motivating the unmotivated

By the time the end of the day comes, I get my class with the least amount of students. This may seem like a breath of fresh air, ending on a calm, mellow note - and I wish every single day that it could be. I wish I could get this group to work together, and put a full effort into their projects, instead of gossip and tearing others down.

I have a small clique of vapid, lazy, BORING young people. I don't know if they are like this in other classes, or with each other in the context of their greater public. I know that in my class, they bore the hell out of me. They seem to be so bright and insightful, but refuse to put more than the bare minimum to pass the class into their projects.

Sometimes I have to motivate myself to find something enjoyable about each person. I don't know - sometimes I get stuck with such small groups. I think I much prefer the energy and community of large classes.

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So much has happened in the classroom, in the lunchroom, and at mentor meetings. Most importantly, I lost a very close family member quite suddenly. It was probably from one of the accessories we get from having diabetes - but we don't have the autopsy report back yet. (sigh) The passing was 2 weeks ago, and the funeral was in California last weekend. I haven't quite gotten past it all yet. Partly, I think it is because I have to travel out-of-state again to help clean out the apartment my uncle lived at this weekend. There are other things unsettled that my uncle left up to me to see to. I'm glad he charged me with the task, but until I can do a good job of it, I'll feel unsettled.
This weekend I have to help my family sort through the remnants of a kind and decent man's life.
None of us can remember an unkind statement ever leaving his lips. He deplored gossip - more so than I do. He even found a way to pleasantly correct his own mother when she indulged in an unkindness in conversation. We all remember his laugh. He gave it freely, and robustly. The more I think about it - my uncle was a lot like how many children think of Santa Claus. Jolly, happy, generous, kind, friendly, and sometimes silly. He loved to play, go places, do things, be active. It was such a shock that he died at 49, one month and one day away from turning 50.
The family has changed in his absence. We have all had a cold splash of clarity.