I have a mix; I'm lucky enough to teach AP Language and Composition (29 juniors, very highly motivated, have been groomed and prepared prior to meeting me, a number of SAT scores in the 1400+ range) and I also teach senior base-level English IV and an elective, Public Speaking, which often has students who are randomly placed there who aren't that interested and are just looking for something to do since they need to be at school. All of these classes have students with a range of both talent and motivation (yes, there is definitely a difference) and it does affect the appearance of the "success" of each lesson. Granted, I can certainly do things that will affect the outcomes for all of these levels, but to the casual observer I might appear to be doing more with the motivated students when it actually requires less effort on my part (when they are more likely to share the responsibility) and doing less with some of the others when I'm actually doing more.
