While you might hate literary cliches, you still take the road less traveled. You aren’t concerned about test scores and feedback from the administration. Instead, you pour all of your energy into helping to develop young minds into productive and actualized people. It takes a while for folks to warm up, but when they do, they’ll have a bond with you forever.
It might be useful for you to make class a bit more hands-on in your quest to bring learners into adulthood.