'Preps'

[s0830887]

I keep seeing this term used, but I'm not familiar with what it means. My basic guess is something like 'individual classes that need planned each week' or something like that but do we not do that for every lesson? I figure I'm not quite on the money with it. I guess also this is an American phrase?

How many weekly preps would people be content with? What do you feel would be an average number vs a high/stressful number?

[Dredge]

Prep means any class you have to prepare for, so if you are teaching 7th and 8th grade social studies, you have two preps. Prep period means you have the hour free to plan for your preps. I would consider anything more than two preps stressful. I have had as many as six.

[s0830887]

Thanks Dredge. But classes to prepare for in what window? Each day?

[chilagringa]

I have two preps. Three would be OK but not ideal. I wouldn't accept a job with more than three preps - I like spending a lot of time preparing for each of my lessons, not scrambling to keep up.

In my past two teaching jobs I had five preps (terrible) and three (doable).

[Thames Pirate]

The number of preps also depends on the schedule and the prep time given. If the school is on a rotation of some kind and you only see the kids every third day and have significant prep time, it's very different from a daily schedule with only one prep period a day. Furthermore, smaller classes mean you use less of your given prep time or prep periods grading and more of them actually prepping. That also makes a significant difference.

So rather than deciding based solely on number of preps, make sure you know all the factors. I have had jobs with four preps and a weekly bonus cover be MUCH less work than a job with two preps and a ready made-curriculum that needed only a few daily tweaks for each.

[expatscot]

OK - so a "prep" is the actual class time then, not the time preparing for it?

I would love a timetable with only two classes per day. You would be so much better prepared (for example, today I am teaching from 8am to 3.05pm, with only the morning break and lunchtime without classes.) That's not how the English system works though - it's based on "pupil contact time" which is usually around 80% of your total contracted hours (that's the same back in the UK.)

[PsyGuy]

The term "prep" indicates a class or course that must be prepared for on a regular basis. An IT who has to be prepared to teach year 9 and year 10 Literature has two classes to "prep" for.

Another similar term is "prep period" this is a regular class/instructional, period/block that instead of teaching a class or other duty you have the time to prepare for your upcoming classes (writing an outline, photo copying, setting up a classroom for an activity, marking/grading assignments/student work, writing a test, etc..).

If you hear an IT say "I have three preps today and only one prep period this morning", they mean they have three different classes they have to prepare for that day and sometime on that morning they have one period they arent scheduled for classes and can prepare for those three different classes.

Its not 2 class periods per day. An IT with two preps in year 9 and 10 literature is still teaching 6 classes a day, but they are teaching some combination of year 9 and 10 literature. They might have 3 periods/classes of year 9 and 3 periods/classes of year 10 literature, but the lesson plan for all three of the year 9 literature classes will be the same lesson plan. They only need to prepare it once and present it 3 times. In a very large IS you may only have 1 prep, in which case you prepare one lesson and just present that same lesson multiple times all day or even better one lesson over 2 days (the student population is so large you could have 12 classes of year 9 literature, and see the same students every other day.)
Its a similar concept of contact/instructional time. Your day is 8-3, you get 30 minutes for lunch and one marking period, the rest of the time youre in instruction with students. That marking period is the same as a prep period, it might be called "Planning period", "Conference Period", "Advisory Period", etc..

I would further agree with @Thames Pirate that not all preps (different classes requiring separate preparation for) are created equal. There was a recent member of our readership who is going to have DIP Bio, Chem, Phys to prep for, thats 6 different preps (DP1/Bio, DP1/Chem, DP1/Phys, DP2/Bio, DP2/Chem, DP2/Phys) and those are all studio (lab) intensive courses. Change that to a Primary PHE IT who has 6 preps (P1-P6) and thats a completely different prep commitment and structure.

Personally I like courses/classes that have no prep like SPED/SEN/LS/LD resource classes where X students may or may not visit my resource room, and all I have to do is give them some individual attention. Library where you pick a picture book of the shelf and read aloud to some primary students so their IT gets a prep period. My limits probably three but again it would depend on the subject field.

[wrldtrvlr123]

PsyGuy wrote:
> Personally I like courses/classes that have no prep like SPED/SEN/LS/LD resource
> classes where X students may or may not visit my resource room, and all I have to
> do is give them some individual attention. Library where you pick a picture book
> of the shelf and read aloud to some primary students so their IT gets a prep period.
> My limits probably three but again it would depend on the subject field.
--------------------------------------
I love learning support. There are the meetings and extra paperwork but the vast majority of my day consists of, "What have you got that you need to work on? Nothing? No, I don't quite believe that. Let's check Gradespeed, Schoology, the big board etc.". Lots of individual tutoring and help but very little actual prep work required.

