Just recently I received a gift from a colleague who went abroad to teach. The box contained several books, but the best of all is the one which I have been wanting to have: How to be an effective teacher: The first days of school by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong.
I’d like to share with you the snippets and nuggets on how to be an effective teacher from this book:
1. The successful teacher must know and practice the three characteristics of an effective teacher:
- positive expectations - the effective teacher has positive expectations for student success
- classroom management - the effective teacher is an extremely good classroom manager
- lesson mastery - the effective teacher knows how to design lessons to help students reach mastery.
2. The teacher who constantly learns and grows becomes a professional educator.
These are the major points that Harry and Rosemary Wong emphasized.
My desire to have this book was born when I attended the seminar on teaching effectiveness, which was based on the educational philosophy found in the book. The educational philosophies are modern and real. I have been practicing some of its philosophies, and I found them to be effective. For instance, Harry and Rosemary Wong say:
What you do on the first days of school will determine your success or failure for the rest of the school year. You will either win or lose your class on the first days of school.
Teachers are not in private practice. We are in the helping and caring profession, a service profession to help people enhance the quality of their lives.
Students learn as little or as much as their teachers expect. Teachers who communicate and set high expectations to all their students obtain greater academic performance from these students than do teachers who set low expectations.
There are so many nuggets of wisdom that any teacher can learn from the book. If teaching is your passion, you better grab a copy now.
The cover page of the book which I received. Thank you, Ms. Jamison. July 2008.
