'Giovanni didn't show up': College student proves teacher's pet did zero work on group project, entitled classmate gets reprimanded

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Feb 27, 2025 8:00 AM EST

Most folks know all too well at this point that the purpose of group projects in school is to learn just how frustrating team dynamics can be. No one wants to be a part of them, and yet, teachers continue to feel the need to do them to teach kids an "important lesson."

But how important is this lesson really? If we're trying to teach hard workers how to deal with slackers, group projects are not exactly the most effective method. After all, the slackers are far more likely to keep slacking in these dynamics, while the hard workers are equally as likely to continue pulling the majority of the weight. 

Keep scrolling below to see how this student exposed their slacking classmate!

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  • 01
    "He did ZERO work"
    via Dom Fou

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • One cannot help but appreciate this student, who was clever enough to comply with their group project assignment while still demonstrating to their professor that their so-called favorite student was actually the worst kind of student there could be. This was the kind of guy who coasted on good vibes alone, so it was inevitable that the cracks in his armor would reveal themselves…

  • 02
    TLDR: We had to add a protocol for an assignment and I knew that (just like the Terms and Conditions) no one would read it, so I added information that one member of the group basically didn't help. It was some time ago, when I was still in University, so sorry for lack of details.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 03
    So once I was in the group with a guy, let's call him Giovanni. Giovanni was a very good speaker / salesman. His presentations were often very entertaining, but had some lack for foundation or knowledge about the subject. Thing is, in most classes the
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 04
    grade depended heavily on the presentation (individual) and to a lesser extent on the written part. So our friend Giovanni learned pretty fast that he basically could weasel himself out of doing parts of the written project and then shine in the presentation.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 05
    In one of the assignments I had to do with Giovanni the teacher wanted us to write a protocol of every gathering. That's where I saw my chance. I gladly volunteered to write the protocols and send them to the rest of the group for proofreading. As always our friend Giovanni showed up on the first meeting to discuss who would be doing which part and then mostly not show up and not contribute much.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 06
    That's were the petty revenge comes in: Through the power of the protocol I could document that he didn't contribute much, how we were "forced" to write his part and how he mostly didn't show up. Best part I didn't have
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 07
    to sneak it in there, I sent a copy of the protocol to each group member to proofread and had written confirmation from everyone that they are ok with it's content (was necessary for the assignment).
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 08
    As you can imagine once the professor read the protocols we got called in to explain the situation. If I remember right after this point we were finally free to split in the groups we wanted.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 09
    Coder Joe1 13 hr. ago I'm convinced group projects primarily teach you not to rely on your group to do their share.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 10
    twincredible 13 hr. ago They do. It's how the real world works. Team Dynamics at work aren't so much different.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 11
    not-rasta-8913 10 hr. ago. Exactly. They totally taught me that if something needs to be done and you see the rest of the team being reluctant to do it, you either volunteer to do it yourself or you assign someone right there and then if you're team leader.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 12
    Wild_Replacement8213. 12 hr. ago I hate group projects with a passion for this reason. I bust for you to get an easy A? Sit on a rusty pole and spin! Not doing it
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 13
    Dan_the_bearded_man OP 12 hr. ago Exactly, now imagine having about 5 group projects a semester. I was so happy when we were done with this
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 14
    Xuan-Wu 8 hr. ago . edited 6 hr. ago I did something different. We were only two on the project. Of the 4 copies. (One for me, one for each teacher, one for slacker).Only slacker ended up with one without pages
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 15
    marked. Hard to go to the diagrams, pictures etc, when you didn't read upfront and without the pages numbers' help. It became obvious who worked and who didn't.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 16
    Test #1 Wel 30544-73 then - Sa-x a Ja acos If x=a sin 19 30-210+6 the dx = a csod og suda.x du leter du= Scando = 3') sin's cord 20 -27 (9-2)*+ (9-2)* -1 (4-2)²+ C
    via Shubham Sharan

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 17
    oneconfusedgirlie 13 hr. ago i really wonder what you put in there lol
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 18
    Dan_the_bearded_man OP. 13 hr. ago As it's some while ago I don't remember everything but it was on the line of: • Giovanni had to leave early because x
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 19
    • Giovanni didn't show • up because y Additional meeting took place to write Giovannis part
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 20
    If I remember right the teacher first was kind of at me for calling him out, but I stated that I just took the protocols seriously and just reflected what happened. Also showed him the messages that the whole group had "read" the protocols and were ok with it's content.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 21
    Brilliant_Athlete_67 - 2 hr. ago Nice work. You exploited his bad behaviour and he had no cause to complain as he didn't proofread. Lesson learnt: Being lazy is hard work.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 22
    Hey-Just-Saying. 3 hr. ago These projects are meant to give students real world experience where in future jobs they will have to work on projects with other employees. They mainly teach that in the real world, you're going to have to work around crappy co-workers.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man
  • 23
    Dan_the_bearded_man OP 2 hr. ago I understand where you're coming from and also heard that before, but honestly believe that just a lazy excuse. More than "helping" hard working people prepare for the real world you are priming the lazy ones that they can get away with it. You're not adressing the problem at all like this.
    via Dan_the_bearded_man

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class students classmates college student problems group projects petty revenge teacher Professors entitled people karma Terrible Teacher college student entitled people
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