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About Harry and Rosemary Wong...
Harry and Rosemary Wong are teachers. Harry is a native of San Francisco and taught middle school and high school science. Rosemary is a native of New Orleans and taught K-8, including working as the school media coordinator and student activity director.

Harry Wong has been awarded the Outstanding Secondary Teacher Award, the Science Teacher Achievement Recognition Award, the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award, and the Valley Forge Teacher's Medal. Rosemary was chosen as one of California's first mentor teachers and has been awarded the Silicon Valley Distinguished Woman of the Year Award.

Harry Wong is the most sought after speaker in education today. He has been called "Mr. Practicality" for his common sense, user-friendly, no-cost approach to managing a classroom for high-level student success.

More than a half-million teachers worldwide have heard his message. Because he is fully booked for two years, he has agreed to and has invited his wife to join him in doing a monthly column for teacher.net so that more people can hear their message.

About Their Work... The Wongs have formed their own publishing company, of which Rosemary is the CEO. The Wongs are dedicated to bringing quality and dignity to the materials they produce for teachers and to leaving a legacy in education by making a difference in the lives of teachers and students.

The Wongs have written the best selling self-published book ever in education. Over one million copies of The First Days of School have been sold. They have also produced the video series The Effective Teacher, which won the Telly Award for being the best educational staff development video of the past twenty years. It also won the 1st place gold award in the International Film and Video Festival. When the book and video series are used together, they form the most effective staff development tool for developing effective teachers. Information about these products and others can be found by visiting the publisher's website at www.effectiveteaching.com or www.harrywong.com.

Questions submitted to Kathleen Carpenter at kathleen@teachers.net, will be considered by the Wongs for responses in future monthly columns in the Teachers.Net Gazette.

Click to visit The Wong's Homepage.

 


Best Sellers

The First Days of School
by Harry & Rosemary Wong

$23.96 from Amazon.com
More information
 
 
The Effective Teacher (Video Set)
Presented by Harry Wong

8 VHS video tapes, binder with Facilitator’s Handbook, book The First Days of School, and storage case, $795.00 from HarryWong.com (volume discounts available)
More information
 

Effective Teaching
by Harry and Rosemary Wong

Your First Day

Bob Marlowe is fresh out of college, clueless but excited over being a new teacher. With 17 boxes of activities he can't wait to make learning fun. So he starts the first day of school with his most favorite fun activity and then spends the rest of the school year chasing after the class.

Melissa Pantoja scripted her first day of school. She is like a coach who scripts the first 25 plays of a game. A teacher would not "wing it" in a classroom any more than a coach would "wing it" on a football field or a pilot would wing it on a flight from Baltimore to Kansas City! The successful and effective teacher goes in with a plan and modifies that plan if conditions change.

Melissa began the first day of her first year of teaching with a plan. She scripted the first day of school as follows:

First Day of School
1999-2000
Mrs. Melissa Pantoja

Greet each student at the door:

  • hand each child a classroom rules sheet (goes in notebook)
  • direct them toward their assigned seat (alphabetical)
  • tell child to read and follow the instructions written on the board
  • have instructions written on board for them to start on
  • finish greeting the last to arrive in class
Welcome students to class and introduce myself:
  • my name
  • talk about family (husband, kids)
  • education
  • where I'm from and where I live
  • tell them why I wanted to teach
Arriving and leaving class:
  • teach procedure for arriving in class
  • teach procedure for dismissal from class
Explain rules and daily procedures:
  • refer to the rules that are posted at front
  • explain discipline plan and refer to poster
  • go over procedures and refer to poster
  • talk about "We missed you" chart
Number assignments:
  • each person will have a number that represents them
  • the number will be on all of their art papers and on their art folder
  • this will help all of us to keep our papers straight
  • when writing your number on something put your grade level before your number (1st-5; 2nd-8 and so on)
Respecting the classroom and the art supplies:
  • refer to classroom rules and procedures
  • teach them to be responsible for the art supplies and room; teach procedures
Teachers things and students things:
  • some things are only for me
  • other things are for you to use as you need it
Explain thematic lessons and such:
  • will be going along with what regular teacher is teaching
Art centers:
  • everyone will get a chance to go to all the centers
  • art centers board will have names (numbers) that tell us who does what that day
Portfolios:
  • each child will be taking a portfolio home
  • papers will be stored (filed) in a container until end of semester (or year?)
Notebooks:
  • this is so that the child can record their grades and keep track of them for themselves
  • to store vocabulary words for future use
  • to write a weekly journal entry about what they liked most about the weeks lesson

At the end of her first year as a teacher, Melissa Pantoja writes:

"My first day of school was a success. Each of my students had a place to sit and an art number, which they would use for the duration of the year. The overhead projector was ready with seatwork on the board and they worked quietly until I was ready to introduce myself. I let them know what I expected and that each of them would be successful.

"Classroom management and having a procedure for everything is a key factor in success, but I have also found that having a place for everything and everything in it's place is also very important. The longer it takes to find a paper or get out work for students who have been absent, the more distracted other students become.

"I feel that studying The First Days of School and using the suggested strategies was a key factor in the overwhelming joy I feel when thinking about this first year."

If you do not plan, the students will plan for you.

The effective teacher organizes and structures the classroom for his/her success, but most importantly, for the success of the students.

 

Past Gazette Articles by Harry & Rosemary Wong:



Harry & Rosemary Wong products: http://harrywong.com/product/
Email Harry Wong: harrywong@teachers.net

 
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