In fact, sometimes I feel that I forget that the reason why we tell kids to do or not do anything is for them to realise that there are many things out there that they need to know about. Not only is that crucial but it's also important to realise that telling them to do something means that they will have to change themselves... believe me when I say changing yourself is not easy.
At least by saying do that, it is directed and there is a good idea about what we require them to do. In fact, most of the time, we'll say things like:
Do your work.
Do the exercises following the instructions given.
Go into your groups.
These are very direct in terms of focus and the kid knows exactly what to commence next in his actions. However, most of us take the action of don't do to be similar. It is not as directed as do that. In fact, when you tell someone not to do something, what happens is it creates a void (assuming he follows you).
The commands don't do must always be followed by do that. A lot of teachers take that for granted. We cannot expect the kids to know what has to be done to fill that gap that we told them to create. We should similarly direct them to do something to fill in that gap.
Even I miss the point sometimes.
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