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The First Days of School
The best-selling book ever on classroom management and teaching for student achievement with over 3.7 million copies sold. The book walks a teacher, either novice or veteran, through structuring and organizing a classroom for success that can be applied at any time of the year at any grade level, pre-K through college.
The book is used in thousands of school districts, in over 120 countries, in over 2,114 college classrooms, and has been translated into 5 languages. It's practical, yet inspiring. But most important, it works!
The 4th edition includes updated research, photos, and more examples of "how-to" be an effective teacher.
This is the most requested book for what works in the classroom for teacher and student success.
Note: The Kindle version DOES NOT include the DVD, "Using THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL." The DVD is only available with the printed version.
511 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1991
847 people are currently reading
5189 people want to read
About the author
Harry K. Wong
16 books56 followersHarry K. Wong is an author, a speaker, and a publisher on the subject of education. He has authored over 30 publications, often coauthoring with his wife Rosemary Wong, which he did on his best known work, The First Days of School. He also has authored a monthly column on www.teachers.net, a CD set, and a book on New Teacher Induction. He has an eLearning course on classroom management and has appeared in an award-winning video series, The Effective Teacher.
His many journal articles can be found in Educational Leadership, KAPPAN, Principal Leadership, NASSP Bulletin, American School Board Journal, Kappa Delta Pi Record, School Business Affairs, and Education Week. Most of these can be accessed on www.NewTeacher.com.
Harry Wong is a former secondary science classroom teacher. A San Francisco native, he is a graduate of Lowell High School. His undergraduate degree is from University of California, Berkeley. His doctorate is from Brigham Young University in Utah.
Dr. Wong has been awarded the Horace Mann Outstanding Educator Award, Upton Sinclair Award, Outstanding Secondary Teacher Award, the Science Teacher Achievement Recognition Award, the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award, and the Valley Forge Teacher's Medal.
In 2012, the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas, presented him with its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award.
Harry K. Wong has given some 3500 presentations to over a million people. He has been the general session speaker at every major educational meeting and at Toastmasters International. His lectures have taken him to every American state and Canadian province and to Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Antarctica. His wife, Rosemary, shares the stage with him as he travels the world helping teachers.
He and Rosemary are new teacher advocates. He is the father of three children, four grandchildren, and is madly in love with his Sicilian, mentor-teacher wife. They have built a school in Cambodia.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 751 reviews
March 1, 2008
This book came highly recommended from several sources. I had received a copy as a gift when I began teaching at the high school level, but I hadn't bothered to open it until recently.
After reading it, I'm glad that I didn't adopt Wong's methodologies as a first-day secondary teacher. My classes would have eaten me alive. It's not that the book is necessarily poor, but I believe that it is best-suited for K-5 teachers, who deal with students at a much earlier point in their development. Many of the suggestions presented in this book would have been dismissed as childish and condescending by teens.
The book is organized more like a magazine than a text, with numerous sidebars with tangential information and testimonials from teachers who felt relieved from some of the suggestions that Wong provided. Perhaps a portion of my less-than-stellar review stems from my general distrust of books that contain an infomercial about itself as part of its primary content.
There are some useful tips, but this manual could have easily been reduced from its unwieldy length of 352 pages to a 20-30 page pamphlet. It is unnecessary to devote a full-length chapter to convey the benefits of dressing professionally. Furthermore, it is equally unnecessary to devote a section of the book to the topic of "how to take attendance".
As previously stated, perhaps this book would be best for elementary school teachers. In my opinion, it is not the best book for secondary educators, although admittedly my experience may bias my judgment.
After reading it, I'm glad that I didn't adopt Wong's methodologies as a first-day secondary teacher. My classes would have eaten me alive. It's not that the book is necessarily poor, but I believe that it is best-suited for K-5 teachers, who deal with students at a much earlier point in their development. Many of the suggestions presented in this book would have been dismissed as childish and condescending by teens.
The book is organized more like a magazine than a text, with numerous sidebars with tangential information and testimonials from teachers who felt relieved from some of the suggestions that Wong provided. Perhaps a portion of my less-than-stellar review stems from my general distrust of books that contain an infomercial about itself as part of its primary content.
There are some useful tips, but this manual could have easily been reduced from its unwieldy length of 352 pages to a 20-30 page pamphlet. It is unnecessary to devote a full-length chapter to convey the benefits of dressing professionally. Furthermore, it is equally unnecessary to devote a section of the book to the topic of "how to take attendance".
As previously stated, perhaps this book would be best for elementary school teachers. In my opinion, it is not the best book for secondary educators, although admittedly my experience may bias my judgment.
January 1, 2009
This book is given to new teachers in my school district, to help them start the school year. That's a scary thought for me, because I've never been a big believer in Wong's ideals about what teaching is.
He largely stays on the surface here, with how to dress, what to put on the walls, how to make a strong impression, etc. He definitely advocates a perpetuation of traditional schooling, with desks in rows, strict adherence to straight lines, no talking unless spoken to, and stringent homework practices. For the more liberally minded educator (such as myself), this book flies in the face of what I believe makes a strong, well rounded classroom.
I gave it two stars because it's not without some good ideas. I can't give it more than two stars because it is, like Harry Wong, somewhat short minded in its process. The sad thing is that many teachers treat this book like its their bible, and they don't really think critically about it, it's simply because this is what teachers think they're supposed to be doing, and that's why I can't recommend it.
He largely stays on the surface here, with how to dress, what to put on the walls, how to make a strong impression, etc. He definitely advocates a perpetuation of traditional schooling, with desks in rows, strict adherence to straight lines, no talking unless spoken to, and stringent homework practices. For the more liberally minded educator (such as myself), this book flies in the face of what I believe makes a strong, well rounded classroom.
I gave it two stars because it's not without some good ideas. I can't give it more than two stars because it is, like Harry Wong, somewhat short minded in its process. The sad thing is that many teachers treat this book like its their bible, and they don't really think critically about it, it's simply because this is what teachers think they're supposed to be doing, and that's why I can't recommend it.
