Arrg rrrr gah!

What to do, what to do....
Once again, I'm bothered by my 3rd year students. They don't take much responsibility on themselves. I have a website that I work hard to maintain, and I expect my students to refer to it when they are absent. In fact, "I was absent, so I don't have my homework" is an unacceptable thing to say. I usually coast on my sense of humor to make the kids relate to me and get them into the class, and I try to personalize the assignments so that they'll find them more value to doing them. I like to give them assignments that prepares them for something we're going to do in class the next session, but I can't count on them to do it and have to make alternate plans.
A friend of mine who teaches French at HHS tells me similar things about her 3rd year classes. I don't even want to say "Why are they all like this?", because I know. Most of them are in their last year of studying the language since they know that most colleges require 3 years of language. They don't want to stretch their thinking at all. I feel completely ineffective with them. BUT....once again, this is a reflection of my frustration after my 6th hour class. I can have a WONDERFUL day all day, but it's this class that leaves the bad taste in my mouth. I have NO idea why they're there. Well, that's not true: it's for college. Yea. That's going to help them: a paltry understanding of the language b/c of several years of 3 day a week classes and shoddy work ethics that account for even more holes in their understanding.
Happy Monday.