Podcasts
Page Navigation
- Adriana Rada
- Alyssa Larnerd
- Amy Sylvester
- Andrea Calvo
- Beniy Waisanen
- Blair Campbell
- Carlos Mota
- Caroleann Curley
- Cathy Wilson
- Christine Lee
- Debbie Kojima
- Devi Sok-Huynh
- Emily McDougal
- Heather Rios
- Jillian Harris
- Karen Nelson
- Katie Duchsherer
- Katie O’Meara
- Kim Bass
- Kirsten Hubbard
- Kristen Campos
- Linda Kelley
- Mark and Marisa Sonny
- Mary Nguyen
- Matt Stricker
- Melissa Zaucha
- Molly Esquivel
- Nancy Karcher
- Nikki Mahar
- Pamela Zinnel
- Pam Keller
- Phil Ling
- Sandra Farias
- Sarah Spero
- Tracy Kim
- Tricia Hyun Gee
- Van-Anh Voung-Dac
- Yasmine Chavez
- Back to FSD Innovations Home
-
-
Alyssa Larnerd podcast transcript
[00:00:00]
Intro: Welcome to the Teacher Interview Podcast. I’m your host, Wes Kriesel. I work as Director of Innovation and Instructional Support in Fullerton School District, and every week we sit down and get to know a teacher better. My goal is to learn what drives and guides teachers, especially when venturing into that risky territory of trying something new. Join me. Today on the Teacher Interview Podcast, Matt Mankiewicz takes my spot as Matt Mankiewicz and talks to Alyssa Larnerd. She teaches kindergarten at Orangethorpe Elementary.
Matt Mankiewicz: Welcome to the Teacher Interview Podcast. I am not Wes Kriesel. I am Matt Mankiewicz filling in for Wes Kriesel. I am joined today by Alyssa Larnerd.
Alyssa Larnerd: Emphasize the nerd.
Matt Mankiewicz: Emphasize the nerd. How are you today?
Alyssa Larnerd: I’m good. How are you?
Matt Mankiewicz: I’m wonderful. I noticed you took your antlers off.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah. Crazy hot day.
Matt Mankiewicz: Crazy hot day and you went as a reindeer.
Alyssa Larnerd: A reindeer.
Matt Mankiewicz: Okay. Very cool.
Alyssa Larnerd: ‘Tis the season.
Matt Mankiewicz: Absolutely, getting into that school spirit.
Alyssa Larnerd: Absolutely.
Matt Mankiewicz: Very cool. What was the best crazy hat in your class today? Aside from yours, of course.
Alyssa Larnerd: Well, mine was just plain. The best crazy hat, there’s this one little girl, she had like a cat hat, but then she had like all these Beanie Babies glued to the hat. It was really cute. Actually, all their hats were so cute. When they’re 5, everything’s cute.
Matt Mankiewicz: Okay. This is true. I have a 6-year-old, so I understand that.
Alyssa Larnerd: Mm-hmm.
Matt Mankiewicz: And a 4-year-old. All right, so let’s get into this.
Alyssa Larnerd: Okay.
Matt Mankiewicz: How long have you been teaching?
Alyssa Larnerd: This is my fourth year.
Matt Mankiewicz: Fourth year, and where do you teach and what do you teach?
Alyssa Larnerd: Orangethorpe Elementary and I teach kindergarten, but I taught second grade for the last two years. So, the first year, I taught kindergarten. I got moved. Am I too loud?
Matt Mankiewicz: No, you’re doing wonderful.
Alyssa Larnerd: I got moved to second grade for two years and I met the best teaching partner in the world, Katie Duchsherer, and then we both got moved to kindergarten last year.
Matt Mankiewicz: Very cool. I started in second grade. I spent five years teaching second grade.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, second grade’s such a fine grade.
Matt Mankiewicz: They’re like old enough where they can take care of themselves a little bit but still young enough that they really want to please you.
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly. And they love you so much, I know, and they’re the best cleaner-uppers. With kindergarten, I’m like, “Oh my goodness, I’m going to have to clean this up later.”
Matt Mankiewicz: That is too funny. Oh yeah, so tell us, how did you become a teacher?
