The struggle between freedom and responsibility

This is a 9pm one take post.  It kind of rambles.  Hopefully it makes sense. I'd love your thoughts.

In my honors class, I'm struggling with the balance between asynchronous "work at your own pace" and "here's the deadlines, you need to meet them".

Here's what I'm doing now:

Students have their WSQ chart with "deadlines" for when certain WSQs need to be submitted and when we are going to have our discussions for certain concepts.  They are expected to be keeping up with the pace of the class in terms of being introduced to the content...

However, I try to be flexible with the students and understanding if they are a day behind or if they just couldn't get the WSQ done for some reason.  My mantra is, "You can work ahead, but you can't fall behind", but I definitely have students who are a day behind here or there.

The problem is that they don't catch back up. 

I want to give them that little bit of freedom.  I want to relieve a little bit of stress in their lives if they have a lot going on one day/week.  But I also expect them to take responsibility and make sure they get caught up instead of always being a day behind.

Because of the freedom I give my students, I'm already sensing some students are starting off the 2nd semester taking advantage of that freedom.  They aren't working 100% in class, they are very unfocused, and there is no drive or desire to make sure to get their work done... they'll "get it done later". (That doesn't mean they aren't doing ANYTHING in class... it just means they are behind and aren't making any effort to catch back up, they are just going with the flow at a slow pace).

Tomorrow is the first test of the 2nd semester.  Students have known for 2.5 weeks that they must:

• Finish 6 PQ assignments
• All PQ assignments were supposed to be completed by the end of class on Friday.  On Tuesday when I saw my students again after a 3-day weekend, I had some students who hadn't even begun PQ6
• Submit "Collaborative Answer Key" (a picture of ONE of their PQ problems to share with classmates)
• Collaborative Answer Key submissions could have been submitted for over a week and a half as students worked out problems.  I had received less than half by class time on Tuesday.
• Take 6 Concept quizzes
• Concept quizzes are supposed to be taken the day after they practice the assignment to assess their true knowledge, comprehension, and application.  I had at least 40% of the students on Tuesday who hadn't even started them.  I used to "demand" that certain quizzes be taken certain days, but again I like giving them the freedom (and thus responsibility) to take the quizzes when they are ready for them.  However, when they wait until the last day to take the quizzes, they (and I) don't get the formative feedback needed to make corrections and provide support before the test.  Most of them don't see it that way, so I need to do a better job of explaining purpose (like most things).  However, it also causes me stress because I'm sitting here the night before the test seeing horrible errors that should have been caught way beforehand.  However, students do great when they are working in groups, able to ask questions, and able to refer to their notes.  They think they don't need the help.  That is why the quizzes are so vital - can they really do it on their own?  If not, where are they struggling?  If they never take the quizzes with time for feedback, how can we discuss that?

I don't want to "enforce" quiz days because it goes against one of my goals of relieving student anxiety and, again, giving them freedom and responsibility for their learning.  But if they can't manage it on their own, do I need to re-think that?  Also, it's not all kids, so how do I enforce it with some and not with others who don't need it?  I have to do this with my lower Alg1 kids, but I feel like my honors 11th-12th graders should be able to handle it.  Have I gotten too lax??

Maybe I'm just tired and frustrated tonight.  Maybe they will surprise me greatly on the exam tomorrow.  Honestly, from what I've seen, I highly doubt it.  Regardless, we need to talk about "you can work ahead but you can't fall behind" and talk about what that really means.  Making no progress is not an option.  For example, I have a student who consistently is behind but consistently blames it on going out of town for extracurricular events many weekends... but this student does nothing during the week to try to get ahead or caught up.  Once in a while, that is okay... but when it becomes a consistent habit, it just doesn't cut it anymore.  This student is taking advantage of the "freedom" I am giving and not taking "responsibility" for him/herself, his/her actions, his/her commitments, etc.  The excuses have to stop and responsibility must be taken.

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That comes to students not taking tests with the rest of the class, which was a total bust first semester.  Those students never ended up catching up and were my only F's.  Pretty much all A's and B's with a few C's... and then some F's.  Only 10 total I believe out of 95 - but still way too many when these students were capable of passing but just didn't have the inner drive and dedication to succeed.

When students don't take the test with the class, they are given a make-up date.  It's on my schedule and my calendar, usually about a week later.  However, I did nothing to hold the students accountable between original and make-up test dates.  They had to start the new unit with the class (so they didn't fall further behind), but tested with a new version on the make-up date.  The only reason they would not be prepared is if they didn't take advantage of all the time given to them in class and tutoring opportunities available.  For example, we have done nothing new all week - just practice and review... test tomorrow.  If a student isn't ready, then what were they doing the last 2 days to get ready?  I did not see a lot of urgency during class time from any of the students who have contacted me saying they don't think they'll be ready...

My only thoughts is something like, "If you don't test on the class test day, you must come for ____ outside of class tutorings before the make-up day".  I might try that and see how it works - tutoring is big at our school anyways so it's not something new for the kids.

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Okay, I need to get to bed.  If you got through this, I'm impressed.  And wondering if it made any darn sense, so please let me know your thoughts.   

I want to give my students that freedom.  But I also want them to take responsibility for that freedom and not take advantage of it.  I think that is the line that is not clear right now.

Remember... these are my Honors kids.  Juniors and Seniors.  Great kids, smart kids,... busy kids..., but totally capable kids.  But, like most teenagers, I'm giving them an inch and they are taking that mile...

The only question is - how do I make it more clear?