The First Days of School is a book authored by Harry and Rosemary Wong, about classroom management and teaching for lesson achievement. This book has sold more than three million copies. Effective steps in beginning a school year are enumerated, one by one; until eventually becoming a good teacher. The book is a must for teachers, newcomers or even for an old hand. It is a basic tool in more than 1,000 classrooms and some 65 countries.
Elementary school teachers are the main target of the book The First Days of School. The strategies discussed are also applicable to other instructors. Posters are example of materials that being used to remind students of the things they should do. Basic and concrete principles will inspire teachers to pay more attention in their classroom, their processes and their careers.
New teachers think that to be successful is to be a friend to students; and teaching is all about activities. Some teachers think teaching is survival, staying in the job and for the salaries. Getting students to succeed is a good result from the actual use of effective practices. Teacher must have an impact on students. This is through the way teachers can affect the lives of these students through an efficient transfer of know-how. At this stage, teachers have achieved a stage of mastery. The final stage a teacher reaches in his or her career is the so-called impact stage. The cycle of stages a teacher passes through would go back to the beginning. These four stages are fantasy, survival, mastery and impact stages.
All teachers pass through the survival stage but it should be more ideal to get to the mastery stage. Natural teachers are in the mastery level; they are liked by the students but they do not know that they are effective. The teacher does not know how to analyze the situation and they plunge into survival stage when they do not have the tool to resolve the problems.
Indeed, the book, The First of School, is a helpful reference for teachers. It will be a wonderful companion of a teacher during his teaching stint. Classroom management plays an important aspect in teaching and the book really is an almanac of strategies.