The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher Best Quality

I bought this book as a student teacher because reviews had suggested it along with Teaching With Love and Logic. Overall, I would say that The First Days of School is a useful book, specifically its emphasis on the implementation of procedures as a way to prevent class management problems. However, the layout of the book seems to target an elementary student instead of a professional. The side bars contain important information at times, yet often, they seem to be space fillers to create a longer book. In addition, information is repeated so that the reader begins to feel like the authors believe that s/he is not intelligent enough to understand a concept when stated once. Lastly, the book is not well written, making it slightly difficult to read due to the style used.

I still would recommend the book. Some suggestions seem like they would be extremely effective (and even common sense or common courtesy) yet they are overlooked by most of the teachers whom I have observed as a student teacher. I feel that Harry and Rosemary Wong have written a book that reminds us that we are professionals who must act in a professional way, meaning: prepare as much as we can, create procedures that help to manage a classroom, be organized, dress well, become a role model, introduce and reinforce respect. They also include helpful examples of procedures that can easily be adapted to fit any classroom.Get more detail about The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher.