Arie Kazmierczak

ECUI 521
Prof. Reilly
11/8/2015
Written Reflection #2
For swim practice, I need to prepare or think about what I am going to work on with my
swimmer for each practice. Some days this is a huge ordeal, where I calculate the entire practice
down to the second where as others I pull together real quick just before or sometimes during.
While observing various instructors I observed both extremes and everything in-between. Two
cases in particular were Prof. Oak and Prof. Elm. The first instructor, Prof. Oak who had students
with a large spectrum of ability had weekly goals. Each week she would prepare a lesson and set
up check points throughout the week that the students would have to complete. These check
points were used as an assessment and mainly took the form of a work sheet. Students would be
given 5+ worksheets a week and they would all have to be completed for homework if not
finished in class. All assignments had to be submitted to Prof. Oak by class on Friday. Due to
some of the students behavior/ability I believe this was an effective method. It allowed the
students to work at their own pace while still learning the same material. One benefit was that the
support teachers had copies of the worksheets well before the students received them. So they
could easily assist the students who struggled with the particular lesson. However I personally
dont agree with this method as it did tend to create the appearance of an unorganized classroom.
The second instructor I observed, Prof. Elm, utilized the technology in the room. The
lesson would be presented on the Promethean Board as well as having the daily objectives

written on the board. Prof. Elm was very organized, in fact all of the assignments and worksheets
that were given out were numbered. Those numbers were also referenced throughout the lessons.
I thought this was a clever utilization of chunking material so that although they may not
remember what was said on Tuesday but they may be able to recall what the title of worksheet
#18 and what they wrote. Prof. Elms classes, although it was an inclusion class as well, it
appeared more organized and tasks seemed to be completed in a timely manner. Lab experiments
were also structured so that students worked with a new partner each lab. Allowing students of
varying ability the chance to work together. Which created a nice balance and allowed Prof. Elm
and the support teacher to keep a closer eye on pairs that may need additional support.
One note that should be made was that there was around 25 year age difference between
the two professors, with Prof. Oak having 15 years more teaching experience than Prof. Elm.
This difference could be seen in their preparedness. Prof. Oak as I said had a weekly goal
allowing for wiggle room throughout the week with some assessment throughout. With each
week being a different goal. Similar to how a college course might be structured. Prof. Elm in the
opposite had daily goals which built upon each other. Although they both utilized worksheets,
Prof. Oak used them as weekly assessment whereas Prof. Elm used them not only as assessment
but a key part of organizing the lessons into chunks.