Product Description
Survive & Thrive in the Classroom From Day One!
Teaching high school students is the toughest job you’ll ever love. Of course, often it is an acquired love. You must learn to manage your students’ education and play parent, counselor, police officer, and mentor. Wow! Now relax—it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a little preparation you can ensure that you and your students get the most out of your time in the classroom and enjoy it!
Full of real… More >>
#1 by Anonymous on February 2, 2010 - 5:35 pm
This book is fantastic- a great reference book for a first year high school teacher!
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by J. Levene on February 2, 2010 - 6:28 pm
I worked at a rather “urban” school, in the suburbs, so I can’t imagine what I saw was so different from “normal,” but I was pretty unprepared for what I experienced after reading this book. Some of the ideas were helpful, but not enough. It’s still worthwhile reading, but I’d probably borrow it from the library and ead it once, rather than buying it to keep on my shelf.
The subtitle definitely over-sells the book.
#1 thing I would add: “expect that, every week, some once-a-year or once-a-semester task will come up that will take between 5 – 40 hours. Try to find out about these in advance, but don’t expect you’ll be able to.”
#2 thing I would add: “Try not to start with a new principal, or a new department head. They’ll be too busy learning their jobs to properly support you with yours.” I had both, and am now a former teacher.
There’s plenty more, but I can’t write my own book here.
Rating: 3 / 5
#3 by Rica Web on February 2, 2010 - 9:07 pm
Good reference for new teachers. If you want to teach high school students, better read this book to get ideas and suggestions. Read slowly so you can absorb and understand. You have to be brave to handle young adults who can be defiant and argumentative.
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by Jessica Howell on February 2, 2010 - 9:58 pm
This guide for beginning teachers begins with the simple statement that “teaching matters,” and continues through seven sections and over 400 pages of how to keep that in mind through the daily logistics of organizing, planning, managing, assessing, and communicating with parents and peers. This text is written as a casual, informative reference complied through direct, specific examples and experiences in each chapter, with catchy little boxes popping up on the pages such as “teaching terms” and “tales from the trenches.” The authors have provided a comprehensive description of how to succeed in the classroom based on practical advice: providing sample lesson plans (incorporating multimedia and various helpful websites), classroom management tips (creating the environment and maintaining self control), and basics of nurturing student relationships (smile, write a letter, reward successes).
Reading through this massive guide, I found that much of the advice and practical tips offered were really based on solid theories of educational scholars, such as Canter’s ideas for positive feedback through assertive discipline, and their advice based on Glasser’s choice theory to increase student motivation. This text was valuable to my personal formation of philosophy because it offered practical applications of lofty ideals. Over 400 pages, this text pretty much covered the gamut of potential issues that might arise in the daily classroom, and not only did it give sound advice on how to handle various factors associated with planning, management and communication, but the authors provided their own personal insight and experience with many of the situations they discussed. I plan on referring to this text as a practical how-to guide, and utilizing the myriad rubrics, evaluations, forms, and lesson plans that are provided to more efficiently streamline the daily business so I can focus on effective teaching.
Rating: 3 / 5
#5 by shieken on February 2, 2010 - 10:29 pm
I am going to teach at small private school and I have not gone through credential program; so I was desperately looking for a good book to fill me in for preparation of my first year.
This is the first book I read, before reading First Year Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-To-Use Strategies, Tools & Activities For Meeting The Challenges Of Each School Day (J-B Ed:Survival Guides).
The first thing to note is that this is more like a guide book than a reference book (at least in my opinion). What’s the difference between guide and reference? In this case, guide would be how to do specific task or skill, given some type of situation; think about tutor, or someone/thing that helps you to “walk through” issue. Reference is listing of information for specific or particular topic; think of dictionary or encyclopedia.
It was fairly easy & quick reading, as I recall reading this whole book in 6 hours or so.
Let’s talk about negative aspects first. Because this book was in “guide” format, there were a lot less information present than it could’ve been. And the examples provided (along with explanations) were just not adequate enough to learn particular skill or area with proficiency. One annoying thing I found was the URL to websites. Only handful of URLs were mentioned for resource site, but most of the websites do not exist anymore. Keeping in mind that this book was published in 2001, they should revise & update then publish 2nd edition.
Although what I’ve described are negative, these are less significant factors considering that the book is a general overview guide.
There were many positive things about this book. Because of it’s format (or layout), it was easy to read, follow along, and process information given to me. It covers variety of different topics such as classroom setup, lesson planning, classroom management, communications with faculty, students, and parents, and grading / assessment. It provides you with core concepts and ideas, which are easy to “digest”.
Another thing I like about this book is the “making the grade” and “teacher’s rule” sections at the margin of the book. “Making the grade” tells you great tips to become a good teacher (makes you look good); something an experienced teacher would do. “Theacher’s rule” describes something that you definitely want to do in order to be a successful teacher; again something an experienced teacher would do that would save you from extra work & headaches.
Although not a comprehensive guide, it focuses on high school level, which the book is intended for.
Once again, it is a good overview book, and I strongly recommend reading more in depth material or books regarding specific topics. I enjoyed reading this book, and it did help me, and I think first year highs school teacher may also find this book very useful.
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Rating: 4 / 5