Heather, I feel your pain - and that is something I think few teachers understand. We always felt sorry for those students who were struggling with family, work and other obligations, but still made the effort to come to a night class in bad weather, when they were not feeling well and when they had a lot of other stuff on their mind. I gave these people a lot of credit for going the extra mile. We figured the least we could do was to make our classes lively, keep upbeat (hey, there were days WE didn't want to come either) and basically make them glad they made the effort to show up. Those teachers who did not get on board with this concept often found their classrooms empty, or the classes canceled. They would blame the school administration. We (the other teachers) knew that was not the case - it is no trick to get someone to sign up for a class; the trick is to keep them coming. And come on - how hard is it to put on a smile, jump into the room and hit the floor running? I remember one teacher with a Doctorate's Degree from Oxford who was the most deadly boring teacher you ever met - spoke in a very quiet monotone, sat at his desk and had the students take turns reading one page after the next, and calling on the students in alphabetical order. Watching paint dry was more exciting than sitting in his class. Needless to say, his retention level for students was about zip.