The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 4th Edition

I was a bit uncertain when it came to allocating stars to this book; it's not a solid, unquestionable five star effort, but it was just too good to leave it at four stars. My objections, which almost cost it a star in its ratings, is that the authors have a tendancy to overstate their case on occasion, as when they discuss the value of teachers having positive expectations of their students. They say, in almost so many words, that whatver you expect of your students, that's what you'll get. Now, I fully believe that it is better to have high expectations than low ones, and that students whose teachers have high expectations of them will, in general, do better than those whose teachers have low expectations. But there is such a thing as unreasonably high expectations; if I go into a Kindergarden class expecting that every student in the class will be able to do differential Calculus by the end of the year, that is an unrealistic expectation, and one that is likely to produce nothing but frustration for me and my class. Granted, it is sometimes difficult to tell what expectation is reasonable and those expectations that are standard may well be too low in many cases. But "you will get whatever you expect from your students" ranks right up there with idea that you can self-hypnotize yourself into believing that you can fly, and then all you need to do is flap your arms hard enough and you'll be airborne. And when they discuss the study that supports their claim that expectations are all-important, they spend over two pages detailing the study and its results, and just three throw-away words that essentially invalidate it: "Following the original study, many additional studies have been undertaken. Some have been able to replicate the findings, while OTHERS HAVE NOT." (emphasis added)Still, having said all of that, I do feel that this book is extremely valuable and has a wealth of good advice for the new teacher as well as the experienced teacher struggling to succeed. If Harry Wong occasionally gets carried away by his own enthusiasm and exaggerates his claims, it's in a good cause, and the errors are mostly errors of exaggeration, not qualitatively wrongheaded. I fully believe that 90% of what this book has to offer is golden, and of the remaining 10%, at least half is no worse than questionable.

Stop. Stop right where you are. If you are an educator, and you can read these words, I need you to stop what you are doing and consider my review. I taught various elementary school grades over the last 5 years, and after this most recent year, I thought I was going to quit and have to find a new occupation. Teaching wasn't for me. Before I gave up, I overheard other teachers talking about "Harry Wong". I decided that before I would completely give up on teaching, I would give it one last chance, but first I would read this book. I ordered this book right as the school year ended. I finished reading this book within 3 days.Within the pages of this book are all the tools you will ever need as an educator. I went from wanting to quit the teaching profession completely and find something else, to now being confident that I can teach and that my students can learn. Harry Wong's book, "The First Days of School" has completely transformed the way I view teaching, from a job - to a craft. I now have the confidence to become the best teacher possible, and it is all thanks to this book. (I would also recommend going to a Responsive Classroom Workshop, but they don't review those things on amazon)The book is a bit verbose, and sometimes the testimonials inside get a bit tiring, but the bulk of the actual information here will absolutely get anyone excited to teach. It will take any fear or worry out of the first few days, and those are the most important. Harry Wong says, the most important time of the school year is the first minute of class. It sets the tone for what type of teacher you will be the entire year. This book gives you MORE information than you will need. I certainly recommend it.

Worked well for what I needed it for.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, so bear with me! First, this is a phenomenal book for new teachers, or anyone who wants to reflect on their current teaching practices. I'm going into my second year and I wish I had known about this book last year! I definitely have a lot of ideas to try and a much better plan going into this year instead of "winging it" like I did last year. As far as laying out how you should start the year with routines and procedures and having a plan in place, this book is phenomenal. It helped me reflect on the things I did in my first year to see what was effective and what wasn't. Based on content alone, I would give this book 5 stars. The reason I give it 4 is simply due to the organization of that content. In many places, the organization and presentation of content is not "effective" (to use a term so frequently used in the book). When I read a textbook like this, I take notes on everything - basically a complete outline of the book. This is how I learn best while reading academic material so my mind won't wander, and I better retain the information. When I first set out to read the book, I spent a lot of time flipping around just to try to figure out how everything was set up so I could structure my notes. As I was reading, I was very distracted by the sidebars and random boxes of random things that sometimes seemed to have nothing to do with the content of the page. The same applies to some of the section headings - there would be a section title, followed by paragraphs that did not expand on the title at all. For instance, one subsection is called "The Choices We Make Determine Our Future" and it only talked about how Rosa Parks made a choice; there was no mention of how this relates to teaching, or even an example of a teaching choice. I found myself rereading a lot of sections to make sure I hadn't skipped the explanation of the section title - usually I didn't; it just wasn't there. Aside from this, another thing that bothered me about the layout was simply how repetitive it is. Sentences are repeated almost verbatim multiple times with other information mixed between. Don't get me wrong - I got a lot out of reading this book! Every first-year and young teacher should have this book! Just be warned that the layout and organization of material may take some getting used to, and sometimes may leave you scratching your head wondering if you missed something.

I found this book very useful in my teacher training course.

Livre excellent. Un indispensable a mettre entre toutes les mains, surtout pour les enseignants qui cherchent des astuces concernant la discipline et la gestion de classe. Conseils qui fonctionnent du primaire au lycée, mais surtout adaptés primaire et collège.

Helpful for teachers

Very down to the point with tips one can implement immediately. Certainly a MUST-HAVE-READ!If you haven't started teaching yet, it's worth it for getting an idea, what you have to think about regarding classroom management. If you teach already, it can help you to find out, what is working well in class and what not.I read it together with "Fred Jones Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation". This combination of books really saved my start and brought back to me the joy of teaching.

I purchased this book shortly after graduating from an Education program while looking for a job. In September, the day before my very first day of school, I inhaled this book and changed the plans for my first day entirely. This book addresses all of the questions I had at the very beginning of the first few days of school. From how to greet students first thing in the morning to getting the most valuable information from them at the end of the period, phoning home, parent teacher interviews, and a variety of ways to set up your classroom, it covered all of the basics I needed. Of course I still had questions that only my school administration team could answer, but I was able to feel ready for that very first day. One of the best things about this book is it is universal, it has applications that can work in any K-12 classroom. Personally, I teach 9-12 and had to make a few adaptations, but it has worked for me! I've passed this book onto my principal, raving about it, especially for those teachers who are new to our division, or new to the profession. This book is not meant to be a cover-all for all aspects of teaching, but rather a step-by-step guide for any new and anxious teacher the week before school starts. Supplement with other material and texts and you have the perfect beginning teacher's library!