Good point

(after, once again, voicing my frustration with the Moldovan grading system- this time because I just gave a test to the 10th form and only 4 students actually got B worth results... the rest failed worse than failing... but, hey, it doesn't matter because the tests aren't weighted any different than daily participation. So, I'm frustrated that these poor kids are having to read really difficult material.... and I can't get through to them...)

This is how my conversation went with one of my friends...

ME: ... I'm so frustrated because they aren't putting ANY effort into anything!

ANTOINE: that's the life of teacher: motivate students and make them understand of the interest to learn

ME: ..but how do you do that to a 17 year old who can't do the book work because they don't know the difference in "to be" and "to have"?

ANTOINE: ^^ your job is to find the answer!

Oh. My. Gosh. He's so right. I've been struggling all this time battling with the idea of the educational system... but why? The answer is in my students hands! I can't read their minds and find out why they're not willing to try... the educational system can't make them willing to try. I need to find out how I can motivate them to do well. Assigning good marks isn't going to do it because they aren't going to learn anything that way (unless they are actually doing the work). My new mission? Find out how I can really help them.