in tiny bits of black paper with chalk lines on them. It took so much less time to create than if she had tackled the usual large scale project, and it was very neat and unique.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You did your part, but your family didn't
[/quote]
Wow. This innane comment brought to mind a ceramic project from hell. The kids were to draw their house in 2D and build it in 3D from clay. My son refused to put a chimney on his house even though the teacher instructed him to do so because our house has no chimney! He was graded down for this because she insisted that every house has a chimney! I shudder to think of any kids who lived in an apartment building without architectural detail...how dare they! </p>
<p>You know, these project examples are so pathetically stupid they are actually funny in retrospect.</p>
<p>ah, the terrible geneology project. I can totally indentify with garland's post. My husband's father was an orphan, so we also had a half empty tree. Also, S's family heritage project involved interviews with family members. The only problem was my S at that time couldn't speak his father's family's native language at all. Furthermore, this was before any of them had computers (they live in a third world country) and phone calls cost a fortune. </p>
<p>It should be a rule that before being granted certification every teacher must spend a weekend with a child who has a project due on Monday.</p>
<p>lkf "You did your part, but your contractor didn't" :)</p>
<p>It really is funny in retrospect, but it sure wasn't at the time!</p>
<p>What do you all think about this one? Last evening my daughter told me that all of the students were instructed to purchase flash drives so they could prepare a power point presentation at home and present at school. I asked if she could put it on a disc and she said the school didn't want to use discs. So every student has to buy a flash drive for a little history project? Ridiculous! They can't require this at a public high school, can they???</p>
<p>A lot of our public school students do not even have a computer at home! We have to open up the computer lab on certain nights for their use and then provide transportation home for them. I cannot imagine requiring the students to purchase a flash drive!</p>
<p>Garland and GFG,
I would have made up a whole bunch of names! It's no more ridiculous than the teacher's assignment. Come to think of it, it would be fun and creative to make up an entire family tree, complete with legends. Who would be the wiser- the teach isn't going to research your accuracy.</p>
<p>In retrospect, I agree, dp. My D would have gotten a kick out of it--but her sense of humor might have given her away.</p>
<p>
[quote]
So every student has to buy a flash drive for a little history project? Ridiculous! They can't require this at a public high school, can they???
[/quote]
Guess what....they required this at my son's public middle school a few years ago!</p>
<p>
[quote]
D had to make a poster of one side of her family geneology. The problem was, the teacher insisted the students had to use the father's father's side.
[/quote]
Whoa. What were the demographics in this school? What about the kids who don't even know who their fathers are, and it continues on up the geneological tree? I see this assignment as being so UN PC!</p>
<p>It was rediculous on so many levels.</p>
<p>My Ds would have had to make up my dad's family tree, I can't even go back one generation for him</p>
<p>That assignment would have made me crazy....</p>
<p>
[quote]
students were instructed to purchase flash drives
[/quote]
This is quite presumptuous on the part of the teacher. There's a big difference between a 10 cent floppy disk and a $35 flash drive. Aren't there any poor students at the school? What does the teacher expect them to do? If a teacher is going to require a flash drive, then the teacher better have a pile of them available to loan to the students who need them. This teacher is out of touch with reality. This one is worthy of raising to the vice-principal if the teacher can't resolve it. </p>
<p>There are so many teachers that are just out of sync with what parents and students believe contribute effectively to their education in the classroom and the realities/practicalities of the diverse students (rich/poor, parental help or not, sports/job/family commitments, lack of transportation, etc.) in their classroom.</p>
<p>LOL!! Boy, does our family have a history of projects! Some of the most memorable...the 2nd grade video my older D made of her friend and her making sweet potato biscuits for African American week. I still howl with laughter at that one....we do lots of the video stuff. It's always a teacher-pleaser, and you have them years later to laugh at. Last year my younger D had a great chemistry teacher who made them do at least one project every two weeks. The mole day one was fun...kids got very creative. One boy is a glassblower and made the teacher a necklace of little glass moles! There is a cheer for mole day...it involves shouting the formula for mole. My D got a stuffed mole, took it to Build-a-Bear, got a little recording thingy to put inside it's tummy, recorded the cheer, and dressed the stuffed Mole in a cheerleader outfit with pom poms! The teacher loved that one. My D also made 5 DVDs for that class...kind of chemistry music videos about different topics. All very elaborate. They are still being used in the classroom. It actually got her interested in film making. That teacher is one of those blessed people that your kids are lucky to have....my D still goes after school to hang out in her classroom, and she's still making DVDs for her class. One year, my older D had to do the dreaded group project. They ended up with what they called a gangsta DNA model---it had a pronounced "lean" and they put big gold earrings on it. lol! Of course 2 out of the 4 of them didn't even bother to show up to do anything, but expected to get credit anyway. Most of the time my kids have felt too awful to take the slackers' names off, but 2 years ago in biology my younger D did just that. The kid was amazed, and didn't get any credit. Hopefully she hasn't pulled that one on another hard-working group. It seems so unfair to put that kind of pressure on kids. What is the point...to learn the material, or to learn how to deal with lazy coworkers? I guess both are valuable in the long run.</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad: I just have to respond to a comment in your response. Remember that there are many teachers who spend a great deal of their own money to purchase items for their classrooms and for their students, knowing that many do not have the resources at home. They are definitely in touch with reality. I know you were not lumping all teachers together, put let's remember to praise those that go the extra mile and give the extra dollar for their students.
As for projects, I am a middle school teacher and I decided to stop assigning projects because they are so difficult to grade. How do you compare the project that clearly has the parents' handprints on it versus the project that was created by the student who is going it alone without even a pack of colored pencils at home? You can't, so I decided to stop assigning them.</p>