Journal #12: Working with a Partner

My feelings about working with a partner vary with my mood of the day and numerous other factors such as the assignment, the person I'm paired with, and the teacher who teaches the class. Normally I really don't like working with a partner because I hate having to plan around another person with whatever project we're supposed to be working on. If it's a really pointless project, I don't mind too much because the project doesn't really matter.

A lot of times I don't like working with a partner because the teachers always put me with the slackers in the class. I don't really know why that is, maybe they think my work ethic would be a good example for them. That's kind of unreasonable because I'm perfectly content to let people fail a project rather than let them get a good grade for the work I did.

If the teacher lets the students of the class pick their own partners, that's usually better. I know they worry about kids feeling left out if they don't get a partner right away, but that's kind of a silly concern. Students can make other students feel left out despite the effort of the teachers to make it otherwise. Some would say it's a valuable learning experience to get paired up with someone you don't like, and that may be true on some levels, but for the most part it isn't. The only thing you really learn is how to deal with annoying people.

I especially don't like working with a partner if my partner isn't right there next to me. It's not that I wouldn't trust them to do their work if I'm not there. It's more a matter of inconvenience and annoyance. It's such a hassle if you have to call them or facebook chat with your partner or something like that. You lose something in the communication that way and your project turns out less than it could have been.