August 6, 2008
This book taught me several things that were not taught in my teaching courses, for example:
- How spending time at the beginning of the school year, teaching class procedures instead of content will actually maximize instructional time for the rest of the year.
- How to use a predictable daily routine to get students to begin working right away and minimize transition time.
- When is the best time to take role.
- Stressing the element of student choice in managing behavior ("You chose not to turn in your homework, therefore you will earn a 0 for the assignment.")
- The importance of telling students why they are learning something or why they are doing a particular activity.
- How to avoid being brought down by the negativity, low morale and energy level of other teachers.
- How to portray friendliness while still being professional to the students.
- How spending time at the beginning of the school year, teaching class procedures instead of content will actually maximize instructional time for the rest of the year.
- How to use a predictable daily routine to get students to begin working right away and minimize transition time.
- When is the best time to take role.
- Stressing the element of student choice in managing behavior ("You chose not to turn in your homework, therefore you will earn a 0 for the assignment.")
- The importance of telling students why they are learning something or why they are doing a particular activity.
- How to avoid being brought down by the negativity, low morale and energy level of other teachers.
- How to portray friendliness while still being professional to the students.
January 1, 2014
This was the textbook for the seminar that accompanied my student teaching this past semester. It was, perhaps, not written for me, as by the time I was student teaching, I had already been in the classroom for a number of years. I did find some of the information, particularly on classroom routines and organization, very helpful and look forward to implementing some of them in my next classroom. However, much of this book erred on the touchy-feely, chipper "ALL students can succeed!" side. Particularly irritating to me was how much of the "ALL students can succeed!" message was based in the idea that success would automatically come if the teacher was effective. Of course I'm not knocking effective teachers (I would like to be one, obviously) and am not saying that teachers shouldn't try and be the absolute best they can, but after awhile there are factors outside of the classroom that teachers just can't solve: poverty, family issues, available resources, etc., that contribute to student success. I think while books like this are trying to be encouraging about the power of teachers, they can also perpetuate the myth that it is mostly teachers who are responsible for the success of schools. My experience and reading tells me that it is a roughly partnership between teachers, community, and government systems, and we forget the responsibility of the last two parties at our peril.
August 15, 2018
A veteran teacher's perspective
I have been teaching for 16 years, and most of those were spent in grades 6-8. I read this book because I have heard it mentioned by other teachers and it is the #1 education book on Goodreads.
Classroom Management and Discipline
Unit C on classroom management is great. Wong's emphasis on previewing procedures, setting the tone, and making effective use of class time is correct. I wish I had read this unit 16 years ago when I started teaching. I attended the IU school of education in the late '90s, and I speculate that they did not use Wong's book because it was already old-school by that point.
Harry K. Wong is controversially old-school by modern standards. He is progressive compared to some of the teachers I grew up with, in regards to speaking respectfully to students and making it his job to help the ones who fall behind. However, he's not much into inquiry-based learning or student-centered teaching.
As luck would have it, I am also reading Engaging Children: Igniting a Drive for Deeper Learning by Ellin Oliver Keene at the moment, and there is a stark contrast between the two authors. Keene recommends a classroom that is always buzzing with low-level chatter and features lots of nooks and alcoves for students to work in. Harry K. Wong is having none of that. All desks face the front, all students and areas in the classroom are visible to the teacher, and students speak only with the teacher's permission. Wong does strongly encourage cooperative learning, but it is very structured and heavily previewed. The difference between Wong and Keene is the difference between a person who teaches for a living and a person who writes about teaching for a living. Keene has some good ideas, but only Wong can give you the practical advice to make them work.
I have been and continue to be a huge Responsive Classroom fan. If I were to recommend one book on teaching to a first year teacher, it would be from their catalogue- probably The Morning Meeting Book: K-8. However, Wong has some good counterpoints to that. In RC, the class generates the rules together. Wong points out that this can be kind of a trivial activity because many rules are already set by the school or the teacher. Furthermore, a well prepared teacher already has all the classroom procedures laid out, and concrete procedures are arguably more important than broad rules of conduct. Personally, I modify the RC beginning of year activity to having the students brainstorm what their classmates can do to help them learn. Then I consolidate and post the list. We review it periodically, and I usually refer to it as "group expectations," but it's not really the same as class rules.
Please and Thank You Mistakes
Harry K. Wong has a lot of opinions, and the only one I would call flagrantly wrong is his use of please and thank you. I strongly agree with the Responsive Classroom take on these words, as explained in The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn.
"Thank you" is reserved for personal favors, such as picking up my pencil when I drop it. To acknowledge positive (but expected) behaviors, say something like, "Good work. I noticed you waiting until it was your turn." The student is not doing me a personal favor by showing respect to another student; they are meeting school expectations.
"Would you please" should never be used unless you're willing to get "no" in return. I was brought up to use please, so I put it on the front of directions, such as, "Please hand me your homework." That is not an open question, and I lower my voice on the period to show that "no" is not an acceptable answer.
It's kind of dated
We all need to cut Harry K. Wong a little slack. The first edition of this book was in 1990, and my copy, purchased new, seems to have been lightly updated in the early 2000s. Most of this book was written before white boards or email. Many schools still had rotary phones and mimeograph machines. Typing was done on typewriters. If there was a computer in the classroom, it had a greenscale screen and no modem.
Parts of this book are quaint. Society is more accepting of "excessive jewelry" than it used to be. Most people don't use paper grade books anymore. And then there's Harry K. Wong's obsession with calling roll. I imagine this was a real problem in his school, but I haven't seen it be a problem in any school I've been in.
That format, though.
I am shocked that some people dislike it. Personally, I found it extremely reader-friendly. Harry Wong gets right down to business with lots of chapter headings, subheadings, and short, direct paragraphs. Quotes, anecdotes, examples, and other supporting material go into clearly marked sidebars in the margin. Harry Wong puts the most practical things in the center and makes them easy to find. By contrast, Ellin Oliver Keene spends four pages of her book describing a plane ride she took one time. I wish Heinemann would hire Harry K. Wong to edit their books.
I got through about 200 pages of Wong's book in one afternoon, and I have the formatting to thank for it.
