A research-based strategy to build an authentic relationship AND decrease negative classroom behaviors. Score!
Educational researcher, Raymond Wlodkowski, called this “the two-minute intervention” when he originally tested it and found it to be effective in many circ*mstances with students, reducing targeted students’ negative behaviors by 85% immediately following the intervention, and demonstrating an extra boost to the whole class’ behaviors.
The 2×10 has been found to work best with students who:
- respond well to positive adult attention,
- struggle to connect with peers, and
- have deficits in emotional regulation, social awareness, and disruptive behavior.
Here’s how it works:
- Choose your most difficult student right now
- Make time to initiate a 2-minute personal, authentic conversation about anything non-academic that the student is interested in
- Look for opportunities in the conversation to share something related and personally authentic with the student
- Repeat 2 minutes each day for 10 days in a row. Easy peazy!
Tips for 2-Minute Conversations:
- Keep it focused positively on student interests.
- Be consistent each day the student is in class for 10 days.
- Ask open-ended questions, ask follow-up questions.
- Continuing to engage your student this way beyond 10 days will sustain the benefits better, though cutting back from the daily consistency may work just fine.
This is a simple Tier 2 strategy to try before moving to more intensive approaches or Tier 3 options. Learn more about the 2×10 strategy here (ASCD) or find it discussed in many other pages via Google Search.
