Hampton Bays Middle School
Monday Memo #32
2 By 10
Welcome Back and Happy May!
I hope you've had a relaxing Spring Break and are feeling ready for the next stretch of time with our students. Take a few moments this week to enjoy April's Storify and the previous installments as well. Thanks for contributing photos and tweets - keep it up!
Continuing on the theme of connecting with our students, I recently came across an ASCD article from 2008 in which the author writes about a teaching strategy called the "2 x 10 strategy". It's geared towards redirecting a student who's exhibiting negative behaviors to more positive behaviors.
I wonder if you'd be willing to try this with me, in the days, weeks, and month to come.
Here's how it works:
1. Select one student in your advisory or in one of your classes, who is challenging you with his/her behavior.
2. Commit to investing two (2) minutes a day to this student, for the next 10 days.
3. During each daily two-minute interval, your role is simple: Talk with an at-risk (at-promise?) student about anything he/she wants to talk about, so long as it's school-appropriate.
So I challenge you to try this out, and I bet you won't be disappointed. If you'd like to read more, take a look at the following two links:
- The 2 x 10 Strategy: A Miraculous Solution for Behavior Issues? http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/2014/10/the-2x10-strategy-a-miraculous-solution-for-behavior-issues.html
- Overcoming the 3 Biggest Obstacles in Relationship Building with Kids http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/2014/10/3-biggest-obstacles-in-building-relationships-with-kids.html
Should you try this, I'd love to hear your feedback on it's effectiveness. And...I appreciate all that you do for our students and our middle school program!
Dennis