The Other Stuff
The classroom management portion is dynamite. The parts around it range from okay to kind of kooky. I think a lot of the lesson planning and positive mindset portions is either common-sense or gets learned quickly by new teachers. The last two chapters are meant to be inspirational, and they come across kind of shouty. They remind me most of a famous business essay from the early 1900s called A Message to Garcia.
I recommend that new teachers read Unit C and maybe give a quick browse to the rest.
I have been teaching for 16 years, and most of those were spent in grades 6-8. I read this book because I have heard it mentioned by other teachers and it is the #1 education book on Goodreads.
Classroom Management and Discipline
Unit C on classroom management is great. Wong's emphasis on previewing procedures, setting the tone, and making effective use of class time is correct. I wish I had read this unit 16 years ago when I started teaching. I attended the IU school of education in the late '90s, and I speculate that they did not use Wong's book because it was already old-school by that point.
Harry K. Wong is controversially old-school by modern standards. He is progressive compared to some of the teachers I grew up with, in regards to speaking respectfully to students and making it his job to help the ones who fall behind. However, he's not much into inquiry-based learning or student-centered teaching.
As luck would have it, I am also reading Engaging Children: Igniting a Drive for Deeper Learning by Ellin Oliver Keene at the moment, and there is a stark contrast between the two authors. Keene recommends a classroom that is always buzzing with low-level chatter and features lots of nooks and alcoves for students to work in. Harry K. Wong is having none of that. All desks face the front, all students and areas in the classroom are visible to the teacher, and students speak only with the teacher's permission. Wong does strongly encourage cooperative learning, but it is very structured and heavily previewed. The difference between Wong and Keene is the difference between a person who teaches for a living and a person who writes about teaching for a living. Keene has some good ideas, but only Wong can give you the practical advice to make them work.
I have been and continue to be a huge Responsive Classroom fan. If I were to recommend one book on teaching to a first year teacher, it would be from their catalogue- probably The Morning Meeting Book: K-8. However, Wong has some good counterpoints to that. In RC, the class generates the rules together. Wong points out that this can be kind of a trivial activity because many rules are already set by the school or the teacher. Furthermore, a well prepared teacher already has all the classroom procedures laid out, and concrete procedures are arguably more important than broad rules of conduct. Personally, I modify the RC beginning of year activity to having the students brainstorm what their classmates can do to help them learn. Then I consolidate and post the list. We review it periodically, and I usually refer to it as "group expectations," but it's not really the same as class rules.
Please and Thank You Mistakes
Harry K. Wong has a lot of opinions, and the only one I would call flagrantly wrong is his use of please and thank you. I strongly agree with the Responsive Classroom take on these words, as explained in The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn.
"Thank you" is reserved for personal favors, such as picking up my pencil when I drop it. To acknowledge positive (but expected) behaviors, say something like, "Good work. I noticed you waiting until it was your turn." The student is not doing me a personal favor by showing respect to another student; they are meeting school expectations.
"Would you please" should never be used unless you're willing to get "no" in return. I was brought up to use please, so I put it on the front of directions, such as, "Please hand me your homework." That is not an open question, and I lower my voice on the period to show that "no" is not an acceptable answer.
It's kind of dated
We all need to cut Harry K. Wong a little slack. The first edition of this book was in 1990, and my copy, purchased new, seems to have been lightly updated in the early 2000s. Most of this book was written before white boards or email. Many schools still had rotary phones and mimeograph machines. Typing was done on typewriters. If there was a computer in the classroom, it had a greenscale screen and no modem.
Parts of this book are quaint. Society is more accepting of "excessive jewelry" than it used to be. Most people don't use paper grade books anymore. And then there's Harry K. Wong's obsession with calling roll. I imagine this was a real problem in his school, but I haven't seen it be a problem in any school I've been in.
That format, though.
I am shocked that some people dislike it. Personally, I found it extremely reader-friendly. Harry Wong gets right down to business with lots of chapter headings, subheadings, and short, direct paragraphs. Quotes, anecdotes, examples, and other supporting material go into clearly marked sidebars in the margin. Harry Wong puts the most practical things in the center and makes them easy to find. By contrast, Ellin Oliver Keene spends four pages of her book describing a plane ride she took one time. I wish Heinemann would hire Harry K. Wong to edit their books.
I got through about 200 pages of Wong's book in one afternoon, and I have the formatting to thank for it.
The Other Stuff
The classroom management portion is dynamite. The parts around it range from okay to kind of kooky. I think a lot of the lesson planning and positive mindset portions is either common-sense or gets learned quickly by new teachers. The last two chapters are meant to be inspirational, and they come across kind of shouty. They remind me most of a famous business essay from the early 1900s called A Message to Garcia.
I recommend that new teachers read Unit C and maybe give a quick browse to the rest.
May 12, 2009
If Harry Wong tried these strategies with my students, he'd get shanked.
July 2, 2007
UUUUGGGH. All signs pointed to 'yes': an administrator I respected recommended this book as a good manual on how to approach classroom management from the beginning of the year, it was referenced often as a good starting point for new teachers, it was the same size and shape as Fred Jones' Tools for Teaching.
But Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong might be a little bit crazy. They self-published this book so they could have complete control over every aspect of it, which means that it's full of their weird adages, rhetoric, and platitudes about being an "effective" (versus an "ineffective") teacher.
Some of the stuff in here is good, solid advice, mostly in the middle three chapters (classroom management, lesson mastery, and something else I can't remember). I found the "lesson mastery" stuff most helpful-- tips for how to set up a gradebook, how to synch tests to objectives, etc. A lot of the advice in the middle chapters, though, is more suited to teachers of younger kids (K-8, maybe even K-5) than high schoolers.
But the first and last chapters were chock full of crazytalk. The first chapter was so vague that I found it almost completely useless. They talked a lot about what teachers should be sure to do without actually giving any advice on how to accomplish those things. The last chapter and the Epilogue upped the ante-- they went after "pitiful" teachers, "worker-teachers," teachers who dislike in-service meetings, with no mercy. They railed against the American family falling apart and the lack of family suppers. They tried to inspire but just left me feeling like I'd perused an inspirational wall calendar catalog.
