'AITA for only putting my name on my group's assignment since they did not contribute?'
"AITA for only putting my name on my groups assignment since they did not contribute?"
So for context, I am a High School Senior. For first period I have English 4, we all had to do a group assignment and it was a group discussion and after the discussion we had to answer the 5-6 questions the teacher gave us. After 15 minutes, (after the teacher handed us the assignment) the group did not do anything, not even touch the paper.
There are two guys and one girl. The two guys were on their phone playing video games while the girl was just scrolling on social media. So I decided to take responsibility in taking the paper and doing the work. Mind you, I tried to make them contribute by asking them questions, but they weren’t answering me.
After 20 minutes, I finished the questions and had the paper near me, I put my name and claimed to be finished, but the group expected me to put their names as well when they did NOT help me at all. They left the work to me, but expected me to put their names on it since we are a group.
Today, I walked in class and it seems like they’re all ignoring me, apparently one of the guys told me that it was my fault that they didn’t contribute and that all I do is hog the paper, but the paper was in front of the guys for 15 minutes. I keep thinking, but I don’t know, Am I really TA???
The internet did not hold back one bit.
One-Warthog3063 wrote:
NTA. Former HS teacher here. You should have informed the teacher at the end of the period or when you turned in the paper. Explain the situation and leave it to the teacher to resolve. It's not your job to motivate your classmates. It's also not the teacher's job to motivate them, especially when they're Seniors or even Juniors.
The teacher's job is to assign a grade based upon the work submitted.
Sit elsewhere or ask to be moved if there's assigned seats. Ask to not be put in a group with those same students again. Beyond that, there's nothing else you can or should do.
IamIrene wrote:
NTA. They tried to get a free grade out of your work. They fafo, they got exactly what they put in...which was nothing, lol.
dryadduinath wrote:
NTA. If they wanted their names on it, and they feel they did the work, why didn’t they put their names on it themselves?
They’re just lazy, rude, and entitled.
Real_Add2212 wrote:
I'm a teacher using team based learning, so this is a common issue. The person in the wrong here is the teacher for failing to oversee your work and for failing to have a rubric where students anonymously rate each other's contribution to the final work.
NTA. Please keep doing the right thing and no enabling lazy people to steal from others. Also, please tell the teacher about the failure of his/her system to properly reward contribution and properly punish theft.
Bunny_Bixler99 wrote:
I know the state of modern education sucks but why does this "shared group school project where only one person does all the work" keep popping up? 😆
kurokomainu wrote:
NTA Just because they are not happy doesn't mean you are in the wrong. They are not happy because they bet on you doing all the work and then being weak enough to put their names on the paper.
They lost the bet and are now paying the price.
Just tell them straight up that they chose to ignore your questions and watch you do all the work. What did they expect to happen? They tried it on. It didn't work. They know it. You know it.
Transistor12 wrote:
NTA, you're a gangster. Good on you. Sadly, group projects don't get much better in college but, you handled yourself well now. Don't question yourself, those other kids are deflecting blame bc they know they F'd up. Stay strong and it's a lesson learned for all involved, hopefully.
Hannahkelli wrote:
NTA. If they had participated, it wouldn't have been your responsibility to put their names on it. Good for you standing up for yourself and not letting them get away with that trash.
ksleeve724 wrote:
NTA. I remember in high school I got paired up with two people for a group project (As an introvert I despise group projects in the first place) and the other two people just chatted the whole time while I did all the work. I didn’t say anything just turned it in. The teacher must have been watching because I got an A and my group partners got 0s.😂
Fantastic_Mammoth797 wrote:
NTA OP, there were times when I was in school still (I’m not quite 23 yet, dang that makes me feel older than what I am lol) that I was in your position. Where I was put into groups for an assignment and did most of not all of the work. And the best advice I can give is similar to what one former teacher commented, let the teacher know, and let them handle it from there.
However in that same respect, I can understand not knowing how to go about saying something either. And in that same flip of a coin though, your fellow classmates you “worked on the project with” have no right to be upset or offended when they didn’t contribute. Especially since you asked the other 3 students MULTIPLE times about different things and questions on the assignment.
That concept is genuinely laughable to me. And I thoroughly admit this isn’t very adult of me to say about high schoolers, but I’d say this about adults too. Especially having asked them multiple times and still getting ignored, but expecting their names to be put down honestly makes them look like clowns.