pissed off at my students

This is the first semester in which I find myself thoroughly displeased at my intensive students. They've shown very little ability to concentrate on any given task, they don't seem to take their studies seriously, and today they began revising what they were hoping to do for the bazaar. Grrrr. I walked into class about ten minutes early; at 1:30, when class was set to begin, the room was still empty. We finally ended up with our usual complement of six students, but it took almost a half-hour for that to happen.

It hasn't helped that students have absented themselves for days at a time for various reasons: a trip to Cheju-do, a trip to Mongolia, a hospital visit, an on- campus training program-- you name it. If no one were absent, we'd have about ten students. I'm getting sick of schedule conflicts that result from poor planning. Students should realize that, if they're going to miss one week of an eight-week course, they shouldn't even bother to register for that course. The fluctuation in attendance "disturbs my wa," as my buddy Mike would say.

Definitely not a happy camper today. And what makes all this worse is that it's shaken my faith in the idea that students in the intensive courses usually work harder than students in the regular programs. As things stand, my two low-level regular classes are working much harder.


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