Tools
for Teaching Focuses on the Classroom
All
of our efforts to improve education eventually
come down to the classroom. Policies and mandates
must be translated into better teaching practices,
or they are of no use.
Tools
for Teaching describes the teaching
practices of highly effective teachers –
the “naturals.” In addition, Dr. Jones
has developed research-based methods of group management
that are extremely cost-effective
– that free the teacher to focus on instruction
rather than discipline. Advanced skills of classroom
management can produce dramatic increases in student
learning while reducing teacher stress. Here are
just a few examples of teaching tools that work.
Wasted
Time Becomes Learning Time
A
typical class period is not on task until five
to seven minutes after the bell rings. In addition,
a typical lesson transition takes five minutes.
Common to both of these situations is dawdling.
Students are expert time wasters. They have no
vested interest in hustle. They know that as soon
as the transition is over they will go back to
work.
Responsibility
Training teaches the entire class to save time
rather than waste it. Responsibility Training insures
that students are on task when the bell rings,
and it gives the teacher 30 second lesson transitions.
These two items alone can add 10 minutes of learning
time to a 50 minute class period.
Passivity
Becomes Activity
A
common sight when observing classrooms is to see
students just sitting while the teacher works out.
Students are typically passive for over half of
the class period.
It
is exhausting for a teacher to do five “matinees”
a day. We call it “bop ‘til you drop.” Then
during Guided Practice the teachers are met with
hands waiving in the air – the same “helpless
handraisers”
every day. There has to be an easier way to teach
a lesson.
Say,
See, Do Teaching is another essential tool for
teachers. It structures the lesson into a series
of “Say, See, Do Cycles”
which cause students to continually learn by doing.
It becomes the students job to actively engage in
learning activities while the teacher checks for
understanding. No more Bop ‘til You Drop.
Meaning
Business
The
alternative to Meaning Business is “nag,
nag, nag.” Meaning Business deals with typical
classroom disruptions. It is effective, low key
and nonadversarial.
Meaning
Business increases learning for those who need
it most – the low achievers who spend so
much class time “goofing off.”
With a little training, teachers can increase achievement
for the bottom half of a class by as much as 50 percent
while eliminating the majority of classroom disruptions.
Doing
It the Easy Way
The
natural teachers are not working themselves to
death because they know the easy way to get things
done. Not surprisingly, however, teachers start
their careers doing everything the hard way. They
are rookies. What do you expect?
Unless
someone shows these teachers the easy way to succeed,
they will eventually conclude that exhaustion is
an unavoidable part of the job. Rather than letting
them burn out, far better to give them the teaching
tools they need. |