[nomcommun]

This conversation is quite enlightening. Here in my DS District in North America, I have had 2+ preps for at least the last 8 years. I'm looking at 3, maybe 4 next year. With so many IS being rather small, I assumed ISs would be more likely to have several preps.

[Thames Pirate]

Good schools always try to balance the number and complexity of preps with the prep time. Bad schools just schedule what's convenient with no thought to the workload. Good schools try to minimize the number of teachers teaching a specific class to allow for greater collaboration and consistency across sections of a grade level. Bad schools just schedule any warm body from the department (or not!). Good schools consider what teachers request and try to give them more of their favorite subjects to teach (and hire accordingly). Bad schools just throw you into the department and give you whatever works for them.

So here again it's a question you should ask at an interview--how are number of preps and prep time factored into the master schedule, what is the normal load for a teacher, and how does the school ensure a balance?

[teller]

I've taught in US curriculum ISs and UK National Curriculum ISs. In the US systems I never had more than three preps (I.e. different classes). In the UKNC IS I had a minimum of 5 and maximum of 7 preps. I found that in US curricula schools teachers tend to specialize in a few preps whereas in the British curricula teachers are expected to teach a much wider base of students (ages 11-18). Both have their benefits--in the US system I could really focus on my preps and have a few "do-overs"--that is, if a lesson fell flat for one class I could make the correction for the other classes during the day; however, it can get rather boring teaching the same thing 3X a day to multiple classes over a few years. In the UKNC I saw my students less frequently but since I taught such a wide range of classes I never felt like I was in a "rut." I also found myself teaching subjects that I didn't specialize in which in many respects made me more well-rounded as a teacher--in terms of both content and pedagogy.

Keep in mind that regardless of the system school populations also play a major role in how many preps a teacher may have. Smaller schools with fewer students will require teachers to be flexible and teach multiple preps. Large schools tend to require fewer preps for teachers since multiple sections of the same prep are needed.

Ultimately I'd rather have 2-3 preps but having taught 7 I feel "learned more" as a teacher--hopefully that makes sense!

[sid]

Teller is right. There's a huge cultural expectation regarding preps. US schools try to minimize them. UK schools expect everyone to teach a range. In one school, as we were trying to shift from British style to US style, the British teachers flipped out because they felt that teaching only 1 or 2 preps would scupper their careers and prevent them from ever getting jobs again.

[twoteachers]

I love listening to secondary teachers complain about two preps... As an elementary teacher I wish! We have 5 everyday....

[nomcommun]

Where I work though, elementary teachers don't have 150 students, nor are they expected to be subject area specialists. I think all levels have valid challenges that are hard to judge unless one has experienced them.

[PsyGuy]

While I can understand the position of @Thames Pirate scheduling is never easy, and either everyone hates you or some staff hate you. You cant make everyone happy. Scheduling eventually comes down to the point of scheduling/painting yourself into a corner.

An issue with @sids comment is that USNC ITs have much less of a curriculum map and expectations the IT has in meeting curriculum objectives. In the UKNC there is a well known, published understanding of what a student is expected to know in each subject at each age level. Its one national system that is monitored by external exam boards and national level assessments. In the US at best you have 50+ standards and a lot of disagreement on how to get to them. I can prep for 7 courses a lot faster and easier when theres a script, and any IT thats done the UKNC for the requisite 2 years knows the recipe and the outcome. Thats not the same in the USNC. Year 9 history can mean a lot of different things in the USNC, and ask 10 educators how to do it when and if they agree on the outcomes and youll have 10 different instructional plans for meeting them.

@twoteachers

I also find primary ITs who believe their 4-5 preps are the same level of recourse and expertise as a secondary IT in a school leaving level course to be either ignorant or disingenuous. As a primary IT I could prep a days lessons in about 75 minutes. Preparing resources and activities took the most time, marking took the shortest. Creating a learning environment was the deepest. As an upper secondary IT, it varies greatly depending ont eh subject and point in the unit guide I am at. I can prep a literature lesson thats Socratic discussion and debate in 5 minutes. Create some prompts, have students choose sides and let them debate. A chem lesson in studio (lab) on redox stoichiometry requiring measuring multiple titrations and precipitates is a weekend checking the safety protocol, creating solutions, checking scale accuracy, setting apparatus, formulating solutions and thats assuming I already have the procedure exercise. A PHE lesson starting with some stretching, discussing some health issue, and then paired work in passing a volleyball and then playing a game or two is a 15 minute prep and most of that is setting the nets. An art lesson on 3D casting is a long day organizing materials (clay, sand, silicate/alginate), reviewing safety protocols, and mixing materials for storage.
I concur with @nomcommun Primary ITs generally dont have class rolls in the hundreds.

@nomcommun

While Primary ITs dont have large roster sizes, they have to develop far deeper understandings of their students than secondary ITs do.