The First Days of School is a manual for teachers, oriented towards primary school teachers, but with useful advice for educators at other levels as well. The Wongs have a clear idea of what they want teachers to be: dedicated, enthusiastic professionals who impact student's lives. The first and last chapters are exhortations towards this ideal (although I wonder what they'd say for cynical, disorganized, and unfriendly people. "Don't teach", maybe?).

The middle three chapters have useful advice. The first step is to set create a positive context for students, by being a friendly and professional dressed person who makes an effort to greet students as individual, and set expectations of success. Second, have an orderly classroom, with procedures for everything from turning in homework to getting the instructor's permission to evacuating from a fire. Third, focus on student learning through an Understanding by Design adjacent learning practice, rather than mere coverage of the curriculum. Oh, and never argue with students, because by doing so you've already lost precious time for teaching the rest of the class.

For college students, who have a lot of implicit knowledge about how school should work, and less structured classes, this book is less useful. I will take going forward what to do in the opening minutes of class, those dead minutes before class actually starts, setting procedures so that students know what to expect every day and start learning, and a list of "learning verbs" to use in assignments. There seems to be some strong disagreement about how structured a classroom should be, and if students can see through these ploys, but I agree with the Wongs: a structured classroom encourages learning. Chasing those moments of synchronicity from a more improvisational teaching style is a mistake.