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>> Teacher Template

Name: Teacher's name.

Subject: (This is what they teach.)

Department: (select from Mathematics, Art, Science, History, Physical Education, English, Technology, Magic, Electives)

Classes: (for instance; world history, classical studies, Gaian History, etc)

Atmosphere: (brief description of classroom can be included here -- this is how your teacher organises their classroom, as well. Rank and file desks? Desk groups? Cushions on the floor? Is it a feel-good funhouse, or a dank prison?)

Style: (teaching style, methods, preferred punishments/disciplinary strategies; descriptions should be filled out for each level of the course, since very few professors will teach the bright-eyed children the same way they'll teach the jaded old seniors)

Homework requirements: (what does your teacher set as homework, and what's their homework style? Weekly worksheets? Essays? Oral presentations? Do they set an end of class exam, or do they prefer getting handed in a project? Do they let everybody go nuts picking what they'd like to do to present their work -- such as a poster, or an audio presentation, or interpretive dance? As with teaching style, give us notes on how this varies from level to level.)

Name: Ms. Rosalind Naaktgeboren, referred to by her students as Ms. Lindy

Subject: Health

Department: Physical Education

Classes: Elementary Health, Intermediate Health, Advanced Health (cross-curricular with Science Department), Sexual Education

Atmosphere: Ms. Lindy's room is grotesquely bright and comfortable: instead of chairs, beanbags are scattered over the premises, complete with a few low tables for written work to be completed on (if any is given out). The walls are littered with bright posters (some of them advocating that people who do drugs are thugs, etc), drippy pictures depicting healthy people by the elementary schoolers that have lots of glitter glue, colourful skeins of cloth, Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling, etc. A stereo with CDs sits by Ms. Lindy's desk, which are free for anyone to change and put on so long as the volume is not loud. The desks also contain tins of markers, as colouring seems to be a part of the class even during, like, sex ed. Fun and offbeat.

Style: Ms. Lindy's style is laid-back, hands-on and "whatever makes you happy," learner-driven learning that is aimed at indulging whatever the student prefers to do in terms of handing in and what they want Lindy to assess. If they want to do a written report, that's fine; so is a clay sculpture about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She encourages class discussion and teamwork, co-constructive solutions and problem-solving, as well as a slightly enforced HAVE FUN! background. For the intermediate and advanced students, the intellectual demands are a little more rigorous, as you cannot simply get away with writing "HEALTH" in scented markers on a piece of posterboard and get an A as it is entirely possible to do in elementary health, but the curriculum is a holistic view of health and also involves balancing spiritual and emotional health and can get slightly dreary if you're not interested in talking about your inner thoughts and strategies.

The sex ed students have to watch a lot of movies and put a lot of condoms on a lot of bananas. Ms. Lindy is free with everyone thinking this is hilarious.

Discipline-wise, what Ms. Lindy does not put up with is cruelty, disrespect to others or Bad Vibes, all of which can get you ejected from class and having to talk to her afterwards. She is also the school counselor, so many students try to avoid acting out in Health simply because they know that too much attention and they will be getting sent to her office for TALK IT OUT sessions until they graduate.

She is sweet, upbeat, open-minded and accepting, and tends to polarise students: generally you either think she is cool or you would prefer to take a transport ship to Alaska than go back inside her class.

Homework requirements: Weekly projects in many forms: thought logs, class debates, tiny models of giraffes eating bananas, whatever. As long as you can justify it, Ms. Lindy often accepts whatever medium you give her, up to and including short movies made in Flash or classroom plays. There are a lot of questionnaires which involve self-reflection and how things make you feel. Although these are blissfully easy compared to some classes, understandably they make some students want to puke. As the classes get more advanced, more proofwork and participation in class discussion is required.

Subject: Music

Name: Orriole & Masamichi Etoh (Mr. Etoh)

Department:

Classes: Music (Levels 1-3), Orchestra (Levels 3-4), Musical Composition (Level 4), Musical Performance (Level 4), Piano and Violin (by special consideration)

Atmosphere: The classroom is typical of music rooms, with chairs and music stands on several levels like a small ampitheatre, the lectern and board front and center. The room is acoustically decent, not great, and is designed not just to enhance musical sound but also contain it, so each instrument can be discerned individually. Storage rooms off the main classroom contain instruments students may borrow.

The first half of regular class is the "lesson" part which involves Orriole lecturing about the subject at hand in a very cheerful manner and answering questions as Etoh makes sure students are paying attention and not slacking off. The second half is practical, with students playing instruments and Orriole and Etoh walking around the room to give pointers. Students are grouped together by instrument as much as possible. Sometimes, lectures will run the whole length of the class, in which case the next class is all practice.

