Teachers Read.?

Question

What amount of time do you put into the day and on what? I know contract times, but how much more than contract time do you normally work? Is it possible to only work contract times and still be a good teacher?

Answer 1

People who say it's not possible just don't have it all figured out yet. Depending on the grade you teach, if you work efficiently with the time you're given, it's possible to be a great teacher and still work within the confines of your contracted time. Doing more doesn't mean you're a great teacher. What you do in the classroom is a big part of it. If you give your students busy work, you've got a lot of busy work to grade. If you create authentic learning experiences for your students, you can get a lot of really great teaching done without having to copy a single worksheet. Obviously planning takes time, but if you've got 90 minutes to plan for 3 periods of the same class, you should be able to get your planning done.

I haven't figured it all out yet for 3rd grade, but there are definitely days when I leave on the dot without taking anything home with me.

With that said, I never WANT to be a teacher who only works the time I'm told to work- I prefer to constantly try to better my teaching methods, and that takes time and effort. A teacher who seriously cares about his/her students works 24/7. Those snot-nosed brats are always on my mind. :) I'm constantly trying to find new ways to give them the best education I can offer.

Answer 2

Besides my contract hours (8:15-3:15) I have to prep, which can take anywhere from one hour to three hours, depending on what needs to be done. I often take work home. During report card conference times I make 10 to 12 hour days.

Even though prep time is supposed to be 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the bell rings (and is contractual), this time is usually taken up by staff meetings, grade level meetings, meetings with parents, bus duty, parking lot supervision, voluntary tutoring of students, and so on.

During the actual school day there is NO TIME for anything but teaching. I even use part of my lunch to correct papers or check homework.

In answer to your third question, I doubt that it is possible to only work contract times and still be a good teacher. I don't know any teacher who does that. I would question anyone says otherwise.

Answer 3

We are required to be at school 30 minutes before class begins and may leave as soon as 10 minutes after dismissal. Several factors can contribute to the amount of time a teacher spends after the school day. How efficient are you with your time? What subject area do you teach? How experienced a teacher are you? How many students do you have? How much planning time do you have built into your day?

I have 130 students, I have been teaching for 30 years but this year I am teaching a new subject so it requires more preparation. Most lessons involve teacher interaction so I do not have time to grade or plan during class time. I have a 50 min. conference period and a 25 min. lunch. I share my conference period with 4 other teachers who also need access to the copy machine at the same time I do.

There are days that I stay an hour or more after school to get ready for the next day. I may not stay every day. But to be honest I stay late more days than not.

Answer 4

My district's contract time is from 20 minutes before the bell to 30 minutes after. I dont have a prep period and my lunch is 30 minutes. If I never worked past my contract time I would never get anything done. I know people who are out the door the first second they can be, but I also don't have a real high opinion of their class practices. They tend to be the ones handing out the same worksheets they used when they graduated back in the 60's.

Answer 5

My personal opinion is that no, you cannot work only contract hours and still be a good teacher.
My school day is from 7 - 2:30. Of that time, I am either teaching or supervising students for 6 of those hours, have 30 minutes for lunch and 55 minutes of planning time.
During planning, I have scheduled meetings that I must attend at least one day per week. Parents schedule conferences during this time so technically, sometimes I only get one planning period per week. When not in meetings, I have to make plans, grade papers, call parents (this is a requirement from our administration before we can send a student to the office so this takes a lot of time) meet with other teachers in my grade level, make copies, etc.
I usually work until 4:30 so I put in at least 2 hours extra than the contract times daily.
Things that I do on my own time: bulletin boards, create lessons on PowerPoint or overheads so I will have copies for absent students, fill out paperwork for students that need to be tested for special education services, fill out monitoring paperwork for students that are special ed, call parents of well behaved students, tutor students that are having a difficult time, grade papers (not enough time in the day), create lessons, tests and worksheets that meet state standards, update my website with grades and homework assignments (required by my district), call parents of students that are failing, answer emails from parents, decide which standards students are failing so I can come up with another type of lesson before state testing. These are all I can think of off my head.
I spend about 5 hours on the weekends to do these things also so on most weeks I work 50 hours a week. If we add in the extra activities for the students: supervising ball games, talent shows, band concerts, student government, etc. then it would be closer to 53 weekly.
With our school calendar, we only get June and July off in the summer. I try my best to work on new ideas for curriculum standards and do my trainings in one month..so I can have the other month for my kids.

Answer 6

1/2 an hour