Alyssa Larnerd: Well, I think I’ve always wanted to become a teacher. I’ve always been so bossy. Not that teachers are bossy.
Matt Mankiewicz: We have our moments.
Alyssa Larnerd: But, we do have our moments. But, I think I’ve always just wanted to become a teacher. I think it’s just innate in me. I mean, I wanted to do a lot of things. I went to school to become a flight attendant I was like, “No, I don’t want to do this.” I wanted to be an interior designer, like, “No, I don’t want to do this.” But, in the back of my mind, I think I’ve always wanted to become a teacher. So, I’m like, “I’m going to do this,” and then it’s like I stuck with it. So, I know it was meant to be.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, I can see the interior designer connection to being a teacher, right? I’m sure your bulletin boards are awesome.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, on point.
Matt Mankiewicz: How do you go from flight attendant to teacher though?
Alyssa Larnerd: Okay, so I wanted to be a flight attendant because I thought when I was like 19 years old, “I want to travel the world. That’s what I want to do.” But then, the instructor was like, “You’re never going to have a family. Just kiss the family good-bye.” And I was like, “Wait, what?” They were like, “Yeah, my marriage has failed.” I’m like, “Wait, what?” I wasn’t even married. I wasn’t even planning on getting married and having kids at the time, and I don’t—well, I don’t have kids now, but…
Matt Mankiewicz: That’s a whole different…
Alyssa Larnerd: That’s a whole different story, but…
Matt Mankiewicz: Yeah, this is not a dating podcast. It’s a teaching podcast.
Alyssa Larnerd: But, I was like, “No, I want to have a family.” They’re like, “You’ll miss Christmas and stuff like that.” I’m like, “No, it’s not for me,” and then I just… All that hard work, but that’s okay.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, I mean, do you see similarities? Obviously, these jobs, or these potential jobs, I guess, have come from interest or things inside you. What do you think it is about you that says, “Yeah, flight attendant, that’d be a cool job. And teaching, that’d be cool.” What are the similarities that cross over?
Alyssa Larnerd: I guess I like to serve but serving in a different way. I like to serve people. I like to make people happy and I guess that’s like a connection, that flight attendant and teachers. I don’t know.
Matt Mankiewicz: Okay, very cool. Okay.
Alyssa Larnerd: Really, it was just for traveling.
Matt Mankiewicz: Okay, so you decided you’re going to be a teacher, and then what?
Alyssa Larnerd: And then, I was super-lucky. So, my mom works at the school district. She works at Richmond, but she used to work at Woodcrest. So, I would go to the school and I would actually volunteer all the time, and that’s how I met Rochelle Wolf. So, I was her little prodigy, and I’m sure she’s like, “Ooh,” when she hears this. I was her little prodigy, and then I guess networking. People don’t understand how much networking helps you in every single field, like teaching, just like other stuff in general. And so, I made connections there, my mom’s here, and then luckily, right when I got out of the credential program, I got a job right away because Rochelle Wolf was our assistant principal.
Matt Mankiewicz: Well, it sounds like she didn’t just pick you. It sounds like you sort of earned that spot.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes. Oh, yes, lots of, “Do this,” “Do that.”
Matt Mankiewicz: So, one of the people that Wes talked to before this interview was Rochelle Wolf. One word to describe you, can you guess what that word might be?
Alyssa Larnerd: With her?
Matt Mankiewicz: With her.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh my god.
Matt Mankiewicz: She had to pick one word for you.
Alyssa Larnerd: I don’t know what she picked. She’s crazy.
Matt Mankiewicz: She put three exclamation points behind it, and the word was energetic, which it’s too bad this is not a vlog because people would see that you are the most animated storyteller, just in the first few minutes right here.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, I know, my hands, everything.
Matt Mankiewicz: Absolutely. And so, talking about your experience there, Rochelle was asked, “What is a moment when Alyssa was just being Alyssa?” and she talked about when you were in college and how you volunteered to come on multiple field trips, activities, school events, way outside your mandated hours.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes.
Matt Mankiewicz: You would help with school clubs, making posters. You were truly there because of the kids, and they weren’t even paying you yet.
