To high school teachers...?

Question

I have two questions for you: (1) About how much time outside of the classroom do you spend preparing for class and grading papers? (2) What, in your experience, are the biggest challenges of teaching this grade level?

Answer 1

At the high school level, this is a tough question to answer..
The subject area has a MAJOR impact on time....

English papers, history term papers and material of that ilk take a huge amount of time....probably 2-3 hours every night...[my wife is a high school English teacher]

But...Math, sciences- bio, physics, chem get easier as you go
Grading is much quicker ...maybe an hour, hour and a half a night
[ I've spent more than 30 yrs in the classroom...Math/Physics]

Set up and prep time generally -significantly- lessen as you gain experience....

For performance areas...FCS , band ,music , PE....
almost no outside time and minimal prep time


For all teaching areas, the efficient use of time, the prep, the grading techniques. the use of a variety of criteria,....
unfortunately..these come with experience


The biggest challenges???? also a tough one

Lack of motivation. lack of prerequisite skills, lack of a sense of personal responsibility, lack of respect for being educated...
Violance and the growing acceptance of it in schools
The pervasive "entertainment" mentality....all the tech toys reinforce the "immediate" gratification mind set....which makes learning anything "difficult"......."boring" ...."no fun" "who cares"

Some teachers make it doubly difficult for the rest of us...lowering standards, acceptance of poor/bad/crude/vulgar language. trying to be the students' serogate parent or friend--a dangerous, and possibly litigous role to be avoided at all costs, "giving grades" , not covering the required material..-this is a real problem with "sequential" subjects like math, foreign language, science; becoming blase', burned out....

It's a tough way to try to make a living, to be sure...

Answer 2

The first couple of years that you teach at the high school level are the hardest prep wise. You're really still deciding how to get succeed at your objectives and how to tailor them to your class. I taught computer classes and the first year I spent hours each evening grading and making worksheets and games. The next year I found more ways to grade during class that gave the students instant feedback-a great teaching tool and gave me a break too. I also had lots of friends who I could share worksheets and games with. I also used these devices while teaching mathematics. A lot depends on the subject you are teaching. Some teachers always find ways to lighten their load. I think one of my greatest challenges was to motivate the students to learn and convince them that they were capable of doing hard work. High school kids have so many other social and economic issues to deal with sometimes it is hard for them to focus on class. I found the prep and grading work teaching high schoolers to be less than that of teaching an elementary sunday school class hour per hour. I spent twice as much time prepping and grading Sunday school stuff as I did high school stuff! I really enjoyed high school more but I've never really like little kids.

Answer 3

1. I spend approximately 4 hours a night working on lesson plans and correcting papers. Sometimes I even call parents from my home. So, on average, 20 extra hours on top of what I do at school.

2. I teach ninth grade and I find that most kids are unorganized and lack decent study skills. The biggest frustration is the lack of support at home. Many parents/guardians don't encourage kids to do well, behave, and take education seriously. Sadly, for a lot of kids, they think it's "uncool" to be smart. In a nutshell, motivation is a big stumbling block.

Answer 4

1) On average I spend about 2 hours for prep and grading for every 1 hour of lecture. This is different for every teacher. 2) The biggest challenge for teaching high school is the complacency or despondency that students have which wears you down.

Answer 5

As a substitute high school teacher, I can tell you that most teachers spend 3 or 4 hours a night grading papers,assembling lesson plans,etc. The greatest challenge these days is getting their students motivated.Budgets are tight,and It is hard to keep it interesting at times.

Answer 6

For every 1 hr of class there is 1-3 hrs of prep. and grading. Having to be a parent to children who's parents are not able to provide structure, discipline, manners, or social edict.

Answer 7

college instructors are often called Professors. Professors have lots or education than extreme college instructors do, in words of their learn and greater college credit earned. think of of it this form, extreme college instructors went to varsity, and that they have been taught by skill of faculty instructors lol. So there's a good occasion. additionally college Professors gets a commission lots greater then extreme college instructors because of the fact they are not paid by skill of the government like H.S. instructors, they're paid from the instructions scholars pay. and confident it somewhat is greater sturdy to enhance right into a school instructor, You lots undergo a number of tests on your container of the placement you desire to coach. suitable answer. desire this facilitates :)