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(sm CHAPTER FOUR ar THE ACADEMY OF THE PACIFIC RIM CHARTER SCHOOL Paving the Way to Adulthood ‘They‘e wearing ab goggles ike is ld hat, thei adolescent bodies moving restless fom stool to stool as they crcl thee beers impatiently Converse ton bounces rom fotbll othe presidential primaries tothe mass of calcium ‘carbonate ineggsells—the subject of todays experiment. Very fw ofthe fi- teen students in this leventh-grade chemistry clase a able fo sit sill while they walt forthe chemical reaction to take place. They mail around the large rectangular tables, checking on ther lassmater beakers and “massing the funnel pape” for the next step in the proces theyve designed. The teacher, a slight Asan woman witha wise smile alternates sting at able engaging in ‘casual cit chat wth her primarily Aican American students and wandering bout the room doing small tasks to occupy here. Av she casually ays por per towels on aback table, anticipating the clet-up proces coming ltr she ‘entertains a student complaint that "This is gonna take ages” She responds sSlowiy, "Patience Isa viet” Teiset particularly odd thatthe teacher doce havea lotto do during this ‘lass period. Afterall the students designed the experiment and they‘ in charge of carrying it out Yesterday she asked them to igure outa way to de- termine the percentage of calcium carbonate in eggshells and today they are ‘on their own, working in small clusters to atulie thelr plan Her role today ‘The primary autho forth caper it Kes Cope 7. se uma curr sees ito oer enouragement in moments frat: You've done th before ou can igre ott Shao thereto reming fer th thea is ts them, When couple of tadents hve ele remembering hot Pre eth fer popes he prompts ten o ook ove tee potting toad Play on the wal ‘ow to Pepe Files Pape’ Toey mates “Oh, Yeh tnd Irth seconds they got thier paper ed and they oft ace he nest epson heir own tas diferent when thisteacher ad these group of tude ght rade in phil cees he ere ache she ad provided x tense det when ending eperiments tse blr tht yee sth ree the saoldng iin plat, and sends to encourage her ters to think for themsives, She fakes «certain pen knowing they cn ape sethouther and she reds thispedagopil decison to eedback em lama ‘no have returned o complain hat instruction in he eleventh and eth trades aso ny ere the Academy ofthe Pac im, Tischer now rakes» pester fore ose the igo alleen einige igh ‘choo ctrislsm-sich av expt requrng that stent len fom ea fing tr chery tecbookrathe than wating for er fo ave al th a ses She Know her ent wl expected fo etn fom college tex, {dso se takes responsibility for incorporating ths eiement into her pute. ths wy thi teacher ike many of er colleagues ath Academy of the Pcie Rim, who are ntenton developing indepenenc int ste 1 they grow and mature ars the choos grade open rade ve ugh twee: The dean a tude nine yee veteran the school explain the Schoo phlsopy and sey fr developing student independence over ‘The mld school is moretop dows, more structured The teachers do mote ‘ofthe join terms feet instruction, and the aents access the content thatthe teachers provide But, weve piled bak inthe high schoo, which is more geared towards student partption trying to get students to try ‘ut courses and tke leadership roles and relly paticpate mach more it the planning delivery. and even voretimes the evaluation of lessons so that ‘they are that muh moe prepared to navigate the world on their own Indeed, instruction is often more structured i the middle school grades, and efforts to develop and massage academic sls ze evident, While theit ‘older counterparts design and carey ou original experiments and meander collegial about the chemistry lb, twenty-three seventh graders down the EAIMEU OTHE PRCAM OMETERSHCOL | 78 eee "THE ACADEMY OFTHE PACIFIC RM CHARTER SCHOOL ‘ACommorwecth Chater Shel, Founded in 1977 bof Suan nd Grad oa {2 Sedna Ged 5-12 fai, Sal 7% ta teas 128 Spi tion se 5194 tore Ws tape, Potion Wl Re genic Seva Dino rata | a —! al shimmy their desks nto a loos circte—bunchng up in odd pace dents squish in around the suport cans marking the balangtcigne 4 warthouse. They pas around «handout tiled “Purpose TAK athe teacher sinking into a desk tojla the cl poses the queton for todays “purpotfu”dscusion: “Think of reston wy name-calling s wrong aad {re example om the Bok fsoppo ou pts A ae a through their cope of The Mix others eager ras thet hands acon erin the evil act of name-caling, An otdrydacuson ensue sdets shar their opinions and everyone rack one anothers contributions on thls Purpose Talk paper, which ince a carton which students ca awed {hee classmates pins fo good ontbutons and repel itening Infact it thi peerevauation stem that evings the ceoom to ode cet

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