Candy,

I think I can relate to how you feel...indirectly. lol When hubby was teaching engineering and math courses at a small college in his hometown he went through something similar.

We went to a large university (it was the best on the east coast for his type of engineering) so he expected those kids to work like he had at *****. They didn't. They were lazy and tried to shortcut assignments. He spent the better part of a semester trying to get them to do better work.

That being said....I don't think you should lower your standards quite yet. Let them try to raise themselves to your standards first. You OBVIOUSLY know what your doing. I would let them know that you cannot and will not allows this shoddy workmanship to continue.

College freshman need a jolt most of the time to realize, "hey, this is college...not high school". There is a different work ethic in college. I had to learn it too.

Since you are teaching journalism, I don't think you can allow fabricated facts or grammatical errors. And if they can't spell the country...spell their grade wrong (if you get my drift...lol) You're right to try and break those habits!

I hope things get better. PM me if you need to talk.

I think you're doing the right thing.