Hate working in groups? Or maybe you’re the lazy team member who makes other people hate group work? We’re here to transform your project-preparing process!
- Use communication platforms such as GroupMe and GoogleDocs!
The minute you form groups for a project, you should decide on a way for everyone to communicate during the planning process. Spend five minutes collecting numbers and adding everyone to a GroupMe or sharing emails for GoogleDocs. This will save you from realizing later on that Kevin from science class is in your group, but you have no idea how to contact him! - Establish team roles!
As soon as you set up a way to communicate with your team, assign team roles. For example, in a presentation team, someone may be the main speaker while another person completes preliminary research and makes the PowerPoint. Everyone should have an approximately equal task so that one team member doesn’t carry al of the weight! - Start early!
The most important tool of project planning is time. Most failed school projects don’t end up disastrous because the directions are impossibly difficult but because the team tried to complete the project in an impossibly small amount of time. Always start earlier than you think you should! - Set expectations!
What happens when you want to turn in the project a week early, but you don’t communicate this desire with Sally (who wouldn’t mind turning it in on 11:59 the day before)? Pure chaos. To avoid disaster, set some basic expectations for your team, such as project completion timelines and final grade goals. - Show effort!
Most teachers aren’t looking for you to reinvent the wheel but rather for you to simply show some thought and effort. Read the directions clearly, and give it your best shot (or at the very least, make it look like you did).
For more help with group projects or tutoring in any subject (K-12 or college level), visit us at www.apollotutors.org!