Working hard or hardly working?

Our superintendent cautioned us that not all students would thrive in a Student-Directed atmosphere. I will say that a few seem to flounder without explicit direction from me each day in student-directed Journalism Production (JP).  But I also have several students producing far more than they did last semester in the teacher-directed Intro to Journalism course.

Each week my Student-Directed students report out on their learning and productivity. I use Google Forms as a quick way to get their feedback. I like to change the questions I ask from week to week to help Friday Form feel more like a conversation than a time clock. This week I included this question I hadn't asked before:

"Do you put as much/less/more effort and time into this class as you do your other classes?"

These are the responses I've received so far:

• Either as much or more depending on the week. I work on EON [Eye of the Needle] outside of class at least twice a week.
• I feel like I haven't done a ton lately in here but there are some weeks I'm in here more than others.
• I put A LOT more time in this one then my others. I really enjoy this class. I come in every study hall and work.
• I put in more effort in this class than most classes. I usually dont do much in other classes and I feel like I am more productive in this class then most others.
• I put in quite a bit of effort since I like working on the yearbook and want to make it great for my friends who are graduating.
• I put in just the same effort if not more in Journalism because I know people want to have a great yearbook.
• I put more into this class then I do my other classes.
• I would say I put as much effort into JP as I do into other class. Maybe even a little more because I often do things outside of school for JP. I just think some people work less because of how "relaxed" the class feels.
• More
• more
• More, I never do math outside of class.
• The same or more because I work on it in study hall.
• Yes I did, because I worked on the story outside of class as well as my other classes.
• yes i do put the same effort
• Yes, because I'm always checking on the backside [of our website] or working on stories and constantly thinking about journalism even when I'm not in class.

I will use their responses as the starting point for face-to-face conferences on Monday. I will show them their answers, then ask them to explain WHY.