Alyssa Larnerd: She’s so cute. I love her.
Matt Mankiewicz: Tell me about it. What was it? Obviously, it wasn’t your first experience in the school because your mom worked there.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: This is your first experience probably as like the adult, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, tell me about it. Do you love it?
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah, she was so cool. She would like, “Hey, want to teach a lesson?” I’m like, “Uh, yeah.” I was like, “Absolutely, I want to teach a lesson.” So, I would pretend like I was a teacher, even though I was older, but that’s a big deal.
Matt Mankiewicz: Sure.
Alyssa Larnerd: So, I would pretend and I would do these lessons, and they were so fun. She really let me help inside the classroom even though I wasn’t even a student teacher of hers. She would just let me do what I want and like art projects, science stuff. So, she was really cool. I love her.
Matt Mankiewicz: Are there any moments from that time, because you spent ample hours there, any moments that stood out to you where you’re like, “This is it,” like, “I know this is where I want to be, this is what I want to do?”
Alyssa Larnerd: You know, she used to make me do little tests for the kids, not DIBELS but very similar to DIBELS, and I love doing it. I love listening to—well, I love teaching reading. It’s like my favorite, favorite thing to teach, and when I was teaching them little reading stuff and testing their reading, I’m like, “Oh, I love this. This is so awesome.”
Matt Mankiewicz: What do you love so much about reading?
Alyssa Larnerd: In kindergarten, it’s like when it clicks, it clicks, and it’s like the best moment ever. They’re like, “I can read a word!” and I’m like, “You can read a word!” I’m probably more excited than the kids are. I’m like, “Oh my god, yes!” Sorry. That was loud.
Matt Mankiewicz: That’s okay. That’s so encouraging for them though to see, I mean, the listeners cannot see the look on your face, but like, I’m excited for this kid and they’re only hypothetical, just seeing how excited you are and how pumped you are.
Alyssa Larnerd: It’s the best feeling in the world. Even in second grade, when we have struggling readers and stuff, when they would get it it’d be like, “Oh my god, yes,” like best feeling ever.
Matt Mankiewicz: I love it, I love it. They asked Rochelle just for some bonus information about you, and Rochelle said that you have an amazing heart and that you are never satisfied with the status quo.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh no. Yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, tell us about that.
Alyssa Larnerd: I always feel like, maybe I’m too hard on myself, but I always feel I can do better. I can do better. I don’t want to do the same thing as last year. I want to create new things. It’s fun for me to create new things.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, to create new things, give us an example. What’s something new maybe that you’ve created?
Alyssa Larnerd: I don’t know, just like fun things for the kids to do like centers or maybe like a craft or an activity, just little stuff like that.
Matt Mankiewicz: Well, can you give us an example of like a center that you’ve created or a craft or…?
Alyssa Larnerd: Okay. So, for example, even though like I’ve seen it on TpT, I’ll still like do it myself because my kids’ needs are different than what I see on TpT. So, it’s like, “Okay, so that on TpT, I can’t use that. My kids aren’t there yet.” So then, I’ll just create it myself. Not that I’m copying or stealing. I’m just making it my own.
Matt Mankiewicz: Sure.
Alyssa Larnerd: So, I didn’t tell Katie, she’s going to be mad, but I created this candy cane thing and we’re really focusing on recognition of 1 to 20, so I’m going to have them put the candy canes 1 to 20. Recognition. I’ll write on them and stuff like that. Just little stuff like that.
Matt Mankiewicz: Sure. Learning should be fun, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Mm-hmm.
Matt Mankiewicz: And it’s those little things that make counting or number recognition that much more enjoyable. That’s very cool.
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly, yeah. Thematic. If you’re in kinder, always thematic.
Matt Mankiewicz: It’s got to be cute, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly.
Matt Mankiewicz: It’s got to be cute. Very cool. So, you mentioned Katie.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes.
Matt Mankiewicz: Katie Duchsherer, correct?
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes.
Matt Mankiewicz: Wes also contacted her. She’s one of your kindergarten colleagues at Orangethorpe..
Alyssa Larnerd: She’s my bestie.
Matt Mankiewicz: That’s what I heard. So, they asked Katie for one word to describe you, and she said energetic.
