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Second year and it's still hell. What to do?

I'm in my second year of teaching at a big private school. The school is very money driven and the kids know it. They all have the attitude that they are "paying us" to pass them with an A. They're horrible. I mean awful. They lie, cheat, steal, and basically do whatever they want and the administration lets them get by with it because they're parents are paying tuition. I teach high school French and it's really driving me crazy. I seriously don't know what to do. I have a routine with my class. Every day they have a warm up while I take attendance. I usually given them about five minutes to do the warm up and then we go over it. Then we go over the homework from the night before. After that we play a game. I have a list of questions in a hat and I pick somebody every day to pick the question from the hat. We go around the room answering the question in a complete sentence in French. I usually toss a koosh ball as we do this to each of them. Afterwards we get started with the days lesson. Out of a 45 minute class I usually teach 25 minutes and they usually have the last 10 minutes of class to practice the concepts in class (a worksheet) and get started on their homework (exercise from the book or workbook). Once a week we do listening activities in French the entire period and on Friday's if they don't have a test I do a culture day where we talk about France and other French speaking countries. I think it's a pretty structured class. The problem is that I get a lot of complaints. The parents don't like that I use a powerpoint when I give notes. One of them said that wasn't real teaching. If I write on the board they complain that their child can't read my writing or I'm using a colored marker and somebody's color blind. If I give a worksheet for the in class practice they say that worksheets are "busy work" and don't help their child. I give them study guides for all of their tests which are basically the tests with the answers on them, but the kids still fail the tests. I make review games and the kids refuse to play them. For example, the other day I made board games with the concepts in French on them. I split the class into groups and excitedly passed out the games and explained the rules. The kids started whining that they didn't want to play. I explained to them that it would be fun and that they had a French quiz the next day. Still they continued to whine. I literally had to walk to each table and stand there, ask the question, haggle them until they gave me an answer, roll the dice, and move the game piece for them. I'm at a complete loss. I'm just getting tired of trying to teach a language and getting so much crap from kids and parents. It may sound awful, but I'm just at a giving up point. At this point I just want to walk in, keep them busy, and send them home with A's. How do I do that without stressing myself out? I need a sure fire plan to get the parents and students off my back and happy so I can bide my time the rest of the year. (I won't be coming back next year)

Public Comments

This took me back a bit. When I was at school, I studied French for 3 years, I hated it, made the teachers life a misery, mainly because I didn't see where French would take me in the future, nowhere I thought (boy was I wrong, just back from a 3 week journey through France and wish I'd have listened in those lessons). I was at a public school, it was a good school, but unfortunately what you're describing is unmotivated kids (I assume you're talking about 11-13 year olds? Lol) Which you're going to find in any area of teaching in any school around the world. Maybe you're just not shaped enough for private schooling, possibly try moving to another school or look into another proffession, (maybe university teaching? Or A Levels) where the kids/adults are actually willing to learn.
I had a similar problem. My students refused to do homework or read text assignments. They expected full credit for simply enrolling in the class. I set my own standards for grading: 25% for attendance, 25% for two book reports, 25% for daily quizzes and 25% for a mid-term and final exam. Since the students wouldn't do homework or read assignments I gave them an open book quiz at the beginning of each class. I made sure that I covered the aim of each chapter of the class text. My troubles ended. Please don't try please your students. Come to class with a daily lesson plan and stick to it. Don't be afraid to grade realistically. Read and obey the school teacher handbooks and student handbooks. If there are neither, write your own class book.
I'm so sorry that you are having such a terrible experience. It really sounds like you have a structured class, and that is a great thing. And it almost seems that they are having fun picking you apart. You can't make everyone happy, and no matter where you are, you will have parents gripe about something (like a back-seat driver). You are almost darned if you do and darned if you dont in this situation. Is it possible to give them more independent work? Projects that they are responsible for, research that they can present to the class, skits where they can act... keep them busy and keep them responsible for their own education rather than you force-feeding them the activities. Always have a rubric that they are aware of, and if they aren't willing to present/act/etc., there goes their grade. Call home that night, and being the good guy, tell the parents that you will give them one more opportunity to present tomorrow, and if they don't, these are the consequences. I really feel like more independent work or projects will help the year speed along. Don't give up and please don't let this sour you on teaching in the future.
I know someone who teaches French at a private boys high school. He loves it, and they love him. I'm sure he has his share of problems, but one thing that really helps is that he does spring study abroad programs with them, and started a summer program where they take a class while they tour France and stay in a country house. For example, one year they might study art, visit museums, and then paint "en plein air" at the country house. Another year, they might be studying WWI history. These programs are so popular that the students are fighting to get into his classes. He's also more formal, old school than you've described your teachers, but establishes a good relationship with his students.