r kikuo johnson

These witty illustrations by R. Kikuo Johnson from a recent NYT magazine drew me in. The article ain't half bad either, about teaching but I found it useful as a parent. Going to paraphrase mercilessly below...

Here’s what I need from you, I need that piece of paper turned over and a pencil out.

Imagine if the first direction had been, ‘Please get your things out for class,’ ” he said. The students [or your children -ed.] pay attention not because of your inborn charisma, but simply by being direct and specific.

In Boston, he [Doug Lemov the subject of this piece -ed.] declared himself on a personal quest to eliminate the saying of “shh” in classrooms, citing what he called “the fundamental ambiguity of ‘shh.’ Are you asking the kids not to talk, or are you asking kids to talk more quietly? A teacher’s control, he said repeatedly, should be “an exercise in purpose, not in power.”

Lots of good techniques that I've been trying to use... we'll see. Further reading.