Now, since I am in my Block II, we go into the high school for observation and participation. I am placed at Central Mountain High School, the local high school here. I am in a 9th-11th grade math class where the subjects taught are Algebra I, Algebra II, and a PSSA prep class. I am in the classroom a total of 6 days. The first few days were mainly observation, where I saw classroom procedures and the topics currently being covered in the class. I then began to help out in the class, go over the bell ringer and homework. Last week, I developed a review activity for the Algebra II classes and on my final day, this Tuesday, I will be doing an activity with the class and show the students how to use the graphing calculator in order to determine intersection points. I have had a great time so far and have learned a lot of valuable information.

With the completion of my observation and participation days, the semester is almost over as well. I can't believe that it is almost time for finals and the semester will be over. I am very excited especially since in the spring I will be student teaching for the whole semester. I will not take any classes but be in the local high schools for the entire semester. We have a placement meeting in the beginning of December to see which schools and with which teachers we will be for our student teaching experience.

Not too much else happening here, just completing homework and finishing up semester projects. Until next time, enjoy.

Posted by Kami Dechant at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a great conference I attended! I just arrived home a few hours ago from the PCTM (PA Council of Mathematics Teachers) conference that was held in Lake Harmony, PA. I learned so much from the workshops and speakers that I attended. Yesterday was the first pre-service teacher workshop that was held. They had special speakers for us where he spoke about first year teaching including some pointers for our classrooms. I attended workshops on how to use new technology and applications, motivation for students, and cooperative learning groups. Each speaker handed out packets of information to take home with us to review at our own leisure. There were many math teachers, elementary as well as secondary and post secondary that had many good tips and tricks, especially for the pre-service teachers like myself. I believe that the information and experience I had will definitely help me when interviewing and in my classroom.

Posted by Kami Dechant at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's already homecoming week here at LHU so that is super exciting and there are a lot of fun activities taking place. Wednesday there will be a hypnotist which is always so funny to watch. A group of Lock Haven students will go onto stage and entertain us all. Then, Thursday an illusionist is coming. I really enjoy seeing all of these types of things so it will be a really fun event my friends and I will attend. Finally, Saturday will be our homecoming football game. I am very excited to go to the game and cheer on the team. At halftime, the king and queen will be crowned. I can't wait to see who will win. I know a lot of the nominees and it will be a hard decision of who I will vote for. A lot of alumni come to LHU for homecoming to catch up with old friends and see some people and professors they may not have seen for a while. I am excited to talk to some of the people that have graduated and see what they have been up to and how their jobs are coming along.
I also quite a busy week with school work, tests, and club meetings. I have both a real analysis and educational psychology test this Thursday so I am studying for those and then math club this week. In math club this week, we will be finalizing some different things we have been talking about such as an upcoming conference in November, making t-shirts for the club, and an end of the semester celebration for those graduating in December. The conference will be held in Lake Harmony, PA and is geared towards mathematics teachers. I am sure I will learn a lot from the different workshops I will attend. I enjoy going to conferences because they get you prepared for being in schools and things to look forward to. I will be sure to let you know how it goes. Until then, Have a great week!

Posted by Kami Dechant at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was fall holiday which occurs each October. We had the day off of school and a long weekend which was nice to be able to catch up on some work and this next weekend is admissions open house, our second of the year.
Saturday is also family day which is a lot of fun. Family members come and visit you. The resident halls have refreshments and its a great time for mom and dad to meet the friends you have made here at Lock Haven. This year they are also doing family photos, black and white shots. I think the most exciting part of the day is the casino they have in the Parson's Union Building. They have all kinds of card games, and roulette tables, etc. to play with fake chips. With the more chips you have you can buy tickets and then are eligible for some awesome prizes. They are also showing 2 big screen movies, Wall-e and Get Smart. It will definitely be a day full of fun with the family!
Not much new with me. Just keeping up with the homework and getting ready to go into the school for observations in a couple of weeks. This will be a ton of fun. I will be in a math classroom where I will observe and then even get to teach a lesson. My methods for teaching classes and Media classes are preparing us for the best use of activites and technology in the classroom. I will tell you more about my experiences in the classroom after I am out there for a few days!

Posted by Kami Dechant at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone! I can't believe this is already the beginning of week 3. It is going by so quickly and I have been very busy with my classes.

Since I am a secondary education mathematics major, I am currently in my Block 2. As a secondary education major, you have 2 blocks. The first is traditionally in your 2nd semester Sophomore year. Included in these block classes are classroom management, methods for teaching, and media I. In my current block classes, I have media II, methods for teaching, and educational psychology. These classes definitely keep me busy. This weekend, I spent my time studying for my first test in educational psychology. I am hoping it goes well!

This week is our first SESPESA meeting, which is the secondary education club. On Wednesday, we will be having pizza at our meeting and talking about things we need to do this semester in order for us to meet all of our deadlines, for student teaching and those who will be going into Block 1. We will also be planning some fun things to do with the club such as movie nights, speakers, etc.

Tomorrow night is a meeting for the honors program. I have been involved with the honors program since my freshman year and this semester I am actually completing a capstone project, which is one final project that completes the honors program for me. I am writing a paper on the differences between urban and rural education. For the capstone, I am able to pick anything I would like to do, and since being an education major and seeing the differences between these two different areas, I thought that would be a great one for me.

Have a great week and check back for my next post!

Posted by Kami Dechant at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)