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This question has been asked on here before and I will tell you that it depends on many variables from how long they have been teaching, to what time of year it is, to what grade they teach, to their current principal's philosophy of the purpose of teacher planning. Basically it is much more than the public, politicians, students, and parents can imagine but not as high as some teachers claim. I averaged 10 hours beyond contract time a week.
This question has been asked on here before and I will tell you that it depends on many variables from how long they have been teaching, to what time of year it is, to what grade they teach, to their current principal's philosophy of the purpose of teacher planning. Basically it is much more than the public, politicians, students, and parents can imagine but not as high as some teachers claim. I averaged 10 hours beyond contract time a week.
During my first 2-3 years, I spent most Saturdays in my classroom, and evenings at home, planning. Thirty years later, I still go in 30 minutes early each day, when the copiers are available, and there aren't as many distractions. A couple of times a year, I grade essays at home, but nothing like our Language Arts people have to do.
Depends on what you call "work." If you mean actually paper grading and direct classroom stuff then it is probably 10-20. If work includes looking for materials, thinking about activities and such, then it is probably closer to 30-40 hours.
Depends on what you call "work." If you mean actually paper grading and direct classroom stuff then it is probably 10-20. If work includes looking for materials, thinking about activities and such, then it is probably closer to 30-40 hours.
As far as I know, only lawyers are able to bill for time they spend "thinking" about their work.
This question has been asked on here before and I will tell you that it depends on many variables from how long they have been teaching, to what time of year it is, to what grade they teach, to their current principal's philosophy of the purpose of teacher planning. Basically it is much more than the public, politicians, students, and parents can imagine but not as high as some teachers claim. I averaged 10 hours beyond contract time a week.
If all I did was 10 hours post contracted hours, I'd be so far behind I'd be fired. It takes me 15 hours to grade just one batch of lab reports (I can grade about 6 an hour) and that's after I spent 1-6 hours setting up the lab, an hour tearing it down and another hour washing the dishes. Labs alone would have me over 10 hours extra per week. As long as I'm teaching science, I'll be answering 21+ to this question. I hope, someday, to move completely to math. Then I'd be under 10 hours per week for sure. My math classes take very little prep and the push to MC tests means I don't have a lot to grade. It's my science classes that kill me time wise. I have two science classes to prep for and one math class.
My time spent on lesson prep and test writing is going down. I think I have half a dozen versions of almost all of my tests now (need that many to thwart cheating) and I do very little tweaking of my power points these days. Ditto for the labs themselves. They're all written and ready to go. Just some minor tweaking on new labs I introduced last year that didn't quite go off the way I'd planned. The math curriculum was written before I came on board so I just follow the plan. I spend a little time making smart board activities to go with the lesson but not much. It's not something I need to do every day.
During my first 2-3 years, I spent most Saturdays in my classroom, and evenings at home, planning. Thirty years later, I still go in 30 minutes early each day, when the copiers are available, and there aren't as many distractions. A couple of times a year, I grade essays at home, but nothing like our Language Arts people have to do.
Grading has to be a nightmare for LA but the teacher who wins hands down on extra hours put in has got to be the band teacher. There should be a pay premium for band teachers. They don't have lives.
Grading has to be a nightmare for LA but the teacher who wins hands down on extra hours put in has got to be the band teacher. There should be a pay premium for band teachers. They don't have lives.
Most places do pay a premium to band teachers that also do marching band. It was just over 10 grand in my last district, a place where new teachers started at around $31,000. Their assistants, usually the feeder middle school band teachers, got around $6,000. I have no issue with it, but more and more teachers are being expected to put in extra hours off contract with no remuneration. I'm not sure I would reccomend education as a career in the current climate; it is far, far different than the education profession I entered over 25 years ago.
Most places do pay a premium to band teachers that also do marching band. It was just over 10 grand in my last district, a place where new teachers started at around $31,000. Their assistants, usually the feeder middle school band teachers, got around $6,000. I have no issue with it, but more and more teachers are being expected to put in extra hours off contract with no remuneration. I'm not sure I would reccomend education as a career in the current climate; it is far, far different than the education profession I entered over 25 years ago.
I agree. Back when I was in high school, the chemistry teacher had an extra prep period and a teaching assistant. I don't know if he got extra pay but he got help and extra time. Today, I get neither and there are times when my workload boarders on ridiculous. I plan for 24 hours outside of my contracted hours and it is not enough. I, slowly, get farther and farther behind. I'd be SOL if the semester ended before Christmas. Christmas break is my time to catch up on grading before the end of the term.
Now that I've taught math, I'm jealous of the full time math teachers. I could have a life if I taught math, which is what I actually went to school to teach. Unfortunately, there is a glut of math teachers (I was one of 150 in the last job I applied for) so it's hard to find a math job. It's not easy to find chemistry either so I'll just be glad I have a job this year. I'm not looking forward to the return of 60+ hour weeks. I wish I could bank time from the summer to use later. While I do start the year ahead, by Christmas, I'm in desperate need of some time off to catch up.
Grading has to be a nightmare for LA but the teacher who wins hands down on extra hours put in has got to be the band teacher. There should be a pay premium for band teachers. They don't have lives.
Seriously. Our elementary band teacher has a half day contract, but she regularly puts in a full day, meets with kids before school, and has evening performances throughout the year.
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