Question: I have a class of freshmen who ask for help at the drop of a hat. They lack the ability to persist and find their own solutions. Beyond that, can you provide a hack or creative ideas for helping them in an organized and efficient manner?
Answer: First, consider instituting the “Three Before Me” strategy, where students must ask three classmates for help before asking the teacher. This method promotes student independence, collaboration, and problem-solving skills by encouraging peer-to-peer learning and reducing the teacher’s role as the sole source of information.
Another strategy to encourage self-help is to document your lesson well and point students back to those documents to find the answer. Documents can include written directions, photosteps, and even YouTube videos.
Another related strategy employed by an art educator is to turn the question back on the student by asking, “How can you answer that question?” The art teacher explains, “They are relying on you to answer for them because it’s easiest. Pull back, let them answer for themselves… this is part of the learning in the art room.”
I often used a number system that reminded me of a deli-style system. I would assign the students a number, and then, once I finished with the first student, I would ask who was 2. To be honest, this didn’t work well as students forgot their numbers, so I moved to having a spot on the board where students would write their names. Low tech and reasonably effective. Another possibility is using an idea that came from art educator Mollie Mack, who suggests using the number holders you see and use in some restaurants, like these. Genius!
Art Teacher Shayna Jean prefers to canvas her tables because, as she wisely shares, “there are a lot of students that won’t speak up and will get overlooked.” As long as you continue to canvas the classroom. you are able to access who needs help and provide students an opportunities to ask questions.
In researching this question, I discovered something called the “Status Cup System.” In this system, Students are each given three colored, stackable cups—typically green, yellow, and red. During work time, the students display a cup to indicate their status.
The meaning of each cup color:
Red: “I’m stuck, help!” The student requires immediate assistance from the teacher and cannot proceed without help.
Green: “I’ve got it!” The student is confident, understands the material, and can continue working independently. In group settings, this indicates that the group is functioning effectively and does not require additional support.
Yellow or Orange: “I’m working on it.” The student is making progress, but lacks complete confidence and may require the teacher to adjust the pace or offer additional practice.
