Lynsey Fleeger
My advice is to build relationships with the students you’re teaching. Doing so makes your life so much easier and fun.
— Ms. Fleeger
Interviewing someone as a new student journalist can be a nerve-wracking situation, but when Ms. Fleeger smiled at the beginning of the interview, the anxiety was gone. Lynsey Fleeger makes her guests and students feel welcomed and comfortable in a learning environment.
Ms. Fleeger is a new fourth grade Math and Science teacher at Donelson Elementary. She explained that she had been teaching for 9 years, 8 of which were at Macon Hall Elementary School. She grew up in Bartlett and graduated from Arlington High School.
When she was younger, Fleeger wanted to be a nurse, but quickly realized that teaching was in her blood. “When I was younger, I had a chalkboard in my garage. Anytime I was given homework, I would go to the garage and write on the board and act like I was teaching a class that homework assignment. When I grew up, I just figured I would make a living out of it.” She enjoys reading in her free time, so she incorporates reading into her daily plan for her students.
COVID made a huge impact on everybody’s life a few years ago, including the students and teachers at Donelson Elementary School. “I would have to say my biggest regret would be not hugging my babies before covid kicked us out of school. We didn’t know that was the last time we would see each other, so I didn’t really think about it.”
Ms. Fleeger recounted that she enjoys teaching 4th graders because she feels she can easily prepare them for 5th grade after teaching 5th for 8 years. She stated how she loved her 3rd grade teacher when she was younger and she wanted to be like her so that she could bring that same joy to her students. “I had a 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Rap, and she just made everything so fun. So I decided that I wanted to bring that same excitement to another generation.” The advice she hopes to give to aspiring 4th grade teachers was, “I would tell them to enjoy their time with the kids. I was lucky enough to create bonds with my students and that made it much easier to teach them.”
