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If you're a first year teacher or if it hasn't been that long since you were... tell me... how much "extra time" did you spend, working on school stuff, outside of school? (Put another way- how much of YOUR TIME did you have to spend working on school stuff?)
For me, it averaged about an hour per day, maybe a little more sometimes. Once you've gone all the way through your courses, it gets much easier and smoother. The first year is the worst, because you're organizing the lessons and getting the materials/demos/labs all put together.
anyone who tells you they spend 20 hours per week doing lesson plans and grading work is either flat out lying to you or they are just terrible at managing time. i never take work home with me and i stay 30 minutes after school is over.
I averaged about 2 hours/period of prep time my first couple years. If you include research, typing up materials, etc. the should be about right depending on your subject area. Someone spending 30 minutes after school getting ready for 5-6 class periods isn't doing their job properly.
My second daughter is in her first year teaching high school...Geometry and Algebra II. Since she is currently living with us I know how much time she is having to put in. haha
She teaches 6 classes daily and has least 150 students total. If they each have a paper to be graded daily, that's 750 papers a week. Even spending just one minute on each paper is already over 12 hours of grading, and we all know that one minute a paper is a best case scenario. Then she has to record the grades in the online grading system, in addition to her own book.
Being that it's her first year and she's still getting adjusted to the whole routine, it's taking her longer than one minute per paper, whether or not she has papers from each class every day. So she's easily spending 15 hours a week on top of her contracted time, when you add in prep/planning time.
That will all definitely become more efficient the longer she teaches, and she completely understands that.
Before and after school she is tutoring 2-3 days a week as well. So in general she's at school from 7:15 AM until 5:00 PM most days.
My oldest daughter is in her third year teaching 4th grade, so it's much, much less time grading, but more time planning since she teaches more than just one subject.
I teach real little ones (preschool) and it takes me at least one extra hour a day for creating lesson plans, writing assessments and anecdotes, and getting materials ready for all of the activities the next day.
It greatly depends on the subject matter. If your an english teacher and grading papers that could get quite lengthly (like an AP or honors high school English class) then you could spend quite a bit of time grading.
There are some subject matters that simply require more or less time to teach and manage effectively.
My first year teaching I spent about an hour or so a school day, and maybe an hour max on the weekend.
Now in my 8th year, its quite minimal; I can get most everything done during the school day. I rarely take anything home.
Things get a lot easier, or should if your an effective teacher and time manager, after your first year or two.
There are also a lot of variables to this question; what grade level, which classes, school structure and expectations, and a multitude of other factors.
Those of you who said you could do it all during school hours that first year- what public high school did you teach at, and what subject did you teach?
I am in my third year of teaching high school Biology and I still spend close to 15 hours a week outside of the 8:30-3:30 time frame on work. This time is spent between setting up labs, buying the supplies for labs, grading lab reports, and grading papers. This time does not even include the 2hours a week I tutor. When I add up all the time I work and comapare it to what I make which is 34k I make just over $12 an hour.
I do have a planning period but on average it is taken up several times a week by EC modification testing, meetings, being a sub for other teachers.
This is my 30th year of teaching, I have files full of lessons, quizzes, and supplemental materials, and with the internet can pretty much look anything up and create more if necessary. Students today are a different breed than when I began my career. In order to keep up with all of the adaptations that need to be made, prepare lessons, shop for lab ingredients, clean up, do room maintenance, prep for hands on lab classes, grade and input papers, I'm still spending 10-15 hours extra outside of the classroom. I consider myself organized and efficient, it's just that the courses I teach require so much after school/weekend preparation time. I must stay within a strict budget and with the cost of food, I often have to shop two stores for just a one day lab.
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