Alyssa Larnerd: No, she didn’t. She said the same thing as Rochelle? That’s so funny.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, there’s a theme here and I’m sure people can hear it in your voice, but you probably got to have this kind of energy, too, to get through a day in kindergarten, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: You got those guys engaged.
Alyssa Larnerd: Those 10,000 steps and it’s easy to get them in kinder.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, anyone that’s ever taught kindergarten or have little kids or seen kindergarten is like, “Okay, it’s like herding cats,” right? What’s your best tool for keeping all those kids tuned in to you all day?
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, a lot of moving, like constantly, because I have two carpet areas. Luckily, I have a really big room. So, we have our carpet squares and then we have our sit spots, which are kind of like carpet squares. So, we’re constantly moving up and down, a lot of TPR, like multi-modal stuff, like just always moving, always.
Matt Mankiewicz: What’s TPR?
Alyssa Larnerd: Total Physical Response.
Matt Mankiewicz: Okay.
Alyssa Larnerd: I feel like a college student saying that.
Matt Mankiewicz: It’s okay. We’re teachers. We love acronyms.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, what’s an example of some TPR that you maybe see in a classroom?
Alyssa Larnerd: Okay, so for example, Katie is really into choreography, so she choreographs all our moves for us.
Matt Mankiewicz: Whoa.
Alyssa Larnerd: I know. She’s awesome. But, we got our new Wonders program, so with like zoo phonics or letter phonics, they did all the moves with it. We’re like, “Well, those moves don’t match what’ we’re doing.” So, we created, or Katie created, new moves. So, we just do that all the time. It really helps them when they’re doing it to remember the sounds, like ah, buh.
Matt Mankiewicz: Yeah, absolutely. Very cool. So, it sounds like you have a lot of respect for Katie and you like working with Katie.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes. You guys just—I’m going to talk about her all the time, sorry.
Matt Mankiewicz: Well, that’s okay because she was talking about you and she said you two—well, first of all, she said, “Our moments and memories together are countless, but here’s just a story of us and how we teach together. We always joke that we’re an old married couple.”
Alyssa Larnerd: She’s the man, always.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, she said, apparently, she’s the husband because she’s able to fix things, and you are the wife because you make everything cute. I love that. “With that said, Alyssa is amazingly talented at creating technology projects, crafts, classroom décor, and so much more.” She said she always teases you that you should open up your own TpT store.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh my gosh, I know. Okay, so she made me get an Instagram. Like, seriously, for two years, she’s like, “You should get an Instagram. You should have one of those teacher Instagrams.” I’m like, “No. I don’t want to do that.” And finally, I opened one, and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, now I’ll have to keep up with everything.” And so, yeah. So, TpT store is maybe. Maybe. She’s like, “I’ll create the title page or I’ll create the,” what is that page called, resource page or credits page? She’s like, “I’ll do that. That’s the worst part.” I’m like, “Oh my gosh.”
Matt Mankiewicz: So, social media’s obviously a good way to do some informal PD. Do you keep up with your Instagram account?
Alyssa Larnerd: I do. I just started it. I do, kind of, yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: Oh, okay.
Alyssa Larnerd: So, yeah, yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: Do you do a lot of searching for, I know you’d mentioned like…
Alyssa Larnerd: Instagram is life. It is life. Teacher accounts, they’re life. I’m like, “Oh, yes.” I know everyone likes the Twitter, the Twitter’s life in FSC, but Instagram is life for me and the teacher accounts.
Matt Mankiewicz: I love it. Very cool. So, Katie said that Alyssa, you are probably the hardest-working teacher she knows, “and she’s always putting the needs of her students first. And working alongside her, each and every day is such a joy,” that you push her to be a better teacher.”
Alyssa Larnerd: Aw. She’s so cute, too.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, is it just the two of you in kindergarten?
Alyssa Larnerd: It’s just the two of us. It’s been the two of us for three years now.
Matt Mankiewicz: Oh, wow.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah. So, we’ve been a team for three years. I hope we never get separated. I hope my admin hears that.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, I know how important it is to have friends where you work and especially this job. We spend so much time there. So, tell us more about your BFF-ness with…
Alyssa Larnerd: My PIC, my partner in crime.
