The 2x10 Strategy

We have all known teachers who are “student whisperers.” They walk down the hall and students voluntarily say hello to them. The kid who drives everyone nuts, including other students, acts like a mini-Einstein in the student whisperer’s classroom. You even overhear students of their own volition saying how great the teacher is.  At the lunch table, when every single teacher is venting their frustration about a student’s behavior, the whisperer balks and is genuinely shocked that Larry Looney Tune has done something wrong. The influence of the student whisperer is not to be denied.

The interesting thing about these teachers is that, in my experience, there is nothing complicated about what they are doing. Usually these are the teachers that know the kids, and have taken time to build a relationship with them. The link below is to a blog about the 2x10 Strategy (thank you Beth Antoine for finding and sharing this gem!). Basically, you choose one of your most difficult students and spend 2 minutes a day for 10 days just talking to him/her. The key is that you are not teaching or instructing during that time – you are simply having a 2 minute conversation. I like this because it creates a structure for something that feels a little unstructured. For some teachers, unstructured time with students is super fun and a welcome change from the routine of the day. However, others feel nervous or uncomfortable with this aspect of teaching.

The student whisperers are already using the 2x10 Strategy and then some. They do it naturally. Great teaching requires relationship building. Now it certainly necessitates more than that. The absolute best teachers I have ever known are student whisperers AND experts in the pedagogical aspect of their craft. Still, relationships are the foundation and everything else should come after.

I encourage everyone to try the 2x10 Strategy in the coming weeks. Choose just one student and see what happens. I am going to try it myself by choosing a few repeat “guests” and making sure to get 2 minutes a day with them either in the hall, the cafeteria, or my office.

Please share your thoughts on this topic, and definitely share the results of utilizing the strategy in your room.

http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/2014/10/the-2x10-strategy-a-miraculous-solution-for-behavior-issues.html

What Science Knows

Below, I have linked a Ted Talk along with its transcript. It is 18 minutes and 36 seconds in length, and I promise it is worth the time. Dan Pink, the author of Drive, discusses the science behind motivation, and more specifically the crucial differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

While he connects his talk specifically to the business world, the applications to the school environment are clear. As we look towards the future of Auburn High School, and as we consider how best to motivate our students who are truly disengaged, I think it is important that we consider what scientists have discovered. As Pink explains in his speech:

Now I want to tell you about an experiment using the candle problem, done by a scientist named Sam Glucksberg, who is now at Princeton University in the U.S. This shows the power of incentives. Here's what he did. He gathered his participants. And he said, “I'm going to time you. How quickly you can solve this problem” To one group he said, “I'm going to time you to establish norms, averages for how long it typically takes someone to solve this sort of problem.”

To the second group he offered rewards. He said, “If you're in the top 25 percent of the fastest times, you get five dollars. If you're the fastest of everyone we're testing here today, you get 20 dollars."

Now this is several years ago. Adjusted for inflation, it's a decent sum of money for a few minutes of work. It's a nice motivator.

The simplest and quickest way to try and solve the dilemma of engagement is by rewarding compliance and punishing noncompliance. Easily done – too bad science has shown time and again that this stifles creativity and only works when applied to repetitive tasks. It is much more complicated and time intensive to try and create a solution that gets to the heart of intrinsic motivation, but according to “what science knows,” it is the only way to truly get results.

I would love to hear some thoughts on this, some ideas, some questions, and some frustrations.

Link to the Ted Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation/transcript?language=en