(To be fair, the Wongs don't recommend reading the book cover-to-cover, like I did. They intend for it to be used as a manual, pulled out and referenced when a teacher is having a specific problem.)
If you're a new teacher, borrow this from someone and read the middle chapters alongside Tools for Teaching. Then go talk to a veteran teacher about some of the main techniques you think you want to implement in your classroom and see what they think. That's one piece of advice this book gets right: the best support system for teachers is other teachers.
Not really recommended for experienced teachers, unless you want to amuse yourself and teacher friends by reading aloud from the frenetic, boldfaced "inspirational" sections.
But Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong might be a little bit crazy. They self-published this book so they could have complete control over every aspect of it, which means that it's full of their weird adages, rhetoric, and platitudes about being an "effective" (versus an "ineffective") teacher.
Some of the stuff in here is good, solid advice, mostly in the middle three chapters (classroom management, lesson mastery, and something else I can't remember). I found the "lesson mastery" stuff most helpful-- tips for how to set up a gradebook, how to synch tests to objectives, etc. A lot of the advice in the middle chapters, though, is more suited to teachers of younger kids (K-8, maybe even K-5) than high schoolers.
But the first and last chapters were chock full of crazytalk. The first chapter was so vague that I found it almost completely useless. They talked a lot about what teachers should be sure to do without actually giving any advice on how to accomplish those things. The last chapter and the Epilogue upped the ante-- they went after "pitiful" teachers, "worker-teachers," teachers who dislike in-service meetings, with no mercy. They railed against the American family falling apart and the lack of family suppers. They tried to inspire but just left me feeling like I'd perused an inspirational wall calendar catalog.
(To be fair, the Wongs don't recommend reading the book cover-to-cover, like I did. They intend for it to be used as a manual, pulled out and referenced when a teacher is having a specific problem.)
If you're a new teacher, borrow this from someone and read the middle chapters alongside Tools for Teaching. Then go talk to a veteran teacher about some of the main techniques you think you want to implement in your classroom and see what they think. That's one piece of advice this book gets right: the best support system for teachers is other teachers.
Not really recommended for experienced teachers, unless you want to amuse yourself and teacher friends by reading aloud from the frenetic, boldfaced "inspirational" sections.
August 14, 2011
Highly patronizing of students and will be more than likely to develop reactive behaviour, especially from children who are old enough to recognized when they're being treated as inferior and immature. This establishes the teacher as the central authoritative figure and attempts to give them control over the classroom via various manipulative strategies. Though the teacher is typically the centre of the classroom, a learning-focused method of teaching (rather than maintaining organizational structure as is suggested in Wong's methodology) is more successful at educating students. This extends into the framework of modern Western education, but regardless of a teacher's position in a school district full of rules, treating children as human beings, rather than unruly pests to be tamed and controlled, is what should be sought.
August 29, 2019
A must-have for ALL teachers! It outlines how to organize everything a teacher needs to have/do within the first week of school so that your classroom can run smoothly for the entire year. I would always buy this book to give to my student teachers. Highly recommend!
August 18, 2007
I'm drafting up a lawsuit against my teaching college for not exposing me to this book. Possibly class action, on behalf of my first-year students.
These are insights that I could easily have come up with on my own, if left to my own devices for 20 years or so. I'm glad I didn't have to do that. The book doesn't beat around the bush. The important parts are in bold, with pictures and diagrams. Any teacher can benefit from reading this book, or even just flipping through it for the key points.
These are insights that I could easily have come up with on my own, if left to my own devices for 20 years or so. I'm glad I didn't have to do that. The book doesn't beat around the bush. The important parts are in bold, with pictures and diagrams. Any teacher can benefit from reading this book, or even just flipping through it for the key points.
June 19, 2009
As other reviews have noted:
This isn't a book you "read". Skim, yes. Read, no.
This is very "old school". And while i certainly wouldn't adivse throwing the baby out with the bath water there were some suggestions in here that I just couldn't get behind.
But as a more "touchy-feely" kind of person (I'm INFP) i appreciate a different perspective (my guess is ESTJ) on how to be a good teacher. The school I will be teaching at thoroughly embraces many of his suggestion (all the teachers stand at the door when classes change). This was a very practical book with clear examples of what you should and should not do.
I did not like the layout. Also I thought way to much time was spent on each point. This book could probably be 1/3 to 1/2 the size with a better layout and getting to the point.
This isn't a book you "read". Skim, yes. Read, no.
This is very "old school". And while i certainly wouldn't adivse throwing the baby out with the bath water there were some suggestions in here that I just couldn't get behind.
But as a more "touchy-feely" kind of person (I'm INFP) i appreciate a different perspective (my guess is ESTJ) on how to be a good teacher. The school I will be teaching at thoroughly embraces many of his suggestion (all the teachers stand at the door when classes change). This was a very practical book with clear examples of what you should and should not do.
I did not like the layout. Also I thought way to much time was spent on each point. This book could probably be 1/3 to 1/2 the size with a better layout and getting to the point.
June 20, 2011
Extremely repetitive and full of self-promotion. I am not sure why it takes 300+ pages to say that your class will run smoothly if you have routines in place. There are a few chapters in the classroom management section that are worth reading but the the rest of the book is not. I felt like this book places 100% of the responsibility for learning on the teacher and claims that the only factor which affects student learning is the teacher's "attitude." Way too much behaviorism in this book.
September 1, 2021
I'm sorry, this is RIDICULOUS. If you need a book to tell you that you should call students by their name and pronounce their names correctly then you should not be in this profession. Common sense will serve you better than anything in here.
January 11, 2016
You shouldn't read this book cover-to-cover. It's not meant to be "the solution" for every situation that arises in the first few days of school. It's meant to get the educator thinking about what's going to happen in those first few days. How will you prepare for these different situations?
Anyone who's taught for at least five years in the public school system knows that your school year will be smoother and students will learn more if you establish clear procedures in the first days of school. That's the heart of this book.
