A new direction?

I'm toying with the idea of reviving this journal as a means of commenting on the joys of the public education system, relating funny (read: depressing) stories about my students, etc. Don't know if I have the motivation or not, but we'll see.

Six out of my eighteen Latin I students did their homework over the weekend. I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed that they didn't even try it, or that they didn't even make up fake excuses. The unapologetic laziness of 90% of my students is a constant dead weight dragging down my optimism about my job. Most days I find myself hoping fervently that my high school students are NOT indicative of their generation as a whole.

Studying has become passe, an outmoded fad, yet another casualty of cable TV and the internet. My students know who knocked up whom on what trashy TV show, which celebrity is dating which, and how many touchdowns has scored this season, but cannot be bothered to memorize four new items (seriously, four - not even concepts, just verb forms) over 3 days. Two students (again, out of eighteen) memorized all four.

What frightens me most is that I have the "smart kids."