Style: The first class of every semester, Orriole and Masamichi perform a piece of Classical music. As Orriole is a world-class musician famous for several instruments, it's always a real treat. The goal of this is to give students an appreciation for the beauty of music.

Level 1 - Students learn about various instruments and musical styles from around the world and the basics of how to play simple instruments. They learn a simple song, usually Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Level 2 - Students are encouraged to pick an instrument to study. The focus of level two is learning to read music and play the chosen instrument. Several easy songs are studied and performed, a new one every two to three weeks, and encouragement is given individually. The history of music is explored in more depth, with particular attention to famous musicians and composers.

Level 3 - Students must have an instrument chosen at this point. Styles are explored in more depth, with students encouraged to explore their own piece selections. After-school workshops and additional practice hours with instruction are offered.

Orchestra - For students interested in pursuing music more seriously, there is a small student orchestra which performs a concert once yearly and is open to students in levels three and four. It is conducted by Mr. Etoh and meets three times a week and every other Saturday.

Muical Composition - Taught by Orriole exclusively, this course meets once a week for two hours and encourages students to explore their own musical style and voice. Every week, the compositions of the participants are reviewed and discussed and critiqued.

Musical Performance - Taught by Mr. Etoh, the emphasis of this course is learning to perform music professionally. In addition to weekly practice and critique, students meet professional musicians from various venues and other figures in the music industry, and explore career options. The course meets once a week for an hour and a half, with field trips to professional venues once or twice a month. Some of the guests may offer apprenticeships to interested students.

Piano and Violin - Students showing exceptional promise may be offered an apprenticeship in piano or violin by Orriole and Mr. Etoh, as as many hours a week as are needed.

Homework requirements:
Level 1 - No homework.

Level 2 - Short papers on musical figures or styles, answering questions about the day's lecture, researching an era of music and picking a song to share with the class (via CD or MP3), and practicing instruments at home. Typically an hour's worth of homework. The culminating assignment is for students to compose a small song of their own, at least thirty seconds in length.

Level 3 - Practice at home required several nights a week. Occasionally other assignments, such as transcribing a piece of music chosen by the student or writing a short essay on a piece of music chosen by the instructors.

Orchestra - Practice of the piece being performed for the semester several hours a week as possible.

Musical Composition - Students may work on a single piece during a semester or a new piece every week. Study is self-directed. This is the kind of course where what you get out of it is in direct relation to what you put in.

Musical Performance - Self-directed practice of chosen instrument(s), which will directly affect in-class critique. Occasional short essays on career paths or important guests.

Name: Michael Prosper ("Mr. Prosper")

Subject: Art

Department: Art

Classes: Elementary Art [level 1], Intermediate Art [level 2], Studio Art [level 3-4], Art History [level 3-4]

Atmosphere: Easels in a semi-circle in the center of the room, with a small raised platform in the middle for setting up references or models. There are desks, generally pushed against the walls under the supply cabinets. Prosper tries to make his classroom engaging and inviting,

Style: With elementary art, Prosper places most focus on interaction and hands-on projects. He introduces some different styles, but the lowest level art classes are essentially playtime. In intermediate art, different techniques are introduced and he begins sorting the serious students from the slackers. The serious students are invited back for Studio Art and Art History, with a heavy emphasis on technique and polishing skills, while the slackers are told to chose a different elective. Misbehaving students may find themselves moved to the front of the class where Prosper can keep an eye on them. If they continue to cause trouble, their easel will be separated from the rest of the group. A third infraction will find them in the hallway for the rest of the period, and a fourth will find them sent to the office. He is generally more lenient with the older students, allowing them to rearrange the easels as they please and socialize as long as they are not in the middle of important lectures or work.

Homework requirements:

Elementary: No homework.

Intermediate: Short reports on famous artists or movements, usually accompanied by a backboard or poster of some kind. Once or twice a semester.

Studio: Students will be expected to develop a portfolio of pieces. The art room will be available during lunch periods and after school to Studio Art level students for work.

Art History: Research papers detailing the evolution and influence of artists and movements. Once or twice a semester. Nightly reading sections from a textbook.

