Chapter 7: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

One thing that really stuck out to me in Chapter 7 of Cushman's Fires in the Bathroom was the part about group work. Mahogany told of how her teacher put her in a group with three unmotivated students who never did any work. The teacher claimed that he thought Mahogany would help push the other group members to do work. She was frustrated with being in a group because she was doing all of the work, so she might as well work alone (Cushman, 130).

I can really relate to Mahogany's experience with group work. I feel like when a teacher assigns groups, students are immediately passing judgment on the types of workers they have in their group. If the person is an overachiever and they have all underachievers in their group, they realize that they will be doing all of the work. If the person is an underachiever and they have at least one overachiever (or even someone who is conscious about getting work done) in their group, they will be excited to know they will not have to do work in order for it to get completed. Teachers definitely need to be aware of this. I think that when students work in groups they should be graded individually based on their participation and contributions to the group. This way, all of the work will not be on one student's shoulders.