I re-scan this book every August. I pick and choose my inspiration based on the current classroom reality I'm dealing with as a teacher.
I would recommend this book to any teacher who knows the power of reflection. Additionally, I'd recommend this book to new teachers, especially those who are content-knowledge rich, but pedagogically poor (the new teacher who has a master's degree in history, but has never taken a methods class or a classroom management class).
Anyone who's taught for at least five years in the public school system knows that your school year will be smoother and students will learn more if you establish clear procedures in the first days of school. That's the heart of this book.
I re-scan this book every August. I pick and choose my inspiration based on the current classroom reality I'm dealing with as a teacher.
I would recommend this book to any teacher who knows the power of reflection. Additionally, I'd recommend this book to new teachers, especially those who are content-knowledge rich, but pedagogically poor (the new teacher who has a master's degree in history, but has never taken a methods class or a classroom management class).
August 4, 2022
This book has some great ideas. I like the classroom management tips and tips for staying organized.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this book:
“Students want a safe, predictable, and nurturing environment—one that is consistent. Students like well-managed classes because no one yells at them, and learning takes place. Effective teachers spend the first two weeks teaching students to be in control of their own actions in a consistent classroom environment.”
“You can accomplish anything with students if you set high expectations for behavior and performance by which you yourself abide.”
I would recommend to- All teachers
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this book:
“Students want a safe, predictable, and nurturing environment—one that is consistent. Students like well-managed classes because no one yells at them, and learning takes place. Effective teachers spend the first two weeks teaching students to be in control of their own actions in a consistent classroom environment.”
“You can accomplish anything with students if you set high expectations for behavior and performance by which you yourself abide.”
I would recommend to- All teachers
November 27, 2016
Gutless, bloodless, gormless, sophistry. Honestly, I am amazed that a book that describes itself (relentlessly) in such helpful (some might even say arrogant or dogmatic) terms can (and does) offer so little in tangible help for new teachers. Really, this book almost doesn't require me to be impressed with it as it seems to be ineluctably self-satisfied with itself, almost daring you to see a flaw in its perfect pedagogical methods...of which there are MANY. I will say that there is merit in some of this nonsense, namely the bromides to consistency....but the complete disregard for students (that border on the sociopathic) who flip their nose (and other body parts) at any school, teacher, authority and simply enjoining teachers to use more procedures or (I'll just preface with some vomiting) more LOVE, are nothing short of laughable. And the book refusing to give teachers the authority or, God help us all, the ability to use discipline (IN ALMOST ANY CIRCUMSTANCE) while simultaneously shifting any and all blame away from parents, students or the poor put upon administrators (the most obviously useless of the bunch though heaven for-fend you question why THEY earn more) is, honestly, disgusting and the proceeds are more than a little Orwellian concerning language (the digression between DECIDING and CHOOSING is at once hilarious and chilling as someone with title 'Doctor' actually helped to conceive this and some of the gullible are actually buying this...).
So, as someone who more than likely will lose his teaching position let me just say that this book is in service to exactly NO ONE but its authors and their coruscating circle of yes men and yes women. The fact that this paean to conformity actually has the balls to bring up Rosa Parks and Jim Crow as as a 'pre'-example to its own methods....well, presumptuous comes to mind as does laugh and vomit inducing...
Read this for laughs and then bemoan the state of American education, in that order.
So, as someone who more than likely will lose his teaching position let me just say that this book is in service to exactly NO ONE but its authors and their coruscating circle of yes men and yes women. The fact that this paean to conformity actually has the balls to bring up Rosa Parks and Jim Crow as as a 'pre'-example to its own methods....well, presumptuous comes to mind as does laugh and vomit inducing...
Read this for laughs and then bemoan the state of American education, in that order.
December 28, 2023
I read this book for a generally excellent class on classroom management. I think the professor chose it because it’s inexpensive and introduces a lot of helpful questions. But the book itself is ridiculous. It uses the strangest, least relatable examples I’ve ever come across (pictures of dentures and clowns to represent professional excellence! And this gem: “How often have you walked out of a bank, office, restaurant, or repair shop with a smile, and someone asks, ‘Why are you smiling?’” The answer is never! This is not something that people ever do!)
Other pieces of “practical advice” left me wondering if the authors have ever actually met a student: “If you are professionally attired and appropriately dressed, students will comment when you look nice, and if something is out of place, they will tell you because they know you are a person who cares about yourself” (p. 75).
The biggest problem with this book though is the way it heaps guilt on teachers with its assumption that if teachers just plan and teach well, students will behave and learn. Our students bring so much into class with them that is far beyond our control. This mindset is honestly a huge factor in why so many teachers burn out and leave the field.
Other pieces of “practical advice” left me wondering if the authors have ever actually met a student: “If you are professionally attired and appropriately dressed, students will comment when you look nice, and if something is out of place, they will tell you because they know you are a person who cares about yourself” (p. 75).
The biggest problem with this book though is the way it heaps guilt on teachers with its assumption that if teachers just plan and teach well, students will behave and learn. Our students bring so much into class with them that is far beyond our control. This mindset is honestly a huge factor in why so many teachers burn out and leave the field.
July 23, 2019
I wanna go one star because parts of this-maybe Even most of it-I was dying a little inside. I don’t know that this is for new teachers, it might be for someone that has never student taught, been in a classroom, or taken any classes about teaching. I agreed with the part about procedures, different assessments rather than just test taking-none of that was new but I see how it could be helpful to a “new” educator. I feel like the authors went off the rails on little tangents at times and the self-promotion was annoying. However, I am reading this with a group of colleagues and the discussions we have based off of each chapter have been really amazing, so it might be a good way to get some conversations flowing and ideas shared .