Name: Dr. M and Talos Perdison

Subject: Metalworking

Department: Electives

Classes: Metal Shop (Levels 3-4)

Atmosphere: The metal shop workshop (which does not include any wood-working or fabrication of any other kind) is located in a small attachment to the secondary gym. It has high ceilings and windows which are usually open to ventilate out the smell of metalworking and chemicals. The area itself isn't huge, but the high ceiling gives it a spacious feel. The wall can actually open to accommodate the addition or removal of large items, such as cars and small airplanes.

Most people liken the room to a junkyard. When you walk in, there are pieces of junk piled on the tables, under the tables, on the shelves, even hanging from the ceiling. Occasionally some piece of junk will end up on the lawn, and everyone (teachers included) gets yelled at. Scattered throughout the junk are workspaces, but there aren't very many, so class size is limited.

There are enough first aid supplies stashed around for a field hospital, and to reach the actual on-campus hospital, one has only to run across the sports field.

Style: Firstly, it must be noted that neither Dr. M nor Talos are typical teachers. While their knowledge of metalworking, welding, mechanics, and related topics is EXTENSIVE (twenty years experience on Dr. M's part, ten years' on Talos's), neither has any practical teaching experience, and Dr. M is clinically insane. He bounces around constantly, wheezes when he speaks, and is brilliant but prone to outbursts of weirdness. He can get obsessively hung up about things that are completely unimportant. You will never find another person better with a welding torch and for the serious student, he is an encyclopedia of amazing things. For the non-serious student, he's often a bit annoying. His wheezing is so severe he talks very slowly as a result. Talos, on the other hand, gets nervous and flustered and doesn't like being in charge, but he has a knack for explaining things. Somehow, they manage to cobble together lessons that aren't bad, and are sometimes actually good. The fact that Dr. M is nutso can sometimes makes the class uproariously fun with the wacky stuff that happens.

Due mostly to the size of the workspace and available tools (but also because Dr. M is insane and Talos is ill-equipped to handle large groups), class size is limited to 5-6 students, so they actually run more than one class at a level, as needed. This means that not all characters in Level 3 Metal Shop will necessarily be in the same class. The workshop is also open after school for projects provided Talos or Dr. M are present. When they are not, it is locked up so tight you had better not think of even trying to get in.

The first few classes, no one touches any tools (except the teachers) and instead safety is taught. There is a quiz, and if you fail to pay attention enough to pass that quiz, chances are high you will not be allowed to participate in the class.

Discipline is pretty basic. Follow the rules, ESPECIALLY the safety rules, or you can kiss the class goodbye because you'll be removed from it. It's an elective, not a given. You may get one or two warnings first, unless the infraction against the rules is particularly egregious and dangerous, in which case you're out.

There is a huge, huge emphasis on safety. Despite this, about once a month there there is a huge BOOM on campus because the metal shop has exploded. Expect to spend about 1/5 to 1/4 of the class... rebuilding the class. Which is great practice! (No one ever gets seriously injured in these explosions, and no one will.)

Periodically, safety quizzes are given to keep everyone fresh on all the precautions.

Because the class size is so small, Dr. M and Talos are able to give a lot of individual attention and are constantly looking over shoulders.

In level three, basics are covered, mostly technique and tools. The projects generally include repairing mechanical objects or building basic metal things. Once a year, a junk heap of a car is brought in to be repaired, though invariably the car gets some sort of an "upgrade" in the process, and is often the source of an explosion. Students can expect to bring home various metalcrafts to their parents, such as tin cups or bowls, or other little crafty things. Some students make industrial metal jewelry. (None of the workshop equipment is really set up to make delicate, normal pieces of jewelry, but someone sufficiently creative enough might be able to pull something off with the materials on hand.) Level three students must have parental permission to enroll in the class.

In level four, advanced subjects are covered, including sculpture, blacksmithing, and gunsmithing (which is a terrible idea, and everyone knows it). Level three can be a cakewalk, but level four should only be attempted by those students with a serious professional interest in welding and metalwork and who have proven themselves responsible in level three. This is not a joke. Do not put characters in level four metal shop who aren't really serious about it.

Homework requirements: There is no homework. Students may pursue their own projects after school provided there is someone around to supervise.

Name: Cressida Aristipossos

Subject: Textile Arts

Department: Electives

Classes: Beginner Textiles, Intermediate Textiles, Advanced Textiles, Introduction to Design, Weaving (a specialty class offered upon interest only)

Atmosphere: The fabric tech workshop is a bright, spacious area that's actually two rooms with the dividing wall knocked down. The walls are covered with both eye-catching posters and swaths of different fabrics, pinned to the walls or left to drape in different ways. Fashion prints and safety posters are both stuck up alike, and also sconces of flowers -- there's a certain shabby chic atmosphere, but it's all clean and colorful and attractive.