Matt Mankiewicz: Yeah, there we go.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah. Well, she had a partner for a long time, for like what, five years or something like that? And she got moved from her, and she thought it was the end of the world. But, really, it was me just starting to rock her world.
Matt Mankiewicz: Just the beginning.
Alyssa Larnerd: I know, starting to rock her world. But, we just get along so well. it’s really nice because we bounce ideas back off of each other, so I’ll say one thing, she’s like, “Alyssa let’s bring it down a little bit,” like, “Come on.” But then, she’ll be like, “Oh, what if you add this?” So, basically what she said, she does all the fixing and stuff and I just make it look cute. Not that I don’t do all that stuff, but I’m just like, “Oh, but we could do this!” And she’s like, “Yes!” We just flow so well. Our energy is so good together.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, it sounds like you guys have complementary strengths.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes, exactly. Yeah. We went to a really awesome training for the past two days. It’s about trauma response and like love and logic and all that stuff, and it’s so funny because all of our similarities and our differences, our strengths and weaknesses, they were so similar. It was crazy. We took that quiz.
Matt Mankiewicz: Interesting.
Alyssa Larnerd: I don’t know. It was just—we’re very similar, but then we’re very different. So, she said, “Oh, you should have scored yourself higher on this.” I’m like, “No. I don’t think that.” She’s like, “Yes.” She’s like, “You should give yourself—organization should have been number one for you.” And I’m like, “No, I’m not that organized.” She’s like, “Everything has a place, Alyssa.” I’m like, “But it’s messy in my room right now.”
Matt Mankiewicz: That’s funny. So, she’s like a cheerleader for you.
Alyssa Larnerd: We were both cheerleaders. We were both cheerleaders, yes.
Matt Mankiewicz: That makes sense.
Alyssa Larnerd: Uh-huh.
Matt Mankiewicz: But like, you know, personal cheerleaders.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah, personal. She is my cheerleader. She’s like, “Oh, [00:15:32 unintelligible].” I’m like, “Yeah.”
Matt Mankiewicz: Everybody needs one, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly, exactly.
Matt Mankiewicz: You give all that energy to your kids. Very cool. Oh, she also called you her work bestie.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, yeah, and she’s very honored to be your colleague, so that’s cool. Wes also talked to your mom, [00:15:48 Ophelia,] it sounds like, and your mom, she loves you very much. I can tell. She says, “I have many positive words to describe Alyssa, but if I can only choose one, it’s dedicated.”
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, she’s such a mom.
Matt Mankiewicz: Why do you say that?
Alyssa Larnerd: I don’t know. She’s said a lot of stuff about me. She’s cute, too. Oh, I love everybody. They’re so cute.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, we asked her for a moment when you were just being you, and she talked about how your grandfather recently passed. And she said it was just a surreal and heartbreaking time for your family and you just, even though you were grieving yourself and going through it, you just jumped right in to help others.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: And you’re still working and obviously doing things on your own, but you volunteered to help with she said many aspects of her grandfather’s service, including writing and presenting a beautiful speech.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh. My speech was cool. I loved my grandpa. We’re so similar and I miss him every single day. It’s like been what, like a month I think since he passed away. But, yeah, the speech, it wasn’t really my speech. Have you ever seen the movie Big Fish?
Matt Mankiewicz: I haven’t.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, you’re missing out on life.
Matt Mankiewicz: Oh, I’ll add it to my…
Alyssa Larnerd: Everybody, please do some homework.
Matt Mankiewicz: I’ll put it on the Netflix queue.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes, and it’s about this guy who tells a lot of stories and he’s so animated, and I think that’s where I get a lot of my personality from, is him. And it’s totally his life, and I just wrote, basically, not his eulogy but like a little speech about him, about that. But, yeah, I miss him. That guy was awesome.
Matt Mankiewicz: You said he tells a lot of stories.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh my gosh. Do you have an hour? Does this podcast have an hour?
Matt Mankiewicz: We have as much time as you need. Tell us.
