Fredric H. Jones

Tools for Teaching

By Carrie Pearson

Biography of Jones Clinical psychologist Developed and implemented programs for special needs children

with mental disorders Univ. of Rochester- working in the areas of nonadversarial

classroom management & teacher training Independent consultant for school districts Author- Classroom Discipline (1987), Positive Classroom Instruction

(1987), Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation (2007) A series of DVDs

Jones’ Research

Jones research began by observing 2 “natural” teachers who worked with emotionally and educationally handicapped students. Natural Teachers-

Didn’t raise their voices Left the classroom still fresh, compared to other teachers who

were burnt out “mean business” No extensive record keeping, contracts, or tangible reinforcers

After weekly observations, after-school brainstorming with teachers, and mini-experiments, Jones ideas began to surface.

Theoretical Framework

French & Raven’s Social Bases of Power: Coercive, reward, and

legitimate

Wolfgang & Glickman’s School of Thought: Interventionist

Skinner-Rogers’ Dichotomy: Skinnerian side

Lewis’ Keeping It Simple Framework: Control and manage

Layer Cake Approach

There are four components to Jones’ discipline

management:

1. Classroom Structure

2. Limit Setting

3. Responsibility Training

4. Backup Systems

3 Areas of Classroom Management

1. Instruction- the process in which teaching takes place; students learn by doing.

2. Motivation- incentives that occur during the lesson

3. Discipline- increasing the time-on-task while reducing inappropriate behaviors

Instruction

In Jones’ Tools for Teachers he says, “For

students to learn, they must enjoy learning.”

Tauber goes on to describe Jones model,

“Discipline prevention starts with effective,

engaging, and enthusiastic teaching.”

Quality instruction uses the following key

components: working the crowd, room

arrangement, helpless hand raisers, praise,

prompt, and leave, say, see, do, and specific

procedures and routines.

Working the Crowd

Natural teachers spend less time in front of the class teaching and more time circulating the room while students are working. Physical proximity of the teacher is a powerful factor that lessens the chances of students misbehaving.

Room Arrangement

Broad walkways- make it easier for a teacher to get from one student to another.

Remove furniture barriers between teacher and students.

Students desks are near the board for easy conversation b/w teacher and students.

Assigned seating. Loop-type set up so the

teacher can see everyone’s work.

Helpless Hand Raisers

Some students look for your attention as the class begins independent work. Working

with that child can take up to 4 minutes, meanwhile the rest of the class is getting off

task. Using guided practice and praise, prompt, and leave will help those students

become more independent workers.

Praise, Prompt, and Leave

Jones’ suggests, “be clear, be brief, be gone,” when addressing the questions of the “helpless hand raiser.”

Use visual instructional plans- describing the specific steps to solving the problem with a picture for every step and a minimum reliance on words.

VIPs are a string of visual prompts a student can access at will- making them less dependent on you and making you more available to work the crowd.

*These ideas were taken from Dr. Fred Jones articles “Weaning the Helpless Handraisers, Part 1:

Reinforcing Helplessness,” (10/2003) and “Weaning the Helpless Handraisers, Part 2: Teaching to the

Visual Modality” from www.Educationworld.com (11/2003).

See, Say, Do Teaching

In a lesson, you tell and show students what to do next, then have them practice it before they forget.

Students learn by doing and the teacher continually monitors their performance.

Structured practice includes repetitions of a newly learned skill within a controlled environment by the teacher. This practice builds confidence in the learner, leading to less helpless hand raising.

Specific Procedures & Routines

By practicing routines to mastery, you are telling the students you value the importance of the appropriate behavior and will spend time and energy getting it right.

Research shows that highly effective teacher spend most of the first two weeks of the semester practicing routines.

Investing time in classroom procedures is an example of proactive versus reactive management.

*This information is from Dr. Jones’ article Rules, Routines, and Standards in Elementary and Secondary Grades, 10/ 2007, posted on www.Educationworld.com

MotivationMotivation is managed through the use of incentives.

Incentives answer the question, "Why should I?" By managing incentives, we can increase the motivation of

students to work hard while working conscientiously.

-Fred Jones’ article Positive Discipline: Part 3 No Joy, No Work, 1/ 2006; posted on www.Educationworld.com

Incentives Informal incentives- most incentives in life. In a family an

informal incentive is love. Formal incentives- an agreed upon exchange of goods

and services (i.e. a paycheck). Proactive incentives- are established in advance (i.e.- “you have

to finish your homework before you can watch tv”) Reactive incentives- an exchange happening in the heat of the

moment (i.e.- often ends up with a bribe, a child refuses to clean his room, mother and son argue, mother offers him money and now he cleans his room)

*Positive Discipline: Part 3 No Joy, No Work, 1/ 2006; posted on www.Educationworld.com

Preferred Activity Time (PAT) PAT is the incentive program designed to keep students

motivated in the classroom. It is a way to reinforce time management responsibility among the students. The students earn PAT for quickly transitioning or finishing early with their work. Jones’ PAT model encourages students to make their own responsible choices along with classroom collaboration- earning more or losing time for their behaviors. In order for this technique to work, the teacher must establish clear routines and expectations so the class will understand what is at stake. PAT activities should be enjoyable for the students.

Preferred Activity TimeExamples

Art projects Computer time Science projects Learning centers Learning games Reading & writing for

pleasure Helping the teacher

Preferred Activity Time must be fun for the students!

Jones’ says, “Having fun with learning amounts to enlightened self-interest.”

*Positive Discipline: Part 3 No Joy, No Work, 1/ 2006; posted on www.Educationworld.com

Discipline

In Jones’ article, Responsibility Training: Part 1 Incentives Teach Lessons, he states:

“There are only two things you can do with a behavior. You can increase it or you can decrease it. If you consistently

increase the behaviors you want, and consistently decrease the behaviors you do not want, sooner or later you will be left

with what you want.”

Meaning Business

Meaning Business means: Efficiently dealing with the daily misbehaviors of

students Working smart, not working hard Self-preservation Remaining calm for effective classroom

management