In the front half, there are a number of desks clustered around a teaching area with a whiteboard, though there is also a space set out with a few mannequins and moving trundle wagons of pins and tools. A huge geometric quilt is pinned up sail-style behind the whiteboard. The other half is devoted entirely to sewing machines, set at individual tables with chairs up against them, with each workspace containing a trestle of fabric paper/scissors/needles/measuring tape -- all of this is clearly marked. There's room for the teacher to move about behind and around each workspace. In both corners of the room there are huge shelves with neatly stacked bolts of cloth. In a little cupboard to the left, tucked away, there's also a washing machine with a tumble-dryer.

All in all, it's an attractive and inviting workspace, smelling faintly of fixative and cloth.

Style: Cressida is first and foremost a hands-on teacher with energy to spare and, when put in a line-up with her older students, it would be hard to pick her out as the so-called adult. She is quick to praise a student, having no clue about how much it could embarrass them. Alternatively, she is very wary of criticism and delivers it in a very quiet manner that almost gives mixed signals - did I really mess up or what? She would like to be Cressida but has had it impressed on her that she is the Adult and so compromises with Ms. Cressida. She moves around the class a lot and believes in doing things to better learn them. She gives only the most basic of instructions and allows the student to determine the final outcome. If asked nicely, she readily jumps in and fixes things... Then promptly realizes she shouldn't have done that and undoes it, explaining that the student watched her and now they can mimic her. She is tactile and bubbly and has all of the discipline of a daisy. If a student causes a disruption, she tries very hard to reason with them and then, in a fit of sighs, sends them off to the counselor or the garden. She tolerates a heck of a lot and believes strongly in the creative abilities of her students. The only things she seems to have unreasonable issues on are color theory and accessorizing.

Homework requirements: Cressida runs her classes based on projects suited to the skill level of the class. Beginning students will have a few short projects such as washclothes, envelope-style purses, and basic pillows. The advanced students pick one major project of their own for completion and grading. Her true love is weaving so the attention and scrutiny to these projects is considerably more in-depth.

Name: Dr. Siona Hale

Subject: English

Department: English

Classes: Language Arts Level 1; Language Arts Level 2; English Level 3

Atmosphere: The walls are fairly blank. There are a few "Read" posters which feature characters such as Yoda or sports stars. Underneath the windows are bookshelves, chock-full of novels to be leant out to students who forget independent reading materials. Desks are grouped up into quads, and each student is assigned their place. These will end up being their groups for projects, and unless you have a major issue with your groupmate you cannot switch out.

For the Level 3 classes, she has the students split out into pairs with the desks in rows, and is strict about everyone being quiet when a classroom discussion is not going on. Since classroom discussion is almost never not going on, it works out well. Seats are still assigned.

Style: Level One - Dr. Hale acts almost maternal. This class focuses on building reading skills, so each week the students are assigned a new book which they are to have read by Friday. Friday, if everyone has done their homework (usually consisting of one or two spelling and grammar sheets per evening), Dr. Hale will bring in homemade cookies while they have a spelling test and classroom discussion on the book they read. They're quite good, so it normally seems to work.

Level Two - Dr. Hale is still maternal, but much more strict than with the lower classes. She helps a lot with the writing assignments, which are much more plentiful. They are assigned three or four books per term, with a paper at the end for each. Half an hour of the class per day is assigned to spelling or quiet writing time - the list of spelling words for the week is sent home on Mondays, and there are four vocabulary sheets that must be done by Fridays for each list.

Level Three - Dr. Hale becomes much more strict, expecting far more of the students; it's rather a big jump. Dr. Hale now leads classroom discussions on the, again, three or four books per term. A paper will be assigned at the end of each book. Miscellaneous homework assignments will always add up to one or two hours of work, and there is a five to ten page essay due at the end of every month. Students may pick the topics.

Homework requirements:
Level One - one or two vocab and grammar sheets, basic books meant to polish reading skills once a week. About half an hour of work, total.

Level Two - Four vocab sheets per night, plus Dr. Hale begins to assign current event projects; though she doesn't teach social studies, she endeavors to teach the students how to analyze the written word. These consist of one paragraph summarizing the article, then one to react. Homework will also be reading chapters from the book. As with Level One, Dr. Hale brings in cookies if all students do their homework every night.

Level Three - One essay of decent length every two weeks; various reading assignments; three or four books and accompanying work.