Let’s play a really quick game of $25,000 Pyramid

EXAMPLE “Don’t boys ever wash their hands.” “I can’t believe he/she just picked his/her nose and now…OMG now they’re going to touch me and they didn’t even use a kleenex.” “Seriously…like the Swine Flu epidemic is MY fault...” “Are the antibacterial wipedowns really necessary.”

Category is…. Things a keyboard in a school computer lab might say.

#1 “I can’t make it because I have __ practice.” “___ needed my car so I couldn’t get there.” “____ forgot to tell me where we were meeting.” “I didn’t know that was my part.” “___ never did any of his/her part.” “We can’t work on this in class because ___ isn’t here and he/she has that part of our assignment.”

Category #1 is…. Reasons/Excuses students give for not being able to participate in a group project.

#2 “It’s hard to tell exactly who did what.” “They’re too hard to organize.” “I know the kids aren’t always honest when they tell me who did what.” “I hate to give everyone the same grade/penalize everyone in the group because I know they didn’t all contribute equally.”

Category #2 is…. Reasons/Excuses teachers don’t like to use group projects.

#3 Collective knowledge can allow students to teach each other/learn from each other. An increasing number of college courses require it. Industry in general says it’s an important skill to have and it’s value is increasing. In an increasingly global society/economy it’s going to become even more important.

Category #3 is…. Reasons you should consider using (more) group projects in your classes.

#4 Ways to help keep them organized. Ways to help you document who did what. Tools that can be used in an asynchronous fashion. Ways to cut down on the excuses.

Category #4 is…. Things we’re gonna talk about today.

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