Reflections on my teaching career (some NSFW language)

I've been a teacher for 12 years now.  (Holy shit.  When did that happen?)  I'm a little jaded.  I'm less patient when it comes to hand-holding college students through my course.  I want to scream from the rooftops, "If you do not know how to turn on a computer, don't fucking take my class!  No, I can't help you upload a file!"  Some days, the students are worse than my children.

Student: I don't get it.
Me: What part?
Student: All of it.
Me: Did you do all of the reading for the week and watch the tutorial and look through the samples?
Student: ...
Me: Grrr

I recall being lazy during college with the tendency to procrastinate.  In spite of that, I still participated in classroom discussions and submitted every assignment on time.  I could have done more, but I didn't whine to any of my professors to let me do extra credit.  The fault was entirely my own if I didn't earn full points.  I didn't blame work or family or life.  Granted, I didn't have children while earning any of my degrees.  If you want the piece of paper enough, you'll find a way to make it work. The apathy, the entitledness, the learned helplessness.  All of this has worn me down.

Thankfully, my passion has been rekindled for teaching.  Who would have thought it would be because of a bunch of kindergartners?  I never had the desire to teach elementary school.  I didn't want to dumb down my language, and I didn't want to deal with that different set of issues.  But, for the first time in my career, I am teaching to people who actually want to be there, who are excited about what is going on, and who don't have a chip on their shoulders.  I was unaware of the level of enthusiasm and joy the younger ones possess.  The following responses were recorded from an in-school demo.

K-2: OHMYGODTHATISTHECOOLESTTHINGEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3-5:: Whoa, that's awesome!
6-8:  Um, is there a reason why you're here?

See, by junior high, the pattern of behavior I deal with at the college level has already manifested.  Granted, these are only generalizations based on my observations.  I'm sure if I taught electives or Honors classes, my reflections would be different.  Sure, it isn't all roses and cupcakes.  I still hear "I can't do it" and have a couple kids who don't want to be there.  The percentage is so low that I'm not bothered by it.

I'm not going to do anything crazy, like go back to school to earn another degree, in elementary education this time.  I just wonder if I would be as jaded.  Would I be as frustrated?  Who knows?  That's a big "what if?".  For now, I'm going to enjoy the shift in teaching focus and hope that my enjoyment is long lived.