April 6, 2011
This was my Bible when I first began teaching high school and 5 years later, I always glance over this about a week or so before school starts to keep my focus in the right place. I dearly treasure this book. Some say this is not for high school - well, they are wrong. You don't have to adopt ALL of his ideals (my classroom is set up in a horseshoe-type arrangement), but the basics are forever - and let me tell you this, I am constantly told "wow, you have amazing classroom management". Thanks Harry. He's right about having simple rules and sticking to those rules and having a clear discipline AND reward program in place in the classroom. I've had to fight with administrators at times as I reward my kids with 1/2 hour of "no lecture" time - a fun game I invent or class-related jeopardy, etc.. my kids LOVE that time because they get to choose what to do. Because of this, my class is taught bell to bell on a block schedule. Yeah! And every year when I review the book I'm able to incorporate more & more into my room. No, not everything has worked, but that's to be expected and that's how you find your "groove" as a teacher - you try and you fail? You leave it. You try and succeed? Keep it! I've kept 95% of what I've tried and adopted from this book.
March 24, 2009
I have very strong feelings about this book. Personally, I think most of it is useless. If you have zero classroom management skills, it could be a helpful resource. However, Harry Wong has some bizarre ideas about the teaching profession, many of which I do not agree with.
The most obvious example that springs to mind is his view on "dressing as a professional." (Yes, there is an entire section devoted to this.) He states that teachers should dress professionally because students see their parents leave home in business attire and that is what they have learned to equate with a professional adult. What schools has he been teaching in? In the rural school where I work, the majority of the parents are not leaving for work in suits. Most are a part of the working class where the focus is on making a living to feed your family, not on "looking like a professional."
Anyway, I could rant about many other issues that I disagree with. I did give it two stars though, as beginning teachers may find some of the content useful.
The most obvious example that springs to mind is his view on "dressing as a professional." (Yes, there is an entire section devoted to this.) He states that teachers should dress professionally because students see their parents leave home in business attire and that is what they have learned to equate with a professional adult. What schools has he been teaching in? In the rural school where I work, the majority of the parents are not leaving for work in suits. Most are a part of the working class where the focus is on making a living to feed your family, not on "looking like a professional."
Anyway, I could rant about many other issues that I disagree with. I did give it two stars though, as beginning teachers may find some of the content useful.
June 12, 2023
An effective teacher is a teacher who knows how to manage a classroom with procedures, learning objectives, and an openness to learn from their students.
Essentially, I just summed up the entire textbook for you. While this book has many redeeming qualities and suggestions that I will definitely be looking into as I get closer to teaching in a classroom, it definitely is about 15 chapters too long. I found myself skimming most of the final chapters because a lot of it had already been covered in previous sections. Dr. Wong repeats himself a lot which must come from his background teaching because teachers do the same.
Overall, it's a fine book. I had to read it for a certification course and definitely did not expect to have to read the entire thing. It repeats itself a lot, but I would by lying if I said it didn't have anything useful to say. I would recommend this book to anyone pursuing teaching or simply curious as to how an effective classroom should look.
Essentially, I just summed up the entire textbook for you. While this book has many redeeming qualities and suggestions that I will definitely be looking into as I get closer to teaching in a classroom, it definitely is about 15 chapters too long. I found myself skimming most of the final chapters because a lot of it had already been covered in previous sections. Dr. Wong repeats himself a lot which must come from his background teaching because teachers do the same.
Overall, it's a fine book. I had to read it for a certification course and definitely did not expect to have to read the entire thing. It repeats itself a lot, but I would by lying if I said it didn't have anything useful to say. I would recommend this book to anyone pursuing teaching or simply curious as to how an effective classroom should look.
November 16, 2022
This is a difficult book to rate out of 5 stars. The first 100 pages could simply be condensed into one chapter. I almost put it down as I felt that the choppy simple sentences created a demanding and demeaning tone towards teachers who are seeking to succeed in the profession. However, 100 pages in, I felt welcomed into the conversation and the Wongs provided strategies and ideas that prompted me to create a "To Do" list as I head into the next school year. I'm hoping I can take the valuable pieces, though they took effort to find, and apply them to improve my ever-developing expertise as a classroom teacher.
February 9, 2010
Some administrator at a job interview mentioned this book... I was kind of hung up on the male teachers should wear ties part and couldn't go much further. I can't think of one good idea I found in this book.
July 29, 2019
A necessary book for all teachers to read!
August 18, 2021
very informative and helpful but also one-sided point of view.
August 26, 2021
A beautifully written and practical crash course into the profession of teaching. After three days of absorbing this book, I now have a 40-ish page "Classroom Management" binder ready for my first day of teaching! Cant wait to implement all my procedures and watch as the 6th graders learn and grow!!
4.7/5
"Successful people are effective people; that is, they know what they are doing and they produce results."
"People who do things right are efficient. They work in a well-organized and competent way. And people who do things right over and over again, consistently, are considered effective."
"The student will produce what the teacher expects him or her to produce."
"Classroom management consists of the practices and procedures that a teacher uses to maintain an environment in which instruction and learning can occur."
"If you do not structure your classroom, your students will structure the classroom for you."
"When you are a first-year teacher, you are an equal with all other teachers... Unlike the business world where you start "at the bottom", and work your way up, in education you are on an equal basis with every other teacher in the school on the first day, and every day, of the school year... With procedures in place, it is possible for even a first-year teacher to become immediately successful."
"The biggest secret to teaching success is to beg, borrow, and steal."
"The achievement gap facing poor and minority students is not due to poverty or family conditions, but to systematic differences in teacher effectiveness."
"People who know what to do and people who know how to do it will always be working for those who know why it is being done."
"Student success is limited only by the expectations the teachers have for them."
"The heart of education is the education of the heart."
"It takes just as much energy to achieve positive results as it does to ensure negative results. Why waste your time and energy assuming failure when the same amount of time and energy can help you and your students succeed?"
"Your students are influenced more by the depth of your conviction than by the height of your intelligence."
"Clothing may not make the person, but it can most certainly be a contributing factor in unmaking a person."
"Stop using student demographics as an excuse for lack of achievement. Classroom management, not demographics, determines success."
"Discipline is based on rules. Classroom management is based on procedures."
"Classroom management procedures lay the foundation for structuring the classroom; instructional procedures lay the foundation for acquiring information and learning."
"Learning is an individual activity, not a solitary one."
