Fred Jones Tools for Teaching [Paperback]

Fredric H. Jones (Author), Brian Jones (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

In Tools for Teaching, Dr. Jones describes the skills by which exceptional teachers make the classroom a place of success and enjoyment for both themselves and their students. Tools for Teaching integrates the management of discipline, instruction and motivation into a system that allows you to reduce the stress of teaching by preventing most management headaches. Dr. Jones helps you reduce student disruptions, backtalk, helpless handraising and dawdling while helping you increase responsible behavior, motivation and independent learning. These skills are made accessable by practical, down-to-earth language and many examples and illustrations that provide the next best thing to attending one of Dr. Jones' workshops.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Tools for Teaching is a training program between two covers. It describes the skills of classroom management in practical, down-to-earth terms that makes sense to practicing teachers. It walks you through skill performance so clearly that you can practice with a colleague by reading out loud from the book. Tools for Teaching deals with the entire range of management situations that define the life of a teacher in the classroom - kids who disrupt, kids who sit helplessly with their hands raised, kids who say, "I'm not doing this." More importantly, the book focuses on prevention using lessons learned from highly effective teachers. These "natural' teachers do not work themselves to death. They do not become burned out. Tools for Teaching brings the skills of our most gifted colleagues to light so that they can be understood and mastered by all.

One of the most common questions that I am asked after a workshop is, "Where were you twenty years ago?" Another common question is, "Why don't they teach us this stuff in college?" The skills described in Tools for Teaching are literally the tools of the profession - your job description. The language, illustrations and format make "Tools" easily accessible. And, the heavy paper and sewn binding ensure that the book with hold up to years of hard use.

About the Author

Dr. Jones was trained as a clinical psychologist and studied the socialization of children while serving on the faculties of both UCLA and the University of Rochester. In addition to training graduate students to do family therapy, Dr. Jones worked extensively in educational settings to help students with severe emotional and behavioral problems. Dr. Jones spent the past three decades working in classrooms to discover how exceptional teachers produce happy and productive classrooms no matter what students they are given. This work resulted in a revolutionary system of classroom management described in Dr. Jones' first two books, Positive Classroom Discipline and Positive Classroom Instruction. Dr. Jones most recent book, Tools for Teaching, offers an updated description of classroom management enriched by two decades of teacher training.

Product Details

• Paperback: 341 pages
• Publisher: Fredric H. Jones & Associates; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965026302
• ISBN-13: 978-0965026307
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Saved my Teaching Career, March 21, 2001

By 

G Pirolo (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fred Jones Tools for Teaching (Paperback)

I had been teaching 7th and 8th grade science for two years at an inner city school and was doing OK. I had my classes somewhat under control, but I was getting worn out trying to keep them under control. I read the intro to this book and couldn't wait to finish it and implement his methods. He clearly explains a whole system to deal with EVERYTHING that occurs in a classroom. He gives specific techniques, not just handy hints. I started using the techniques from this book in the middle of the school year and the change in my classroom, and my stress level has been absolutely incredible. I now have nearly perfect class control and the cooperation of my students at all times. The principle now sends new teachers to my room to observe both discipline and instruction. I reread the whole book a few months after the first read, and my classroom management just keeps getting better and better as well as easier and much less stressful. I wish they had given me a two semester course with this book in college! It has made teaching fun and relaxing for me. I'm sure I would have quit teaching by now if not for Fred Jones' book.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Responding to "Waiting For the Punchline", January 22, 2003

By 

Linda Carpenter (Phoenix, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fred Jones Tools for Teaching (Paperback)

The crisis in America's classrooms is no joke, no punchline intended. I want to respond to "A reader from the United States' who obviously could not have read ( nor understood) the entire book before writing the review. I do not want teachers or other educators to think that he is correct in his descriptions. The "Tools For Teaching" program is a complete teacher training program
that is all about providing examples and models, and coaching for all teachers at any level or experience. It is a practical, incredibly positive, step by step training in how establish a positive classroom, how to stay calm in the face of thirty students and even the worst back talk, how to design and deliver lessons in any content area, based on how the brain learns and how to motivate and create responsible people out of all students, even the most outcast. This reviewer must have read with his brain closed. Achievement rates increase and teachers don't burn out. "Tools For Teaching" is the solution to problems in our schools, a must -read for everyone who cares about student achievement and success in life. And, there truly are many punchlines for Dr. Jones writes with great humor that helps us laugh at ourselves while we learn. I recommend it to every educator in the nation as well as to all parents.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fred Jones Tools For Teaching, November 14, 2000

By 

Paul Roahrig (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fred Jones Tools for Teaching (Paperback)

Fred Jones Tools For Teaching is a practical teaching guide for all prospective and practicing teachers. It is the only methods text that I have used in 31 years of teacher training that is worthwhile for all teachers in today's classroom climate. The text provides classroom management and instruction technology that works in a positive way. Teachers learn how to set limits, teach responsibility and motivate students in a cooperative environment. Teaching and learning improve with explicit classroom instruction methods that help structure lesson planning, enhance partner learning, and actually encourage students to improve learning in order to engage in a preferred learning activity as a reward. Harry Wong's text, The First Days of School, inspires and provides an excellent framework for improved classroom activities. Fred Jones Tools for Teaching takes the next step to provide teachers at any level with proven techniques to improve postive classroom Discipline - Instruction - Motivation.