I do not remember where I found this idea anymore, but I know that it is an awesome idea & I love it! I implemented this policy during the second half of my first year when I was fed up with answering the same simple question 10 times because students were not paying attention. I mostly use this policy for questions like... "What page are we on?" "What did we do yesterday? I was gone." "What are we doing today?" "I lost the handout from yesterday. I can get another one?" "Where are the scissors?" These types of questions drive me crazy because if a student simply took the time to look or pay attention, the answer is usually right there. For example, all of the questions above have answers that students could easily find on a calendar slip, written on the Agenda (I include page numbers on my agenda), by asking a classmate who was present or paying attention, by looking at their class's weekly document on the class website, or by using/reading the labels on the SC.
The key to using this policy is that you have the answers somewhere so that students are able to find them. How I manage this in my classroom is by having page numbers written on the Agenda, posting daily calendar slips, making sure each class's weekly online document is updated, including directions on the board or slides, and then saying it a least once out loud (often times I repeat it a few times intentionally and have my students repeat it too). At the beginning of the school year, I gave only verbal directions and it never went well for me. So after a few times of struggling through that I started to make sure that I had directions written in at least one place in my classroom for students to be able to see/find. Another reason I like this policy is that it works well with my classroom set up. The Student Center (SC), Extras Binder, Class Website, Calendar Board with calendar slips were all created so that students would be able to do things on their own. I will have a separate post on the details of all these things soon! Below is a picture of the policy from my syllabus where I explain the C3B4Me policy. As you can see at the end I wanted to emphasize that it's not that I don't want to help my students or answer their questions. To me, this policy is about teaching my students to take initiative, rather than relying on me to do or solve everything for them. I also want them to listen/pay attention the first time (because if you keep repeating things students learn tune you out because they know you will say it again so there is no need for them to pay attention the first time) and also how to use resources that they have available to them. Last year after I implemented this policy I did not have an issue with students not feeling comfortable asking questions but I wanted to make it clear that students can ask me questions. How this policy works in my classroom is that if a student asks a question that falls in the lines where students could answer it themselves by using a resource or asking a classmate such as any of the questions above, I tell the student "C3B4Me" and they usually figure out the answer on their own using one of the resources I have available for them to use. Many times students would politely say C3B4Me to another classmate if they asked a question such as what page something is on after I had said it and written it on the board. This policy worked really well with students getting makeup work. Before implementing C3B4Me, my students would ask me what they missed and never bother to use any of the resources I was spending time putting together for them. After implementation the students started to automatically do it on their own without even asking me because when they would ask me I would just say "C3B4Me" or "Did you look on the calendar board, online or talked to a classmate?" and if they said no I would tell them to start there and then if they still had questions they could come talk to me. Its beautiful!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI teach 7-9 Health Education & Computer 7 in rural southwestern Minnesota. I love using technology in my classroom and teaching students about how to live healthy and informed lives.
Archives
April 2016
Categories
All
|