Year 8: Week 4 – Prep Time

There are many things about teaching that make it rise to an art form. The ability to adjust a lesson mid-stream to address the needs of a class, how a master teacher can lead students through Socratic-like discussions, and the way great teachers perfectly manage students’ time when working on projects are truly amazing levels of skill and craft.

One part of teaching, that isn’t discussed as much, but is a critical is the art of managing prep time effectively.

Prep time, the time that teachers spend at school not teaching is difficult to manage. There is never enough prep time for teachers. This isn’t a superlative; it’s just a fact. I’m not going to break down why in this post, but talk to any teacher and they will explain why.

In this limited amount of prep time teachers have to: make photo copies, answer emails, call parents, write lesson plans, work through materials, make worksheets, correct papers, enter grades, meet with other teachers, clean the classroom, prepare visual aids, set-up technology, meet with students, meet with administrators, and serve on committees. Some teachers even have to do recess duty, and lunch duty during their prep time. Others have write grants and manage fundraisers during their prep time to fund their own classrooms.

Also, during prep time teachers need to do things that help them function as human being including eating lunch, going to the bathroom, and taking mental breaks.

My positive feelings about a week of teaching are very much reliant on how well I manage my prep time. If I do a good job of using this time, I take care of my own personal needs (e.g. eating), I make progress on projects, and I feel adequately prepared for class. This success directly leads into better teaching, which more than anything else brings me satisfaction as an educator.

This week I did pretty good with my prep time. I knocked off a bunch of stuff on my to do list, got caught up with my lesson planning and actually ate meals around the time that I should, for the most part. There was one day that I didn’t eat breakfast until 10:30. . .

How did I do this? Hmm. . . not sure. I’m still trying to figure this out, but here’s a couple things I figured out that I think will help in the future.

1. Eat and go to the bathroom, when you can and when you need to: Eating and bathroom time is scheduled for teachers. I can’t leave my kids in the middle of class to use the bathroom for the most part. Sometimes I get caught up in things and delay going to the bathroom or eating. Doing this makes me less productive, and puts me in situations when I don’t have time to take care of my body.

2.  Don’t do large chunks of email every day: Checking your email can take a long time. While I do this every day, I’ve found that if I only do like ten minutes of this one-day and then forty-five minutes the next day, email is more managable. Often, harder to write emails are easier to write after thinking about for a day.

3. Alternate between finite and long-term activities: Some tasks like lesson planning are never done, but others like photocopying can truly be done. Moving between these types of tasks gives your brain a break and especially with photocopying gets you up and about.

4.  Make time to laugh with colleagues:  I don't believe that complaining in the teachers lounge about students, other teachers, or administrators is productive.  However, I do feel that finding time every day in your prep periods to hang out with optimistic teachers that make you feel good about what you do and who you are is essential to your mental well-being as a teacher.

The most important thing we do as teachers is take care of ourselves.  If you have the most masterful lesson plans, and a perfect but you are mentally fried, hungry, and need to go to your bathroom, you're not going to have a good teaching period.  However, if you body feels good, and your level of optimism is full, you can make it through a lesson that isn't well planned out with success and a smile.  

What teachers manage to do in this small amount of prep time is almost as incredible as what teachers do in front of kids.  Figuring out how to manage this time is difficult, but try to make sure to take care of yourself first.  The best lessons are taught by example, and if our students know we take time for ourselves, then they are more likely to take care of themselves like we tell them to as they leave our classrooms.