Intervention Name: 2x10 Relationship Building (or Two-by-Ten Relationship Building)
Tier(s): 2
Grade Levels: K-12
Description: Support students by spending two minutes per day (for 10 consecutive school days in a row) connecting with a student individually and offering extra social-emotional support.
Introduction:
Educators (or school leaders) select a student and set a goal to engage in a brief conversation with that same student for 2 minutes a day on 10 consecutive days. In this way, we seek to build students’ social awareness, self-awareness and relationship skills by modeling empathy and active listening while conveying care.
Instructions:
• Choose one student who you would like to strengthen your relationship with.
• Find this student and start a conversation with them. To build a productive relationship with a student, adults will likely have to initiate the connection.
• The focus of these conversations should be about:
◦ Brevity. These conversations should last two minutes or under.
◦ Student Voice. Invite them to share something non-academic with you about their day or life.
◦ Honesty. Model transparency and authenticity by sharing something personal/non-academic with the student.
• The content of your conversation should not relate to the student’s schoolwork or behavior.
This intervention was inspired by: Wlodkowski, R. J. (1983). Motivational opportunities for successful teaching [Leader's Guide]. Phoenix, AZ: Universal Dimensions.