First Week of Field

I really enjoy working with the first graders at Melrose Elementary. I also love working with Mr. Larousse. He is a wonderful teacher because, though there are SOME behavior issues, he is for the most part very patient with the children.

My first day in the classroom, we were working on math and some of the children were having issues with “turn-around-facts.” For example, a turn around would be 2+4=6, 4+2=6, 6-2=4, 6-4=2. While Danielle and Mr. Larousse were walking around the room working with students, I stayed at one table because 4 of the 5 students were completely lost or refused to do their work. While I was trying to work with one student, I would hear “Miss Ault! I need help!” It was a bit of a challenge trying to explain the concept and for four of the kids, they just did not get it. One child, at first, did not want any help. He sat there, clearly confused, and when I asked how he was doing, he replied, “leave me alone!” Well, I had to tell him that “it was not nice to speak to a teacher or friend who only wanted to help” and so I left him there. After 5 minutes, he warmed up and was more willing to accept my help though only after telling me his name was “Josh” when “Josh” is not his name. Another student told on him, so, I did learn his name, but not without him laughing. So, I laughed with him, told him “that was a good trick on me but other teachers would not like that so we need to say our real name from now on.” After that, he was a really nice kid and ended up, once understanding the concept, really doing well on the worksheet.