What Do Teachers Do? Celestial High School (CHS)

What do Teachers Do?

What Do Teachers Do? – Celestial High School (CHS)

The biology teacher at CHS lists the common names, Latin scientific name, and characteristics of six trees on the board, asks students to copy them into their notes, and then gives students a test that includes matching items and short answer questions.
The Earth Science teacher at CHS provides an overhead showing the three types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) and tells students how each can be converted into another type, emphasizing pathways by drawing arrows. The teacher provides student tables samples of each type and asks students to sketch each rock in their notebooks. For the exam, students reproduce the diagram, write definitions of each rock type, and list an example of each.
The Physics teacher at CHS lists the formulae governing the motion of objects (kinematics) on the board, works four example problems by listing known and unknown variables, and demonstrates how to decide which equation will most easily solve for the unknown variable. Teacher assigns ten homework problems due at the next class meeting and gives weekly timed problem-solving quizzes.

What are the steps of the approach to teaching at CHS (teaching model/formula) that these teachers are using to design their classroom instruction? In other words, what happens first, second, etc… in CHS classrooms?

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What Do Teachers Do? – Bravo High School

The Biology teacher at BHS lists the common names, Latin scientific name, and characteristics of six trees on the board, then provides students with unlabeled samples of each to be identified. The teacher then asks students to go into the schoolyard and find examples of each type as their assessment.
The Earth Science teacher at BHS shows students an overhead showing the three types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) and explains to students how each can be converted into another type and points out pictures of each type in their textbook. The teacher provides student groups with unlabeled samples of each type and asks students to identify which sample is which type. As an assessment, students complete short answer questions describing how rocks can be converted from one type to another and list samples included in their laboratory exercise.
The Physics teacher at BHS derives the equations of motion (kinematics) for a ball moving across a table and performs several demonstrations showing a low-friction cart having its velocity measured by computer probes that verifies that the equations of motions actually work. The teacher shows three worked examples and carefully explains how to decide which equation will most easily solve for the unknown variable. Students complete a 2-day laboratory exercise verifying the equations of motion using an Excel spreadsheet. Students take an end-of-unit hour-long test with five problems to work.

What are the steps of the approach to teaching at BHS (teaching model/formula) that these teachers are using to design their classroom instruction? In other words, what happens first, second, etc… in BHS classrooms?

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What Do Teachers Do? – Arcturus High School

The biology teacher at AHS asks students if there are different types of trees and tasks them to go into the schoolyard and determine how many different types of trees seem to be there. The teacher helps students to notice varying bark and leaf characteristics. Only after students identify patterns are common and Latin names provided to students. Students are assessed on their ability to justify and defend classification characteristics as relevant or irrelevant.
The Earth Science teacher at AHS proposes that all rocks in their state are identical except that they vary in color. Students are asked to bring in samples from the schoolyard to support or disprove the proposition. The teacher helps students to notice varying grain sizes, cleavage, luster, hardness as well as color, without using this vocabulary. As students become comfortable with these characteristics, teacher guides students to use correct scientific vocabulary as well as introduces names and types of rocks, but only after students demonstrate confidence in the characteristics. The teacher then guides students to identify patterns and helps them create a rock-cycle based on their observations and other rock samples not found in the school yard. Students are assessed based on the completeness of their observations and patterns identified in their science journals.
The Physics teacher at AHS asks students to use rulers and stop watches to quantitatively characterize the differences between three battery-powered electric cars and create distance vs. time graphs for each. Students use the equation of a line to determine relationships between distance and time and the ratio of distance over time (called speed). Students are then asked to create hypothetical distance vs time graphs for other collaborative groups who are tasked to describe the motion of the object and what the moving object could be. The teacher guides students to look for patterns and consider extreme cases not easily reproducible with battery powered cars. Students are assessed by describing the motions of various objects both graphically and using their own equations derived from their graphs.

What are the steps of the approach to teaching at AHS (teaching model/formula) that these teachers are using to design their classroom instruction? In other words, what happens first, second, etc… in AHS classrooms?

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