Alison’s 260 Weblog

First off, I greatly enjoyed the 2 days off due to snow days but was eager to get back into field and see what my new classroom would be like. I was moved from Ms. Mapes 2nd grade at Melrose to Mr. Larousse’s 1st grade class at Melrose. For the 2 days I was there I have enjoyed my time and really feel welcome and useful within the classroom.

When I arrived the first day he was teaching a math lesson using triangles to teach addition and subtraction. After this was finished each student had a set of worksheets to fill out. When they were finished he had me jump right in and read over their answers to check for completion and then direct them to their next worksheet. I found this to be a great way for me to learn the students names as well as learn what each student was like on an individual bases as I worked with them on questions they had on the worksheets.

On my second day I was able to observe Mr. Larousse conduct the calender activity that they do every morning. It was a great activity and very similar to other classrooms that I have seen do a calender activity dealing with Everyday Math. The children were very excited to participate and they were chosen by pulling their name out of a jar of Popsicle sticks. This was a great classroom management tool as Mr. L was able to be sure to call on every student before calling on someone for their second time.

One thing that I did notice as interesting was that Mr. Larousse has wore blue jeans to both days of school I have been in there. I don’t see this as a negative aspect because he is an absolutely gifted teacher with the “knack” we discussed in class and I feel that him wearing the jeans does not take away from the respect his students or other teachers give him at all. I just saw it as interesting considering some schools do not allow jeans at all, even on Fridays.

Overall my short time there has been very beneficial and I find modeling my teaching style after Mr. Larousse’s as a great way of teaching because it has a laid back feel to in along with a strong sense of hard work and determination to learn more.