Skip to main content

Managing Multiple Preps!

Anyone here have more than one prep (class/course) that you teach in a day? Chances are, you do. Chances are, you might be like me, and have five! I'm here to tell you, that instead of panicking, as long as you have an organizational system, it is possible to still have time to breathe in your day!

Here's my current course load, just so you can see where I'm at.

1st Period- Planning Period (no students)
2nd Period- 8th Grade Language Arts Regular (Reading/Writing)
3rd Period- 8th Grade Language Arts Regular (Reading/Writing)
4th Period- 8th Grade Language Arts ET (Gifted- Reading/Writing)
5th Period- 8th Grade Enrichment Course (Genius Hour)
6th Period- SLC (Small Learning Communities/Homeroom)
7th Period- 7th Grade Language Arts 1 ET (Gifted/Reading)
8th Period- 7th Grade Language Arts 2 ET (Gifted/Writing)
9th Period- 8th Grade Language Arts 1 ET (Gifted- Reading/Writing)

Our classes are 42 minutes long, and my 8th grade classes only meet for one period, as these students take foreign language in lieu of a second period of Language Arts, so I teach both reading and writing in the 42 minute class)

1. Teacher Planner and Calendar

You must have a planner. I've made my Erin Condren Teacher Planner work for me as a secondary teacher, repurposing some of the pages that are more elementary. I love using the main calendar for meetings and reminders that are not academic, this helps me have one place to look for things happening in the morning and afternoon.




















2. Monthly To-Do List

A to-do list that is specific to each month. This does not include daily copies I need to make, but more long-term/monthly goals that I need to finish. This includes forms I need to turn in, upcoming due dates, etc...


3. Weekly Planning

I use a paper planner to sketch out my weeks, along with Schoology. This is super helpful for me to sketch out and see what I'm doing, and writing it helps me remember. I color code my classes, and then divide my book out by course.




























Keeping the colors consistent is helpful for me, and always putting the same type of activity in the same box (ex. bellringers on the first line, homework on the last two lines) helps me find information quickly.



4. Long Term Planning

I use my extra notes section to do long-term planning. Obviously this looks different throughout the year, but I can sketch out what selections I'm using based on testing data, and I can rewrite this each quarter to include specific selections. You can see that this quarter is very specific (2-3 week increments) and then they get chunked out for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter. This will be super helpful to have a timeline as I get closer to maternity leave as well.



5. Short-Term To Do List

I have this awesome pad from C.Jayne Teach that is divided into four quadrants, "Things to Do", "People To Email", "Pages to Copy" and "Students to See". As much as I loved having it on my desk, I decided to fold it in half and laminate it. Then I clipped it into my TP with the coil clips, and I use a wet erase marker for to-do lists that change weekly. 



Here's where I mark things that must get done this week, as well as staff and parents I need to get in touch with. (Covered to protect parent names)


I make a ton of copies during the week, and having this right in my planner is very helpful! My students to see includes students who may be absent, or need benchmarking. 

6. Copy Folder

Here's my folder with all of the items on my "Pages to Copy" list. I keep this in my planner, and make sure I have it when I take my planner home. This way, if there are no meetings, I can go straight to the copy machine in the morning before I even go to my room!




Do I still get frustrated? Oh, yes. Sometimes I feel like my head will explode trying to juggle everything, but this helps me at least keep treading water!

Today is my Work Free Wednesday (no school work happening in this house tonight)! Did you take my challenge I posted on the Middle School Mob last week? How's it going?



Comments

  1. I loved this post and am bookmarking it for future reference! Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for commenting and your kind words!! :)

      Delete
  2. I've NEVER heard of 9 periods!!! That just seems like an obscene amount. I've done 6 periods before, and for the last 5 years had four 80-minute periods. I can't imagine only having 42 minutes! Good for you for staying so on top of it!!!! Get it girl!
    Stephanie
    Tales of Teaching in Heels

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The students are pretty tired by the end of the day, as are teachers, but I guess we're managing?? Hope everything is going well for you!! :)

      Delete
  3. Ugh. I have four different Oreos for teaching and one for a program coordinator. We have 50 minute periods...not sure how you do it in 42! I agree on the organizing part- I stay really late one night per week to get everything ready for the week. It helps keep the stress level lower, but this job is still crazy making!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea to stay one day! I'm glad to see so many teachers attempting to manage stress!

      Delete
  4. Wait...I'm so blown away by there being 9 classes. And you only get one planning? My union would have a fit. Are you paid more because of your school's decision to have 9 class periods and because you teach more than 5 classes a day?

    I love your blog. I'm using the INS with my 11th graders.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Jen,
    This is fantastic and very nice information you shared here about Managing Multiple Preps. I read and got much required information for better education as I got such kind of information from Freshessays . Your writing is in detail and helpful. Thank you for your nice sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have no words to describe your blog. I am very impressed.
    Matura Focus 2 A2+/B1 Podręcznik

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! JW

Popular posts from this blog

Before the School Year Begins...

I decided that before I can start posting about what I'm doing this year, I needed to share some of my favorite strategies from last year that went really well with the students. I was completely inspired by Kelly Gallagher after reading devouring all of his books at the beginning of the school year! I had the opportunity to go to a Kelly Gallagher workshop at Judson this spring, and it was absolutely amazing! He was so nice when I went up to him (I was terrified and starstruck), and even wrote "You're Welcome" on this piece of paper, because my students actually asked me to THANK HIM for changing the way we read novels in class.  Students + asked me + to say thank you to an author + about school stuff = UTOPIA! Here are some of my abbreviated notes from the day: His TOP Points: Kids should write 4X more than you can physically grade  Students suffer from word poverty. Must get students reading more in order to be exposed to vocabulary. We ne

RAK Classroom Kit + Enjoy the Magic of The Holidays at Oakbrook Center!

Last week The Middle School Mob hosted a FB Live Holiday Hop, and I shared how I do a RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) activity with my students during the holiday season . This was my first time doing a FB live and I had so much fun! You can check out the RAK Classroom Kit here If you live in the Chicagoland area and want to have a fun family outing this Christmas season, be sure to check out my post over at Modest House, Extraordinary Home ! Save Save Save Save

Writing Notebook: Finishing up "Write Ideas" and first Invitation: AAAWWUBBIS!

Happy Monday!! Today I am continuing on with the Writer's Notebook! Last time I left off, students had just finished their "100 Things I Love". After that, students completed their writing territories, which I got from Nancie Atwell's book   Lessons That Change Writers.  We spent the first day discussing writing territories out loud, going through the list in detail, so that students had ideas of what to write about. I told them to think of it like the caption for a picture. One to two sentences that could become something more. Students had to complete this for homework. We also completely numbered our table of contents so that we could add in sections and start working in other parts of the notebook.  Students wrote their writing territories on these pages. Then we moved on to the Writer's Eye (I). Students had to place terms that described them within their "I" or around their "Eye". I created my o