The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher [Paperback]

Harry K. Wong (Author), Rosemary Tripi Wong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

Used by new and veteran teachers, college instructors, and administrators, this is a beautifully designed book on classroom management, student achievement, and teacher effectiveness. Color graphics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Harry K. Wong Publications; Revised edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962936022
• ISBN-13: 978-0962936029
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (399 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Education & Reference > Schools & Teaching > Lesson Planning

More About the Author

Harry K. Wong is an award-winning teacher and new teacher advocate. Harry is a native of San Francisco and is arguably the most sought-after motivational speaker in education today having given some 3000 presentations to over a million people. He has been called 'Mr. Practicality' for his common sense, user-friendly, no-cost approach to managing a classroom for high-level student success. The March 2006 issue of Instructor magazine named him one of the 20 most admired people in education along with Maya Angelou, Howard Gardner, and Oprah Winfrey. He has received numerous other teaching honors. Profits from the sale of her book fund 'The First Days of School Foundation.' That foundation has built and funds the 250 student 'Wong Mean Reth Learning Academy' in the jungles of Cambodia.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Days of School August 8, 2000

By Arthur D. Vlahon

Format:Paperback

The First Days of School, is number one on the MUST READ list for anyone who aspires to be a good teacher. I'm in my thirty-first year as a high school science teacher and for the last nine years I have used this invaluable resource as a guide. I have obtained great ideas and strategies, priceless advice, valuable insight and inspiration. Using ideas from this resource concerning classroom management, lesson mastery, professionalism, positive expectations, et cetera, a teacher can formulate his/her own style to make themselves a much better, more effective professional educator. Dr. Wong's book applies to all teachers - rookies, veterans, elementary, middle school, and high school - alike. It provides a multitude of "time-tested" practical ideas, strategies and techniques which will make your teaching more effective, fun, exciting, meaningful, relevant, enjoyable, rewarding and successful. You will be at your best everyday; your classroom will function smoothly and at top productivity; and your students will leave each day with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.

135 of 148 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for elementary, too naive for middle school June 13, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I have just finished my first year teaching and found "The First Days of School" useful for setting up a classroom but not for dealing with extreme problems.

Wong's book was an excellent resource for me when I was given a job description, a classroom, and little else. Wong will explain to you how to set up everything from your gradebook to your classroom management system. He stresses the importance of routines and procedures to classroom management, and he is indeed right. If you teach in a school where the students are used to structured classrooms and consistent discipline systems, this book will cover most of what you need to know. Buy it, implement it, call it heaven-sent.

HOWEVER: Wong fails to address the WHAT IFs of classroom management like: what if I'm doing all of these things and the kids are defiant? What if all 35 of them decide to act up? What if I totally lose it? These were the major questions at my school this year, and many of were dissatisfied by the way Wong assumed children would react.

Case in point:
In a discussion of logical consequences for a child not entering the room correctly, Wong suggests that you tell the child to do it over again until he does it correctly. I'm sure that a 2nd grader would repeat the procedure correctly and sit down. An older child at a school with a consistent discipline plan might do this as well.
At my school this year, our 7th graders (who had every 6th grade teacher walk out on them the year before and had gone through five Junior High teachers this year already) would do one of the following:
1. Scream obscenities at the teacher and leave the room (not to re-enter correctly but to ditch);
2. Re-enter incorrectly until the teacher went crazy and wrote the kid a referral*;
3.... Some combination of the above choices, drawing the teacher into a time-consuming referral* while the rest of the class (35+ kids) got out of control.
*The referral would likely not be seen at the office anyway, so the kid's gotten off without a punishment and the rest of the class got away with missing 10 minutes of instruction.

Does this sound out-of-control to you? I certainly hope so. If you find yourself in a situation where students have become accustomed to these behaviors and you want to break them of these behaviors and actually - get this - teach something, BUY FRED JONES' "TOOLS FOR TEACHING" instead. Fred Jones will teach you practical solutions for these problems. He taught me how to deal with the preceding situation and many others, and I'm actually excited to go back next year.

Harry Wong seems nice, his tools are useful, but the second a kid is extremely defiant, his book flies out the window. Jones will teach you how to eliminate backtalk - and it works. Read more ›

114 of 129 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Walk Into The Classroom Without This Book! September 19, 2000

By Rocco B. Rubino

Format:Paperback

I won't go so far to say that this book could replace going through a teacher education program. But there is such a gap between all of the "theoretical stuff" you learn from your professors, and actual practice that this book has been literally a God-send to thousands of teachers.

Dr. Wong and his wife have put together a wonderful resource based on the experieces of hundreds of successful teachers. This book is designed to give the pre-service teacher, or relatively new teacher a handle on what can be, the overwhelming experience of managing a classroom.

This book deals in depth with what a successful teacher looks like, how to have positive expectations about student success, the sometimes elusive art of classroom management, designing lessons to foster student mastery, and the teacher as a professional educator.

Practical, sometimes funny and inspiring from beginning to end, The First Days of School will both strengthen and encourage you for the journey ahead. Buy this book today, and read it many times over. I did!

76 of 85 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for new teachers May 18, 2000

By Trent M. Nicholson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I first was introduced to Harry Wong through a set of videos my mentor teacher had. I found his advice useful, and I still use a number of those ideas today. Coming from a department that didn't stress classroom management very well, I found this book to be priceless.

This is a book you need to read BEFORE the "First Days of School". Some of the ideas take awhile to implement and many of them need to be in place from day one. You can't change you rules two or three times and not expect to upset the apple cart (no pun intended).

The only real drawback I saw in this book is, like so many things in education, this book is largely geared toward elementary teaching. Although it is useful to a secondary teacher, it really shines for the elementary teacher.

I don't have my original copy anymore. It has been passed down to new teachers over the last couple years, but each of them has found it useful.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for not only 1st year teachers, but for all teachers. November 26, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I thought I knew how to manage a classroom and work with children, but my first year was confusing. All those things they teach you in college education classes just don't work in the real world. But I came upon this book during the summer. I was amazed at all the mistakes that I had been making and could now understand why I was having problems in maintaining order. I started out the new school year with the various techniques and ideas that the authors suggest. This year is so much more organized; my classroom activities just flow, classroom control had greatly imporved, and the students seem to be learning more, as test scores climb. It has centaily made my life as an educator much easier. I especially appreciated the chapter which makes you look at yourself and see if you are merely a "teacher" or are you a motivational "educator". I have shared this book with others who have been in the profession for many years and they have all have had high praises for the book. I understand that several of the surrounding colleges are considering adding this as a text to their educational programs. I honestly feel that graduating students would be far more prepared to fact actual classroom situtations with this knowledge under their belts.