Customer Reviews

Your First Year As an Elementary School Teacher : Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is very similar to "Your First Year as a High School Teacher." I think that the authors were trying too hard to make this a how-to book, when it should be regarded instead as a reference book.

What I mean is, the book spells out everything a new teacher has to think about, from discipline, to lesson plans, to staff relations, to supplies, etc. etc. etc. I don't think it really succeeds as a how-to book, though. If you want something like that, start with Harry Wong's "First Days of School" instead. This book might be handy next to your dictionary and thesaurus as a reference guide, though.

The numerous sidebars are what set apart this book from some others. "From the desk of..." provides nice anecdotes and stories. Sometimes it's nice to know that other teachers have also laughed and cried their way through their first years. "Making the grade" points to numerous excellent online resources. Let me stress how good their resources are - this is truly where you could the best use from this book. The "Teaching terms" are a bit condescending (What first-year teacher doesn't know what a 'school assembly' or a 'grade book' is? If there are a lot, we are all in big trouble!).

On the whole, I think first-year teachers will be able to use snippets of this book. But unless you are a subsitute looking for a "crash course" approach to the profession, I think you will be a bit disappointed if you read this book cover to cover.

This is a fantastic book! I am a business professional looking to switching careers and go into elementary education, and this book was exactly what I needed to give me a heads up on what my first year as an elementary school teacher would be like. It's well-written, easy to read, and contains lots of tid bits of information that I never would have thought of! If you're considering elementary school teaching as a career, you have to read this book! I'm reading it now before I start my teaching licensure classes, and I'll read it again right before I start my first year of teaching. This book helped me to realize that I really do want to become a teacher.

This book is truly a fine addition to the limited resources available to first year teachers. It not only gives excellent information on what to expect in your first year, but how to be successful in meeting these challenges. The practical solutions to the everyday issues of teaching are explained with humor as well as authority. The authors bring their experience as educators to the pages making this helpful book a sure winner that will greatly enhance the first year experience for teachers. I will use it and recommend it in my work as a student teacher supervisor.

I ordered this along with Harry Wong's First Days of School as something to give my student teacher. I was not impressed with this book. For $7, get Harry Wong's.
This book does contain some useful information, but it's an easy read, with really very little substance. Much of the information is common sense (like what supplies to keep at your desk, or how to make friends with the office staff). In most cases, this information is given out during student-teaching, college courses, or the district induction program. It contains very little in terms of setting expectations, dealing with crises, organization, etc.

If you do choose to get this book, I hope it would be one of many you'd read.

I don't understand why some buyers gave such low reviews for this book. I think the book is FANTASTIC!!! I graduated in 2003 with a Masters In Education but never completed my Student Teaching so I decided not to pursue a career in Teaching. Recently I've decided to rethink my career choices and I'm in the process of obtaining a Provisional License (once I've taught for one academic year, I can apply for a state license. The Provisional License is used in lieu of Student Teaching). This book was a very detailed refresher for me. It explains everything you need to know. The information is so helpful, easy to understand and useful, a definite 'must have' for first year teachers. It is the best Teachers 'handbook' I've read so far. I can't wait to implement the many practical ideas/suggestions outlined in the book. If you are a new teacher, this book is well worth the investment.

This book would be incredibly useful if, as someone who is entering the first year of a teaching career, you have never taken a single course on education or if you have a 6-8th grade reading level. Vocabulary definitions (for tough terms such as "curriculum" "teacher's edition" and "grade book") appear throughout the book, often on the page following the acutal topic. Helpful hints (which are occasionally helpful) are also scattered throughout the book, although they often again appear a page or two after the associated topic is discussed, interrupting the continuity of reading one subject to add a detail on a subject that seemed completed. Also scattered throughout the book are anticdotes from other teachers. Many are interesting or at least entertaining, however several are from the point of view of experienced teachers mocking the inexperience of new teachers, one even going as far as to describe how she and her colleagues intentionally created distractions in a classroom of a new teacher because they thought it was funny to give him a hard time when they knew his lesson was already flopping. Again, these stories rarely seem to corrolate to the subject in which they are placed. Even the topics in the book are vastly unorganized. For example, in the chapter about setting up your classroom, they order topics as follows: Attendence, field trips, seating charts, referring students for special ed services. Why fieldtrips are important when setting up a classroom (and belong between attendence and seating charts) I have no idea, and quite frankly, I am surprised at the lack of organization considering the sentence structure and word choice makes it clear that the authors are entirely too used to talking to children and have a hard time code switching to (presumably) educated adults.

Although there is some useful advice in the book, most of it is either common sense (such as read your contract, and don't start a brand new unit the day before a vacation) or things that anyone who has had any education classes should be well aware of, such as the existance of curriculum - not how to plan it effectively, mind you, just that it's there. If new teachers really don't already know 85% of the things in this book, God help our children and please save me from the future.

I ordered this book for a beginning teacher. She loves it and found it useful for preparing for her first day in the classroom as a "real" teacher.

I bought this book as a gift for someone and it is in great condition. Only the edge was nicked, but that was described when I bought it and the product arrived just as expected. Great product, great seller.

This book has more ideas that I can even implement in one year! It's fantastic! It had examples of letters to write home and examples of what a week would look like for my reading program. The book was easy to read and I highlighted almost every page. Love it!

I have read and re-read this book. It helped me tremendously to go through it before my interview.