Day Eleven: Responsibility

So today in Pro Sem we signed up for our Independent Inquiry.  We had to read a selection of books and decide which one we wanted to do a project on.  I decided on the Tao of Pooh.  It was a really good book.  So I asked the prof ahead of time if I could do it and he put me on the list early.  So today I get to see who is in my group.  There are three plus me.  No one in my group has read the book.  In fact, some of them chose the book because it is short and it is a story.  So now I am really passionate about this book and I get stuck with people who just picked it because they are lazy.  Great.  I hate group work.  Then this one member asks me how my presentation for Case is going.  I said great, we have an awesome presentation and we have met about three times already for it.  She goes, oh my group just met today.  We present tomorrow.  Is this the kind of person I want in my group for Pro Sem?  A last minute kind of person?  I am not going to let someone else determine if I pass or fail in my Pro Sem class.  I am kind of let down about this whole thing.  I thought I would get to go with group members who felt the same as me and we could have a really good discussion about the book.....and I was the only one who read it.  We had three weeks to read four or five books.  Really all you had to do was read the first few chapters to see if you liked it or not.  Then once you had picked a book, you could read it in more depth.  Plus one group member just bought the book a few days before sign up.  It makes me feel kind of sad that these people all have undergrad degrees and have worked hard to get here and we are still last minute students.  This is a serious course.  This is a serious profession.  You have young minds and lives in your room and it is your responsibility to teach them and encourage them to the best of your ability.  Not make a lesson plan the night before or say oh I forgot.  That won't do.  It's not fair to the kids.  If you do this now, how are you going to break the last minute or the laziness habit?  Maybe I make too much of this,  but I thought we were all responsible adults.