Am I a Dinosaur or a Mutant?

Odd question, isn't it (though by now you know how I blog)?

This is because of my checking my students' assignments for this semester. I asked them to do something short (one A4 page, MLA rules - if possible, but at least spellchecked, and the text being justified) on an assigned topic. They had over two months to do that (yes, I did give them a <insert fake whimper here> deadline that was final).

And so, I'm checking everything now...

A few handed their assignments in early.

Most waited for the last minute, almost literally.

Amongst the assignments I got, most weren't spellchecked (because that's oh-so-hard??), and quite a lot weren't justified... Oh, and two weren't printed, but handwritten - and not on the assigned topic (yes, I'm going to read the riot act to the two culprits; that may not kick-start their three brain cells, but that'll make me feel better, because I'm fed up with them not listening to what I say).

They're not toddlers! I'm dealing with (so-called) young adults, but they're so mollycoddled where I work that they think they'll get away with everything (and some do by wearing my colleagues down).

I know that things change... I know. But hell, when I was given instructions by my teachers (and that wasn't back in the Middle Ages!), I did follow them, because they were a part of what I had to do in order to pass an exam.

Hence my question: am I a dinosaur or a mutant? Am I amongst the last people to pay attention and follow instructions or is there just something wrong with my DNA? All right, being borderline OCD probably comes into the frame somewhere, but not that much (and my own mates followed instructions, too, so...).

I'm not a brainless drone who obeys orders blindly, but I do follow reasonable guidelines, indeed, and I do wonder why it's so hard for my ESL students to listen to me.

Then again, their other teachers keep telling them that languages are useless (the first to have the guts to say so to my face will lose a kneecap), and a few of them come to class just to sign the attendance sheet (I've caught a few with no paper and no pen whatsoever - they're just physically present, but they're certainly daydreaming right in front of me).

I know that being a teacher means that you've got to be a good parrot repeating things over and over again, but this phenomenon has reached ridiculous proportions with my current students.

Even though I keep telling them that most employers, outside, in the real world, would flay them if they behaved that way at work, they don't seem to believe me - or care... Then again, if they end up working for people like my disparaging colleagues, perhaps they will find jobs (at least until they meet a "dinosaur" client who will stop doing business with them after just one glitch).

I love my students, and I really wish they'd pay attention. I don't know everything, but I've got darn good tips about the jungle usually called "world of work".

If they're the new species, this lil' dinosaur is happy to be the way she is... What kind of future will they have?

Oh, wait! I'm probably somehow an "ant" to their being "cicadas" (the La Fontaine way, I mean). It's going to be tough to show them that their careless bohemian ways could be damaging, and that they could still have fun and plan for the future, but this stubborn little ant shall try.

One pre-"winter" riot act reading coming up...