Before the Launch of Self-Directed Learning, We Talk

Before we launched our full week of Self-Directed Learning, my grade 7 students and I had some very frank discussions about school, learning and what we should be thinking about as we explore this model of learning. Our goal is not just to complete an independent study, but to develop a deeper understanding of what "school" and "learning" actually mean. We are very interested in discovering if this model would be effective in middle school.  Below are 2 ways we documented these discussions.