YEAH, so this year I started 9th grade and I'm at an awesome school. It's full of nerds (dudez, we have a ROBOTICS club which about 1/4th of the kids are involved with) and has only about 240 kids, so everyone knows each other's business. It's a great school and focuses on a lot of group work.

However, in my Science / Engineering class (4 years of engineering... srsly ;D) I managed to get stuck with the worst group I've ever had the misfortune to work with. Individually, these kids work really well and I'd probably get along with them if they weren't working together... alas, not the case. x_x

We've got the coolest project EVER - designing a website around a cataclysmic event. We get to do animations and use awesome 12 x 12 tablets and all that jazz, but these kids are just all over the place. I'm the only girl in the group (4 kids to a group), and also the group leader, so it seems that whenever I'm done yelling at one kid another's wandered off to go look up their name on google or flirt with girls or something. It's FRUSTRATING.

Of course, I delegated responsibilities to each of them on the first day of the project; they're vague enough to give them something to do, but specific enough so that they know WHAT to do. However, last week (3rd week of project, 3 weeks to go) I gathered everyone together, hoping against hope that they were pretty much working their butts off at home.

Not the case.

No one had gathered anything; not a single picture, not one fact, nothing. One of them didn't know which country our disaster took place in (and it's not some obscure thing... it's KRAKATOA, for God's sake!). So after yelling myself hoarse, I calmed down and told them that they needed to be using their time wisely. They always ACTED like they were working whenever I looked around, but I recently discovered that one kid, who was constantly scribbling on some piece of paper, was passing notes (presumably so I wouldn't catch him. Thanks, manho).

I told them what they needed to be doing. AGAIN. I said that I didn't want to, but I'd be going around to check that they were doing work like I was their freaking mother. I asked them each day what they had accomplished.

And still? Nothing. I yell at them and move on, they get right back to what they were doing. Let me tell you, I'm not a pushover, but these kids just won't do anything no matter what I say. Today I told one kid off so badly that the teacher got concerned that I was verbally abusing the brat, and still they refuse to do any work.

So goddamnit, I'm not standing for it anymore. I've worked for thirty minutes AT LEAST each day that we've been doing this project, so I'm making a schedule and making a list of their names and putting check marks whenever they do something stupid or miss a deadline. Three strikes and you're out, I'm telling the teacher that you're not doing any work and that whoever's been working has been picking up their slack. I don't care if they think I'm a b***h, because I frankly have no social obligation to them. I'm the group leader and they're not respecting me or the fact that this has to be DONE, so I'mma whip their asses into shape.

Anyone have any more suggestions on what I can do? I never wanted to scare them into working, but if I have to I will. I'm keeping a good reputation with my teacher (last project we won first place out of the entire freshman class) and I don't care what I have to do to earn it.