Lack of motivation - very stressful!

As a teacher, the thing that drives me the craziest is a lack of motivation. I currently work with sixth, seventh, eighth and nine grade students and it seems like they truly do not care if they are successful or not.

My students are all low readers and writers; they all need to work incredibly hard to make it to their graduation day. I have pushed them to the limit; I have tried to be supportive and even tried to be the mean teacher that forces them to create work.

It has been a complete terror trying to get them to complete tasks and homework assignments on time. It’s almost impossible to get them into the classroom on time! I really hope that our future is not going to be run by people that do not seem to care whether they are successful or not!

When I grew up I was too scared to get a low grade on a test or assignment; now it seems as if it doesn’t even affect them. It makes me absolutely crazy to see young American floundering in this way! I work in a predominantly urban area and most of my students currently live in poverty. When I grew up and my family went through hard times my parents always told me to work hard so that I could have a better future. It doesn’t seem like this quality exists in my students. This lack of motivation paired with how hard I work to try to help them better themselves makes me absolutely crazy!