Classroom Management, Teaching Tips & Tricks | Oct 6, 2014
The 2×10 strategy: a miraculous solution for behavior issues?
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
The 2×10 strategy: a miraculous solution for behavior issues?
By Angela Watson
I’ve been blogging since 2003, and I don’t think I’ve ever used the term “miraculous” in relation to behavior management (or anything in education, for that matter).
But this is a technique that might be as close as it gets. If you have a student for whom no other solutions seem to work, read on.
The 2×10 strategy is simple: spend 2 minutes per day for 10 days in a row talking with an at-risk student about anything she or he wants to talk about.
There’s no mystery to the reasoning here, of course–the strategy builds a rapport and relationship between teacher and student, and lets the child see that you genuinely care about him or her as a person.
The miracle is in how it turns that abstract, overwhelming, where-do-I-start concept of relationship building into something easily manageable with an immediate payoff for everyone involved.
And the miracle is in how well it seems to be working in real classrooms, at all grade levels, across the country.
I heard about this strategy through a teacher in a Facebook group. A group member who wishes to remain anonymous shared this story:
One of my kindergarten girls has been pretty disruptive. During rest time today, I called her over to just talk and we spent more than the two minutes. I learned that her dad has been in jail lately. I learned she loves tarantulas and spiders. I learned she likes it when her mom lets her practice writing her name. Of course then I let her write her name using sticky notes and highlighters and she positively loved it. I learned she thinks her handwriting looks bad so I encouraged her that she will get better with practice. She wanted to know how to spell my name then said, “How do you spell ‘you are beautiful’?” I let her take the sticky notes with her name and put them in her backpack. She danced to her backpack and wanted to keep one of the notes stuck on her shirt. She came back over and said she wanted to stay and learn more. Silly girl, I am the one who was learning!
This experience touched my heart today. I am confident that this small investment of time and others in the future will yield major changes in this little girl’s classroom behavior. It is not easy to find the time. I had high priority things I could/should have been working on but I wouldn’t trade today’s experience for anything.
An update from the same teacher a few days later:
Her behavior was different — better — today! She had a gleam in her eyes. I am a believer now. The way I teach has changed forever.
Of course, other group members read this and wanted to try it out. Here’s another story:
I am not sure who posted the other day about 2×10, where you just chat with a student for 2 minutes for 10 days, but THANK YOU! I tried it yesterday and today with one of my first grade boys, who has already been written up twice for hitting since the beginning of the school year. For the rest of the day and today he was much for attentive in class. Today he chose to read right next to my table during read-to-self.
I also tried it today with a girl who is repeating first grade, is on meds for ADHD, and possibly will be diagnosed with ODD. Since the beginning of the year, she has needed constant reminders to stay on task. After the chat, she needed very few reminders to stay on task. Yes, I had assessing paperwork I could have been doing instead of talking, but I learned so much more from my 2 minute chat with my students. Thank you again, for reminding me what teaching is all about … making connections and building relationships.
So where did this strategy originate? Some people say it’s just what good teachers do. But I did some digging around online and found an article from ASCD based on the research of Raymond Wlodkowski. He reported “an 85-percent improvement in that one student’s behavior. In addition, he found that the behavior of all the other students in the class improved.” I was especially impressed by this anecdote:
Martha Allen, an adjunct professor at Dominican University’s Teacher Credential Program in San Rafael, California, asked her student teachers to use the Two-by-Ten Strategy with their toughest student. The results? Almost everyone reported a marked improvement in the behavior and attitude of their one targeted student, and often of the whole class. Many teachers using the Two-by-Ten Strategy for the first time have had a similar corroborating experience: Their worst student became an ally in the class when they forged a strong personal connection with that student.
Pretty impressive, right? I absolutely LOVE the idea of the 2×10 strategy. Considering how much time many of us spend addressing classroom disruptions and disciplining students, a 2 minute a day investment seems like a no-brainer.
Additionally, I love that this strategy helps teachers focus on the good in their most challenging students so we can avoid falling into the trap of viewing a disruptive kid as a problem instead of a person. It’s much easier to muster up the enthusiasm and patience you need for working with challenging kids if you have genuine empathy for them and get to spend time enjoying their company rather than always correcting them.
Bottom line: As much as teachers would like to have one-on-one convos with every student every day about anything the student wants to talk about…time restraints make that hard. The 2 x 10 is an easy structure to make sure it gets prioritized.
If you try this strategy out with one of your students, will you report back and let us know in the comment section how it went? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
UPDATE OCTOBER 12th: Thank you all for the tremendous response to this post. I’m happy to hear so many of you are already doing this, and I’ve written a follow-up post to address questions about the 2×10 strategy. I’ve shared advice on what to do if:
- the student doesn’t want to talk to you
- you don’t have time for individual conversations
- you don’t know how to get the conversation started
- you’re unsure of what to ask students
- students give you one-word answers
I’ve also specifically addressed middle and high school teachers. I’m looking forward to continuing the conversations!
