The First Days of School is a book I recommend for all the elementary and secondary school teachers. It is one of the “must haves” in your bookshelf. It was one of the required textbooks by the educational department of my college at the senior year before starting my student teaching. This book is not only inspirational but also practical that can be applied into a real classroom setting for both beginning and veteran teachers.
To be honest, I didn’t spend much time on this book before I entered this profession. After becoming a teacher in the elementary schools for a while, I read the book again and find it so true in many ways. It reflects on my teaching experiences throughout these years. Although the author targets American public school 1st to 12th grade teachers as the primary readers, teachers come from private setters, cram schools and other counties will also find a niche in this book. You may work in an institution different from the one described in the book, but you are also expected to be an effective teacher anywhere.
If you don’t have the time to read the whole book, I suggest you start with Unit C. I can’t agree more with this key statement in Unit C, “The effective teacher is an extremely good classroom manager.” You cannot imagine how much a teacher does in a classroom every day unless you are in this profession. Managing a classroom requires a lot of preparation and organization.
Unit C consists ten chapters including how to get the classroom ready, arrange seating, take roll, develop an effective discipline plan, have students follow classroom procedures and etc. There are many useful techniques that are handy for teachers to use on the first day of school. The technique that most impresses me is to put the students to work immediately after the class starts. While students work on the assignment individually, the teacher can take roll quietly without disturbing the class. The most important chapters in this unit are Chapter 18, 19 and 20. The author explains in a great deal about how to set up rules, rewards and consequences as well as train students follow classroom procedures.
Another tip I believe it would be useful although I haven’t tried it yet. When a student challenges you, “What are you picking on me for? What did I do? XX is also doing it! Everyone else is doing it. Why me?” The author suggests the teachers reply to the student, “Because you CHOSE to break the rule.” with a calm voice without arguing and yelling. (practice saying that for 100 times in front of the mirror!) I would like to give a try next time!
Let's pick up the book and adapt some tips in your classroom!
The edition I’m reading now was published in 1998. I also found the latest version from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/First-Days-School-Effective-Teacher/dp/0976423316/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top I don't think there's a Chinese version available now.