"You cannot really do something to someone to modify their behavior any more than they can do something to change you. You can only communicate expectations and delegate responsibilities. Have a classroom management plan to proactively prevent problems and a discipline plan to take care of problems should they arise."
"Write lesson objectives and tests at the same time to ensure that every test question is aligned to an objective."
"Teaching and testing are inseparable. Teachers shouldn't test what they didn't teach, and teachers shouldn't teach what they won't test."
"Teachers can be accurately compared with business executives. Like executives, teachers develop, manage, and evaluate the work and productivity of a relatively large number of individuals on a daily basis."
"People who succeed in life do not complain about the hours they have to put in. They complain about the hours that are wasted."
"It is better to train a teacher and lose that teacher, than to not train a teacher and keep that teacher."
4.7/5
"Successful people are effective people; that is, they know what they are doing and they produce results."
"People who do things right are efficient. They work in a well-organized and competent way. And people who do things right over and over again, consistently, are considered effective."
"The student will produce what the teacher expects him or her to produce."
"Classroom management consists of the practices and procedures that a teacher uses to maintain an environment in which instruction and learning can occur."
"If you do not structure your classroom, your students will structure the classroom for you."
"When you are a first-year teacher, you are an equal with all other teachers... Unlike the business world where you start "at the bottom", and work your way up, in education you are on an equal basis with every other teacher in the school on the first day, and every day, of the school year... With procedures in place, it is possible for even a first-year teacher to become immediately successful."
"The biggest secret to teaching success is to beg, borrow, and steal."
"The achievement gap facing poor and minority students is not due to poverty or family conditions, but to systematic differences in teacher effectiveness."
"People who know what to do and people who know how to do it will always be working for those who know why it is being done."
"Student success is limited only by the expectations the teachers have for them."
"The heart of education is the education of the heart."
"It takes just as much energy to achieve positive results as it does to ensure negative results. Why waste your time and energy assuming failure when the same amount of time and energy can help you and your students succeed?"
"Your students are influenced more by the depth of your conviction than by the height of your intelligence."
"Clothing may not make the person, but it can most certainly be a contributing factor in unmaking a person."
"Stop using student demographics as an excuse for lack of achievement. Classroom management, not demographics, determines success."
"Discipline is based on rules. Classroom management is based on procedures."
"Classroom management procedures lay the foundation for structuring the classroom; instructional procedures lay the foundation for acquiring information and learning."
"Learning is an individual activity, not a solitary one."
"You cannot really do something to someone to modify their behavior any more than they can do something to change you. You can only communicate expectations and delegate responsibilities. Have a classroom management plan to proactively prevent problems and a discipline plan to take care of problems should they arise."
"Write lesson objectives and tests at the same time to ensure that every test question is aligned to an objective."
"Teaching and testing are inseparable. Teachers shouldn't test what they didn't teach, and teachers shouldn't teach what they won't test."
"Teachers can be accurately compared with business executives. Like executives, teachers develop, manage, and evaluate the work and productivity of a relatively large number of individuals on a daily basis."
"People who succeed in life do not complain about the hours they have to put in. They complain about the hours that are wasted."
"It is better to train a teacher and lose that teacher, than to not train a teacher and keep that teacher."
October 16, 2018
I purchases and read this book for a class. While the authors have some good ideas about developing structure in a classroom, I gradually lost respect for the authors as I read. I caught them misrepresenting research several times. At one point, the authors even state that a study they rely heavily on isn't reliably replicable, but that it doesn't matter because the original paper supports their point.
They also have an issue of glossing over all criticism as coming from teachers with a "bad attitude." If these methods don't work for you, you aren't trying hard enough. If you ever complain about poor resources, uninvolved parents, unprepared students, or unhelpful professional development, then you just aren't trying to be a better teacher. It becomes quite clear that the authors have never listened to anyone who wasn't successful with any component of their system. Instead, the authors reiterate that they don't want to hear "that sound great, but I don't think it would work in my classroom because [reason]." They could have spent time discussing how to overcome, work around, or mitigate various obstacles; instead they dismiss the possibility of anything other than the teacher affecting student success in anyway. This made me think that know that these criticisms are legitimate but have no substantial answer to them.
The final insult was the only science specific example they included in the entire book. (They had an entire section on rules and procedures: what should be included; what shouldn't be; how to word them; etc. Not once did they mention lab safety as a thing that exists.) They provided an example of a test aligned to learning objectives covering the scientific method, but the test was outright terrible. Several questions had no correct answer choice, and others had multiple correct choices. Some were totally meaningless. Most middle schoolers are more familiar with the topic than the PhD holding authors! If you want to convince me that STEM instructors' criticisms are not valid, do not use the only time you touch upon our subject to illustrate that you quite literally do not know the first thing about it.
They also have an issue of glossing over all criticism as coming from teachers with a "bad attitude." If these methods don't work for you, you aren't trying hard enough. If you ever complain about poor resources, uninvolved parents, unprepared students, or unhelpful professional development, then you just aren't trying to be a better teacher. It becomes quite clear that the authors have never listened to anyone who wasn't successful with any component of their system. Instead, the authors reiterate that they don't want to hear "that sound great, but I don't think it would work in my classroom because [reason]." They could have spent time discussing how to overcome, work around, or mitigate various obstacles; instead they dismiss the possibility of anything other than the teacher affecting student success in anyway. This made me think that know that these criticisms are legitimate but have no substantial answer to them.
The final insult was the only science specific example they included in the entire book. (They had an entire section on rules and procedures: what should be included; what shouldn't be; how to word them; etc. Not once did they mention lab safety as a thing that exists.) They provided an example of a test aligned to learning objectives covering the scientific method, but the test was outright terrible. Several questions had no correct answer choice, and others had multiple correct choices. Some were totally meaningless. Most middle schoolers are more familiar with the topic than the PhD holding authors! If you want to convince me that STEM instructors' criticisms are not valid, do not use the only time you touch upon our subject to illustrate that you quite literally do not know the first thing about it.
