This article begins with a series of meta-level comments on the enterprise of observing and theorizing classroom teaching, using as a springboard a frequently discussed model from the literature. It then provides a series of commentaries on the empirical articles in this issue (volume 48, issue 1) of "ZDM," with a main focus on methodological issues. It concludes with a brief return to the meta-level, with a comment on the field's use of the term "model".