College Reports on Tools for Teaching

College Report Information

During the last few years, the number of students doing presentations on management styles and programs has increased to the point that we can not personally respond to all of the requests we receive. Instead, we are creating this addition to our web site in the hope that it will help you get started. If you have any thoughts about how we can improve this information for you please let us know (info@fredjones.com)

 

Expanding the Model

We are working on the assumption that you are using one of the following books for a survey class on classroom management (if you are using a different book please e-mail us and let us know what it is):

 

• Charles, C.M.; Building Classroom Discipline, Longman (9th ed), 2007.

• Tauber, Robert T.; Classroom Management, Sound Theory and Effective Practice, Greeenwood Publications (4th ed), 2007.

• Wolfgang, Charles H.; Solving Discipline Problems, Methods and Models for Today's Teachers, Allyn and Bacon, 1995.

 

Since each of these books contains a summary of the Fred Jones' model, the next step is to expand upon the model by going from summary to source. If Tools for Teaching is not available through your professor or in the reference section of the library, have your professor contact us. We will mail him or her a desk copy for the department.

 

More Resources

If you do not have access to any of Fred's books, we have some suggestions to get you started and some answers to frequently asked questions:

 

• About Dr. Jones

• How does this positive stuff work anyway?

• What does it look like in a real school?

• Coming full circle

 

In addition, we have included an exercise in Limit Setting which is a big part of Meaning Business.

 

Also:

 

• Read What Educators Say about Fred Jones.

• Our Overview link will tell you where and why Fred started with classroom management.

• Check out the three books above and do a comparison of their summaries.

• Download Chapter One from book Tools for Teaching.

• Read Dr. Jones's original research.

 

About Dr. Jones

For over 40 years Dr. Jones has studied highly successful teachers - the "naturals" - to see how they make success look easy. During that time he has conducted extensive research and constant experimentation in classrooms. His objective has been to perfect methods of classroom management that are both powerful and affordable for the teacher. Successful teaching is neither "magic" nor is it a collection of handy hints - the proverbial "bag of tricks." Rather, successful teaching is built around a handful of core competencies that are expressed in everything the teacher does. Once mastered, they bring rapid relief from teacher exhaustion for one simple reason:

 

Responsible students who have learned to manage themselves
require much less management from the teacher.

 

Dr. Jones has focused upon providing quality professional development that builds an on-going process of growth and change among faculty and administrators at the school site. He has developed books, videos and other support media to ensure a consistent quality of training and follow-through by school site personnel.

 

Dr. Jones received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UCLA specializing in work with schools and families. While on the faculty of the UCLA Medical Center in the late 1960's/early 1970's, Dr. Jones developed methods of helping children with severe emotional disorders as head of the Child Experimental Ward of the Neuropsychiatric Institute. At that time he also began pioneering research in classroom management in both regular and special classrooms. While on the faculty of the University of Rochester, Dr. Jones continued to develop the non-adversarial management procedures that were to become Positive Classroom Discipline and Positive Classroom Instruction. Dr. Jones most recent book, Tools for Teaching (first edition published in 1998) offers an updated description of classroom management enriched by two decades of teacher training.

 

How Does This Positive Stuff Work Anyway?

(excerpt from newsletter)

The faculty at Andrews University has taken teacher training a step beyond the norm. Drs. Richard Orrison and Paul Denton recognize that while they provide their students with both Fred Jones' video courses, young adults who have never experienced standing before a class have many question about how this system works. Who better to answer their questions than classroom practitioners? The two teachers who traveled to Berrien Springs, MI taught many years before attending a Fred Jones' training and were able to share before and after experiences.

 

Jane Duell of Concord High School in Elkhart, IN teaches French. For the last three years she has been in charge of the Mentor program at her site. Recognizing the edge that Positive Classroom Management gave her, Jane made the video courses a large part of her mentoring. She was able to answer questions about the use of the program in most subject matters at the secondary level. She concluded that it was not any one part of the Jones' method that made a difference, but all the parts together. For the first time in her career she had a system. She could make decisions about what to do from a solid understanding of classroom management.

 

Linda Crissman of Model Elementary in Goshen, IN shared how she was able to turn an aggressive Special Ed class into a working unit that now manages an ecology program at a local stream. (Linda's class was featured in the December, 1998 issue of Ranger Rick Magazine.) Linda's success with the Fred Jones's program has led her to training for her school, her district and for both Purdue-I.U. at Ft. Wayne and I.U at South Bend. She has won the President's Award for teaching elementary science two years in a row. Linda explained that her classroom life is less stressful now that she uses the Jones methods.

 

What Does it Look Like In A Real School?

The master teachers invited Andrews U. students to see Positive Classroom Management in action at their schools. In September, teachers-to-be traveled to Indiana to observe first hand in a variety of classes. Those visiting Model Elementary commented that it was not only an orderly school, but one that gave off a warm feeling.

 

The students visiting Concord High immediately saw signs that the Jones model was in use as they looked at room arrangements. What surprised them was that the teachers made discipline look effortless. There was no nagging, no confrontations and the students were busy. It was apparent that after a few short weeks students knew that the teachers meant business. Working the crowd and not being tied to a board or a podium allowed them to maintain time on task and eliminate most "goofing off." One teacher shared that the instructional component that taught her to involve the students in doing step by step, rather than sitting passively while the teacher did all the work, solved discipline problems while increasing learning.

 

Coming Full Circle

"The real proof is in the pudding," said Richard Orrison, "The original idea of incorporating Fred Jones into our curriculum came from graduates who reported that the one weakness of their preparation was in classroom management. Since teaching these methods, we have made it a habit to ask recent graduates back to speak to our classes. The contrast was just what we wanted. Jones' trained graduates described a first day of school wherein their walkways gave them easy access to students, where they successfully taught procedures, played get acquainted games and introduced PAT. Their confidence was based on knowing what to do - not using trial and error in a search for their 'own style.'"