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
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I actually tried to contact the creator of this idea – originally shared in an unpublished paper and presentation. He shared that he can’t even recall how he came up with it, but like Angela, the concrete application to the absolute understanding that everyone seeks relationship, everyone wants to connect and belong – and be SEEN – provides the power of our relationship to transform how a child perceives him/herself – and can build self-efficacy and ultimately inner wealth. Janet’s comment speaks to the fact that we do give attention – but it is negative attention. Often the children who need our focus, get it under lectures, warnings: relationship – but not in the right direction. So many great, creative ways that teachers use to do this- the intention of this idea is to help us use a different lens on our more challenging children. To help them – and us – view their intensity or complacency as a strength that needs direction. To know them better. If not us – then who? And most significantly, if we are reading this and engaging then yes, we get it. So we must be the voice of this greatness, the wisdom to help others who want to dismiss an angry, disengaged child. Help them see the potential of every child – as the adult who does. Great dialogue. Check out Howard Glasser’s Nurtured Heart Approach – it is this voice.
Thank you for sharing that helpful insight, Tammy!
The whole 2×10 cornerstone concept is all good information, but what if you are working in the alternative education building where students are already troubled in their lives and are below average students academically. You are not allowed to talk to the students, teachers who engage on conversation are pulled from the classroom, the camera video is reviewed with them and they are asked why they were talking to the student. The students and guardians are greeted at morning check in and after that no talking
I’m really sad to hear that teachers are not allowed to talk to the students in this setting. Is it an internal suspension room or something? I have never heard of a situation like this–I’ve spent years volunteering in juvenile detention facilities where even the detention officers are not prohibited from talking with the kids and do try to build relationships. If you can provide more information about how the students are taught at your school (you can’t teach without talking, right?) I will certainly try to offer you advice. You can also email me: angelawatson@live.com. Thank you for caring for these students and trying to make a difference for them in a what sounds like an extremely difficult learning environment.
I love the strategy as it aligns with my own philosophies (each child is precious and special, focused attention is very powerful in meeting the emotional needs, children learn best when they feel loved, safe, and valuable, etc.) It is effective with many children who act out due to emotional needs, family life, past experiences,…
However, it doesn’t work with all children. Some children with special needs cannot control their behavior even though they would like to. My dilemma is when I have a special needs student who requires a teacher ratio of 5-to-1 in my class of 22 students. I can either give her the attention she needs and neglect the other 22 or work with the 22 and she falls apart. It is often impossible to teach the rest of the class when her needs are not being met. We simply have to have better teacher to pupil ratios especially for special needs students.
I agree about the teacher-student ratio issue. Maybe you can spend the 2 minutes when walking the students to lunch, during bathroom trips, at dismissal, etc. I know that it’s really hard when you have a very demanding class.
I believe most teachers do the talking and connection naturally. I just have to mention a lovely experience I had in my last year of teaching. I was taken out of 28 years of elementary and put into art for underachieving junior/senior high. I was quite scared but soon was blown away totally by their talent. I swear I did nothing but sing praises all day long. I showed every who was no longer tired of listening to me brag. I framed and had pictures put up on the walls. I never seemed to have a problem and attendance was high. It finally dawned on me that they came because they knew how proud of them I was and some had never heard anyone tell them how great they were. I had a fantastic year and wished I had moved up a few years earlier.
What a lovely story. I’m so glad you shared your experience.
I’m just seeing this tradegy today but I have used it with my second grade students. I took over for another teacher almost at the end of the school year and had one student who was super hyper. At first I was afraid I wasn’t able to teach these little babies because of their short attention span n busy bodies since I’m use to teaching older students… The first day of classes I told myself that he was going to be my problem and that I have to work hard with them. A few days later I told them that if they need to ask a question or go to the restroom they must raise their hands… It took a while to get them use to it but they got it. I would ignore them if they talk out of turn, they would realize that they should raise their hands and wait their turn. Now with this little boy he got that too but everyday I would call him by my desk and we would talk. He is super smart and mein he always have something to talk about. Even if he isn’t sure of an answer he would still give one knowing its wrong. Coming to the end of the term I had to leave the class and had some older students assisting me. When I came back, he waa the first one I asked about. You know when they see visitors they use that to their advantage. The response was, Miss he sat in his chair and did his work, when he was finished he got a book from the library and sat and read. I was happy for him. Many days he would come to my desk and jump in my lap and hug me. I learned that all these children need, especially the ones that tend to give trouble or not doing their work, is just a little love and attention. Mein at the end of the school year i saw a big difference in those students. Fellow coworkers congratulated me in having classroom management and changing the behaviour of those students. I could leave my class unattended and you wouldn’t believe that a teacher is not in the class… So teachers out there, just show your babies a lil love and attention and you have the best school year and the best set of kids throughout your school…. So this tradegy really work.. Try it!!!