A win--win for the Writing Workshop classroom








The Parent Coach Plan

A few weeks ago I read about a technique called "Two by Ten.” The idea was that a teacher should spend a few minutes each day for ten days interacting one-on-one with his or her most problematic students, not nagging or scolding, not even necessarily discussing school issues, but just talking.  The results reported were impressive: Troublesome students suddenly became more cooperative in class and acted out less.


To me, this is a clever way to connect with our male students without their risking losing face by becoming "buddy-buddy" with the teacher, as Ralph Fletcher suggests can easily happen in his book Boy Writers:  Reclaiming Their Voices .  Embed this strategy inside a writing or reading conference, where a secondary male student doesn't feel singled out amongst   his peers, and we have a win-win for all involved. 

Now, granted there would have to be some discussion of school-related issues; after all, it is a literacy conference. But that conference excuse, if you will, permits the conversation to go in another direction, perhaps a more personal one or one that is more human-centered and less educational goals centered.  And ultimately, it allows teacher-student conversation to turn to a more individual level.  Individual conversations are the foundation of building relationships.  And relationships often foster learning… and cooperation, says Professor Raymond Wlodkowski, author of the “Two by Ten” model.

Most of us are probably familiar with the premise: Get to know your students for better classroom management as espoused by Harry Wong and many others.  We  use interest inventories and other techniques to know our students.  We informally greet students at the classroom door each period and take a disruptive student into the hallway to ask what is going on instead of calling him out individually in front of his peers. But sometimes keeping 32 students - including several rambunctious boys- on task and learning can be a challenge.

It seems to me that in a class modeled on Writing Workshop principles, teachers can integrate “Two by Ten” quite easily without changing too much in our classroom practice.

One consideration I will need to make is my current seating chart where students are grouped into pods of fours.  I imagine that a student would be less likely to have a longer discussion in front of his three other group mates, so I may need to adjust my seating practices. 

If students were seated in three double rows, I could scoot up to each student on the aisle to ensure a little more comfort as we chat.  I imagine that the class seeing me roll on my mechanics' stool around the room and chatting with several students one-on-one, as I already do, would keep the sense of routine normal. The only difference would be the students I chose to talk with each day and the length of time I stayed chatting.  My normal philosophy is more One-Minute Teacher style to touch base with as many students as possible.  But this may not be the best use of my time. 

Spending another minute with problem students may be the investment that pays the most dividends for the entire class.