From John Bracey:
Hi Ben,
I thought it might be helpful to remind the PLC of the 10 Minute Rule, especially at this point in the year. Here is how I have been using it and why I think it is so powerful for keeping class in L2:
I have found myself using the 10-minute deal very sparingly during my first few years of CI, but I am starting to think that this might be a colossal mistake. I have been using it on days when we are going to play the WCTG or Kahoot. I explain the 10-minute rule to the kids and then proceed to have BY FAR the most high-quality CI of the entire year. No one dares break into English, everyone responds to all questions, the conversations become really fun and large numbers of students begin to spontaneously output. Most of the time we end up going way over the 10 minutes because the kids are keeping the conversational energy alive and fun. At first, I thought I was just the incentive of the game, but now I am thinking that there is more to it than that.
When I was in my early 20’s, I remember reading about something called a “false time constraint”. Full disclosure, I was reading about how to approach women and start conversations (cringe). The “experts” would always say that when you initiate a conversation with someone you don’t know, that you should always start with a “false time constraint” statement like “I’m in a hurry but…” or “I’ve got to go in one minute but…”. The reasoning is that people become 1000 times more comfortable engaging in an interaction when they know that there is a pre-defined ending. I wonder if the same effect is in play with the 10 Minute Rule?
As I struggle to keep the flow of CI going this late into the year, I am going to massively ramp up my use of the 10 Minute Rule this week and report back what happens. Perhaps this more powerful than I thought.
John Bracey