Thanks but no thanks, Harry Wong

Recently I've been re-reading a few pages of the Wongs' The First Days of School each day over breakfast. The book has a lot of great suggestions for classroom setup and management. But I think it's corresponded with a steadily dwindling confidence in my effectiveness as a teacher. When the Wongs say "Effective teachers do ..." one thing and "Ineffective teachers do ..." another, I generally fall in the ineffective category.

What I need to do is read more things like this, remind myself that kids actually do learn in my class, and try not to hold myself to impossible standards. There has to be some middle ground between "effective teachers" and "ineffective teachers."

Plus, I'm sorry Mr. Wong, but you would never get away with a name like that in high school.