June 7, 2021
This book gave me hope. Honestly, as a beginner teacher-to-be I was terrified (still kind of am, but way less). I now feel like there IS a way to do things ‘right’ and it spoke directly to my inner perfectionist, but it also allows for mistakes. It said there is a way to streamline learning and make it accessible if you invest time into planning, teach and rehearse procedures, and show up for yourself and your students with kindness, motivation and compassion every single day.
Is that a lot to ask? Yes, but I’m ready to do everything that needs done to be the teacher I wish I had. This book is full of idealism, which makes me so joyful coming from very experienced educators. I Hated the mentality of ‘oh you’ll see how it will feel in 10 years time’.
No, I want this to be my wonderful life, teaching is my vocation not my half assed day job, I’ll be there for my students, to see them improve and try and to see their faces light up when they understand things.
This book made me feel it in my bones: teaching doesn’t need to be something you DO it can be something you ARE, you can attain the immeasurable heights I see up there. It just takes a lot of passion and dedication. But I’m ready to bring it.
I give it 4 stars but I’m more than glad it exists in the way it does. It reminds me of my best most favourite professor ever (I’m sure he knew of this book because he had a super well organised class and used many of the techniques described here). I only substracted a star because it gets repetitive after a while and because it has some clichés and a little over-the-top bits. Not to mention, sometimes it gives me a conservative vibe. But all of that doesn’t need to be perfect because it made me feel fully empowered to start teaching this autumn.
Is that a lot to ask? Yes, but I’m ready to do everything that needs done to be the teacher I wish I had. This book is full of idealism, which makes me so joyful coming from very experienced educators. I Hated the mentality of ‘oh you’ll see how it will feel in 10 years time’.
No, I want this to be my wonderful life, teaching is my vocation not my half assed day job, I’ll be there for my students, to see them improve and try and to see their faces light up when they understand things.
This book made me feel it in my bones: teaching doesn’t need to be something you DO it can be something you ARE, you can attain the immeasurable heights I see up there. It just takes a lot of passion and dedication. But I’m ready to bring it.
I give it 4 stars but I’m more than glad it exists in the way it does. It reminds me of my best most favourite professor ever (I’m sure he knew of this book because he had a super well organised class and used many of the techniques described here). I only substracted a star because it gets repetitive after a while and because it has some clichés and a little over-the-top bits. Not to mention, sometimes it gives me a conservative vibe. But all of that doesn’t need to be perfect because it made me feel fully empowered to start teaching this autumn.
July 6, 2015
Harry and Rosemary Wong have set out to streamline classroom management (versus "discipline") in this easy-to-follow guide. They posit that a smooth-running classroom is the responsibility of the teacher and the result of the teacher's ability to teach procedures.
Following procedures helps students do their work with less confusion and thus help them succeed. Knowledge of classroom procedures tells them:
How to enter the classroom
What to do when they enter the classroom
Where to find the assignment
What to do when you want their attention
Where you want finished assignments placed
What to do if they want to sharpen a pencil
Where to find assignments if they have been absent
What to do at dismissal of class
The teacher must use 3 steps to teach procedures: Explain, Rehearse, and Reinforce correct procedures (or reteach an incorrect one).
Wong provides concrete advice for some daily classroom procedures, such as predetermined hand signals students use to silently signal the teacher:
If they wish to speak, they are to raise the index finger.
If they wish to leave their seat, they are to raise 2 fingers.
If they need a teacher's help, they are to raise three fingers.
The important thing is that the class is not disturbed.
I can appreciate that this guide is too simplistic for those who have long teaching careers already under their belts, but as a new teacher I have found a number of interesting and informative ideas I plan to bring into my classroom.
Following procedures helps students do their work with less confusion and thus help them succeed. Knowledge of classroom procedures tells them:
How to enter the classroom
What to do when they enter the classroom
Where to find the assignment
What to do when you want their attention
Where you want finished assignments placed
What to do if they want to sharpen a pencil
Where to find assignments if they have been absent
What to do at dismissal of class
The teacher must use 3 steps to teach procedures: Explain, Rehearse, and Reinforce correct procedures (or reteach an incorrect one).
Wong provides concrete advice for some daily classroom procedures, such as predetermined hand signals students use to silently signal the teacher:
If they wish to speak, they are to raise the index finger.
If they wish to leave their seat, they are to raise 2 fingers.
If they need a teacher's help, they are to raise three fingers.
The important thing is that the class is not disturbed.
I can appreciate that this guide is too simplistic for those who have long teaching careers already under their belts, but as a new teacher I have found a number of interesting and informative ideas I plan to bring into my classroom.
July 31, 2011
I have to tell you I've had about 5 copies of this book. I've given all but one of them away to student teachers I've mentored, people I know who think about going into teaching, or anyone who is interested. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!
I was first introduced to Harry Wong in an intro teaching class back in 1999 at CMU. It was the textbook we had to use in that class. I remember seeing it on the shelf in the book store & being glad it didn't cost a $150. That was about the extent of it, but then I inevitably had to crack it open & I was hooked.
Wong's writing style is laid back. His ancedotes are hilarious. The tips & tricks he sprinkles throughout the book are top notch. He is a teacher so he knows if its something you have to spend a massive amount of time planning for & getting materials together for you aren't going to do it. These ideas are things you can put into practice in your classroom the very next day! Speaking as a busy over worked teacher that's about as good as it gets!
If you've been teaching 25 years or are about to set foot in your very first classroom or you are entering a teacher education program this book is a must read!!!
I was first introduced to Harry Wong in an intro teaching class back in 1999 at CMU. It was the textbook we had to use in that class. I remember seeing it on the shelf in the book store & being glad it didn't cost a $150. That was about the extent of it, but then I inevitably had to crack it open & I was hooked.
Wong's writing style is laid back. His ancedotes are hilarious. The tips & tricks he sprinkles throughout the book are top notch. He is a teacher so he knows if its something you have to spend a massive amount of time planning for & getting materials together for you aren't going to do it. These ideas are things you can put into practice in your classroom the very next day! Speaking as a busy over worked teacher that's about as good as it gets!
If you've been teaching 25 years or are about to set foot in your very first classroom or you are entering a teacher education program this book is a must read!!!
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