Alyssa Larnerd: No, he is such a storyteller, and the best thing about him is that he would tell stories, and I look at him and I’m like—I called him Papa—I’m like, “Papa, I heard that one before.” And I said, “And I’m pretty sure that’s not how it went last time.” He’s like, “Well, it most certainly did go that way.” I said, “You’re losing it. You’re losing it.” No, but he just liked to tell stories, not all of them were the truth, I think. He exaggerated a little bit, but he was so engaging and he always captivated his audience, and I don’t know. I think that’s where I get it from, my energy and having good conversations with people.
Matt Mankiewicz: You feel like you channel that into your classroom?
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah, yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: And how does that help you? How does that work for you?
Alyssa Larnerd: Well, it keeps everybody engaged. I feel like a lot of students, especially where I work, we work in a really low-socioeconomic area, parents don’t talk to their kids and that’s a little bit sad. So, when I talk to kids, it’s so fun because they’ll talk back and they’re learning how to speak to someone, which is—There’s this one little girl. I’d be like, “Hey, how was your weekend?” She’s like…
Matt Mankiewicz: “She’s talking to me. What do I do now?”
Alyssa Larnerd: I was like, “What did you do?” “Ah, good.” I’m like, “But what did you do, sweetie?” She’s like, “Uh, watch TV.” But now, they’re opening up and they’re learning how to have a conversation. So, just talking to people, it really makes people’s day. I don’t know.
Matt Mankiewicz: Well, and it’s such an important life skill, too, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah, being able to have a conversation with somebody.
Matt Mankiewicz: Absolutely.
Matt Mankiewicz: But, it’s hard. Even as an adult sometimes, you’re like, “Oh, man, I don’t know how to have a conversation with this person.” But, no, it’s so important for us to talk to the kids, not about school stuff but about personal stuff, too, like, “How are you doing?”
Matt Mankiewicz: So, you say that’s important. Why is it so important?
Alyssa Larnerd: Because you don’t know how they’re doing. They could look like they’re okay, but they may have not eaten breakfast. They may have had a dad that went to jail, which we have a lot. They may have not been sleeping at home or mom went to jail or anything. It’s just getting to know them is just so incredibly important, and them telling us, because they can walk in and be totally okay and you don’t think anything’s wrong until you ask them. It’s really, just ask. Just ask.
Matt Mankiewicz: Just ask. It’s so simple.
Alyssa Larnerd: Just ask. Mm-hmm.
Matt Mankiewicz: I love that. I want to circle back to one of the things we talked about earlier. Rochelle talked about how you’re never satisfied with the status quo, and you say that you’ve been teaching four years now?
Alyssa Larnerd: Mm-hmm.
Matt Mankiewicz: I know you’ve changed grades. Do you feel like any of those years have been the same for you?
Alyssa Larnerd: No. Oh my gosh, no! I wish they were, but they’re not.
Matt Mankiewicz: So, how is it always changing for every year?
Alyssa Larnerd: Well, first, we’ve had new curriculum. So, when I first came in here, there was no curriculum, like, “Oh my gosh, what do I do? I’m brand new. I don’t know what to do? Help me, somebody!” But, I made it work. I found a lot of stuff, and now we have a curriculum. But, I was learning Go Math. And then, the second year, I was like, “Oh my gosh, I could do this with math and I could do this with math?”
Matt Mankiewicz: What are some of those things you can do?
Alyssa Larnerd: Okay, so like last year, we did this really fun activity. I don’t know what chapter we were working on, but we were second grade, we were doing Go Math. I’m like, “You know what? Let’s have a snowball fight.” So, I made like this little thing and it was about—I need Katie to help me. I don’t know what it was about. I think it was like double-digit addition.
Matt Mankiewicz: sure.
Alyssa Larnerd: So, they had to solve the problem, so basically, they crumpled it up, they threw it, and then they picked it up and then they had to solve it within one minute, and then they crumpled it up and then they threw it again, and then they picked another one up. So, it was a big snowball fight, but it was so fun inside the classroom.
Matt Mankiewicz: You’re just having them practice their addition.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: But, they think they’re throwing snowballs.
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly. I was like, “No throwing at the face! From the hips down, you can throw.”
