Senior Project Karlee McHenry

Overview For the past few weeks I have been student teaching at Fox Mill Elementary School in Fairfax. I have been assisting both Mrs. Walther’s sixth grade classes and Mrs. Musti’s kindergarten class. My normal hours were from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I have done everything from copying and grading papers, to working with kids that need extra help.

Overview During my first week at Fox Mill I spent most of my time organizing the sixth grade trailers and grading papers. I’m an extremely organized person so after countless hours their file cabinets, wardrobes, and closets are now clean! Mrs. Walther had been out for a few days prior so it was a weight off of her shoulders to have someone helping her out with grading all the work she was behind on.

Overview During my second week at Fox Mill the sixth graders had some SOL tests so I helped out in the kindergarten classes. I worked with the kids in small groups each day on their subtraction and tested them with flashcards. The students had a big end of the year production for the parents so we spent a lot of time practicing all their songs. I also spent a lot of time in the copy room assembling different packets and work for the kids. Working with the kindergarten class was an extremely fun experience and I’m glad Mrs. Musti let me help out.

Overview My last week at Fox Mill was filled with lots of little odd jobs. I collected all the calculators and numbered and organized them for next year. I was able to work with a few students that needed extra help on some assignments and I organized some groups for an upcoming field trip. I also stayed after school with Mrs. Walther and helped tutor some students that were studying for some upcoming SOL tests and re takes.

My Favorite Part During my three weeks at Fox Mill elementary school the most exciting part was the hatching of the duck eggs. Each class had an incubator with 18 duck eggs that they took care of. We spent time each day flipping the eggs, and candling them to make sure they were all okay. The most exciting day was when four eggs hatched in the neighboring classroom. The kids could barely focus on their work, but it was really fun to watch them get so excited. Our classes eggs still haven’t hatched but they hopefully will within the next week or so!

My Least Favorite Part The only negative thing about my project was having to wake up so early in the morning. Their school starts earlier than ours and the teachers get to class much earlier than the students do. I left my house extremely early in the morning since I had to drive all the way to Fairfax in traffic but it was definitely worth it.