by TeachThought Employees
What’s ‘3 Earlier than Me’?
‘3 Earlier than Me’ is a straightforward classroom technique–arguably each a educating and studying technique–that requires that when college students expertise a problem, they need to first ask three completely different folks for assist earlier than reaching out to the instructor.
An evolution of that technique? When college students turn out to be ‘caught,’ they need to first attempt to clear up the issue in three alternative ways earlier than asking the instructor. This makes it extra versatile. You possibly can require college students to ask one individual and search two sources or two folks and one useful resource. You can also group college students in your classroom and require college students go to 1 individual from three of the teams. (You possibly can group by basic skill, content material space, social elements, and so forth.)
College students’ skill to resolve issues each independently and collaboratively is a vital part of a contemporary, environment friendly classroom. When college students get ‘caught’ or aren’t certain the place to go or what to do subsequent, the instructor is usually the primary place to go. However in a classroom–whether or not digitally related or not–they usually can clear up the difficulty on their very own or get help from a number of sources. To really empower college students on this age of knowledge requires that we develop in college students the capability, willingness, skill, and tendency to navigate advanced duties and data.
And this ‘rule’ is a straightforward method to begin.
What Does ‘3 Earlier than Me’ Require?
After all, this method requires that college students develop a development mindset (i.e., that they imagine that they will) and apply over time to construct it as a studying reflex. It additionally requires there to be precise ‘solutions’ within the classroom: extra educated college students, books, a search engine, encyclopedias, and so forth. The ‘caught’ doesn’t must be tutorial, clearly. If it’s a matter of classroom course of, process, or route, ‘3 Earlier than Me’ is extra rapid and efficient. If the issue relies on abilities or content material information, the chance of the instructor needing to become involved remains to be larger however remains to be lower than 100% (as it’s earlier than utilizing a method like this).
Over time this method is usually a good start line for changing college students from ‘study to do’ to ‘study to do effectively.’ After all, there should stay ‘areas for development,’ which is why the holistic ‘studying + others + caring’ method that accompanies ‘3 Earlier than Me!’ is important. Past mastery of content material information and the flexibility to assume critically, college students additionally want time (each experientially and temporally) to develop in different areas and construct capability as readers, writers, and thinkers–that’s, as ‘college students.’ We study extra in relation to and alongside our friends quite than being in comparison with them.
Solely by means of development and independence from establishments and adults can we create a society that may really have an effect on change–develop and clear up persisting challenges. To evolve quite than reproduce itself. Progressive educating and studying fashions should be ‘folks first’ and give attention to serving to people develop their capacities to establish clear up issues on their very own. After all, ‘3 Earlier than Me’ isn’t a world-changing tactic. It’s merely a step towards scholar self-directed studying constructed round a self-organized studying atmosphere.
Conclusion
In colleges, college students usually study in relation to books and adults quite than in relation to nature, objects, or different environment. As a substitute of describing studying when it comes to levels of understanding, depth, or complexity, we establish achievement as relative and consider studying by means of subjective evaluations of how effectively college students did relative to particular studying targets quite than how effectively they recognized issues, sought sources, persevered by means of uncertainty and, over time, constructed studying literacy (i.e.g, studying easy methods to study)
Whereas ‘3 Earlier than Me’ isn’t at all times ‘fixing advanced issues’ about ‘understanding,’ the constant use of it over time can assist college students obtain understanding in ways in which create a extra sustainable studying atmosphere for each lecturers and college students.
What Is 3 Earlier than Me? A Instructing Technique To Construct Capability In College students