Matt Mankiewicz: Could have been horrific [00:21:46 mass] accidents.
Alyssa Larnerd: I know. Oh my gosh, yeah.
Matt Mankiewicz: That’s so cool. I love that. That’s definitely a fun way to spend math practice.
Alyssa Larnerd: Well, that’s what they’re going to remember. I mean, they’re not going to remember like, “Okay, everybody, it’s Go Math time. 5.7, get it out, everybody. Let’s just do this.” No, they’re going to remember the fun stuff.
Matt Mankiewicz: Absolutely.
Alyssa Larnerd: And I get it. Some teachers, it’s hard to do that every single day. We have to do the Go Math [00:22:13 unintelligible] but, I understand that. But, you always want to try to incorporate a few fun things into the lessons. You got to teach the core, but don’t forget about the fun stuff.
Matt Mankiewicz: You can’t forget about the fun stuff.
Matt Mankiewicz: No, because that’s what they’re going to remember!
Matt Mankiewicz: Absolutely. People have mentioned that creativity is one of your strengths. Do you feel like you’re able to pass that on to your kids or model that for your kids, encourage that in your kids?
Alyssa Larnerd: Yeah! Yeah. Right now, we’re working on following directions right now. I mean, I know it’s day 72, everybody, but let me tell you, 5-year-olds, they really need help with directions. So, I don’t know, yeah, they get to be creative, but also, I want to teach them how to follow directions.
Matt Mankiewicz: Sure.
Alyssa Larnerd: Because not everyone’s like me. That’s really important. So, like first grade, they’re not like me, but I want to make sure that they can be successful in the classes that they go up to where they can—like with me, they can have fun, be creative, but another teacher, that might not be her forte, but I want to make sure that if I send them off, they’re going to be successful for the rest of their lives.
Matt Mankiewicz: And creativity requires structure, too, right?
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly, exactly.
Matt Mankiewicz: There’s creativity and there’s just doing the first thing that comes to your mind [00:23:24 unintelligible]
Alyssa Larnerd: Exactly.
Matt Mankiewicz: Very cool. I know, there’s a weird…
Alyssa Larnerd: Choo-choo, everybody.
Matt Mankiewicz: You probably hear the train in the background. We were talking about the trains earlier. That train’s a great way to bring this podcast to a close, though. So, just to sort of sum you up here, high energy and engagement seems to be your main tool that you bring, which is an important tool for the kindergarten classroom.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes, yes. Everyone’s like, “God, I wish I had your energy.” And I’m like, “Yeah, sometimes I wish I had my energy, too.” I’m like, “Whoo! I need to settle down a minute.”
Matt Mankiewicz: But, we take your energy and you couple it with your dedication and your commitment and what obviously seems to be your care and love for your kids and just makes you an awesome, awesome teacher.
Alyssa Larnerd: Yes. I love them to death. They’re so cute. Thanks!
Matt Mankiewicz: So, thank you so much for joining us today and for talking with us.
Alyssa Larnerd: Of course!
Matt Mankiewicz: And get some rest because it sounds like you needed it.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh, yeah! I’m going to make some stuff this weekend, everybody, like make some stuff from home, stuff for next week. You know, it’s December.
Matt Mankiewicz: We’ll check the Insta.
Alyssa Larnerd: Oh yeah, check the Insta.
Matt Mankiewicz: Okay, right on. Thank you so much, Alyssa Larnerd. Thank you.
Alyssa Larnerd: All right, thanks.
Outro: This has been the Teacher Interview Podcast. Thank you for joining us.
[00:24:38]
-
"But, I think I’ve always just wanted to become a teacher. I think it’s just innate in me. I mean, I wanted to do a lot of things. I went to school to become a flight attendant I was like, “No, I don’t want to do this.” I wanted to be an interior designer, like, “No, I don’t want to do this.” But, in the back of my mind, I think I’ve always wanted to become a teacher. So, I’m like, “I’m going to do this,” and then it’s like I stuck with it. So, I know it was meant to be."
-
"I always feel like, maybe I’m too hard on myself, but I always feel I can do better. I can do better. I don’t want to do the same thing as last year. I want to create new things. It’s fun for me to create new things."
