Does this happen to you? You sit down to start your prep period, open your email, blink and the bell rings for the next class. Or do you open your instagram, make a few comments, watch a few reels and ring, ring, ring – prep time is over. Or even worse, you walk down to “make a few copies,” stop to chat with your neighbor, or the front secretary, and suddenly you are running back to beat your next class of students to your room?
Let me tell you – it doesn’t have to be this way. You can use your prep to grade and plan and get copies made. You can use your prep period so wisely that you can leave at contract time at the end of the day – and no this doesn’t mean you have to come into school hours early!
What you should be doing
1. Planning
I know that seems intuitive, but too often we do the task that is right in front of us. For me, it seems to be checking email. Which leads to checking student grades. Which leads to digging through late work or assignments so that I can answer a parent email. And just like that – that is all I have done.
So, next time do your planning during your planning time. Start with just getting the next day planned. Then try to get the day after that planned. Gaining a little bit each time, until one day you are planned one week ahead, then two weeks, then a whole unit.
Imagine how this will make your life easier! Now when you have that student who goes on vacation for a week or two in the middle of the year, and they ask for their work in advance (as if they are actually going to do any of it), you will be prepared to actually give them all of their missing work.
2. Grading
Once you have planned in advance, move on to grading. Choose something you can finish. The worst thing is being in the middle of grading and having to stop. You lose momentum. And your grading may be uneven – some students graded easier than others.
I keep a paper grade book for this reason. It is easier to see exactly where you are and where you need to pick up. Then once you have all of the work graded, you can enter it into your online grading system. I remember clicking up and down my gradebook, searching for student names. When I moved to keeping a paper gradebook, I was able to find students easier, write in their score, and then when it was time to input it online I could use my 10-key and zoom down the column of scores.
3. Send your copies to the copy center
If you are lucky enough to work in a school with a copy center – use it! Send your copies to the copy center. Often these centers need 1 day in advance (or more). By this point you have planned several days in advance, so this isn’t a problem.
No more waiting in line before school, or making copies at lunch – hovering over the copy machine while you eat your PB&J. And you don’t have to deal with jammed machines left by the other too busy and often late teacher who was there before you.
I got so good at this, that I started in the spring making copies for the next year. So in August, I didn’t have to wait days for my syllabus or first day activities and assignments. I kept them in my cabinets over the summer – see picture below.
What you should try not to do during your prep time
1. Surf the internet and check social media
I know, it’s tempting, but don’t do it. Just say no.
I know that I often used this as a time for a break – a mental break. But the time goes so quickly that a 5 minute break would turn into 20 or 30. And I often found that it was even harder for me to get back into the groove of working after scrolling through facebook or instagram.
It also usually led me to click on links, go check out this real quick, oooh those pants are cute do they have them in my size, and so on.
2. Chat with your neighbors or office staff
A quick trip to the office to check my box could turn into an all period chat session. Just like us, our school admin or assistants love to chat to adults and not teenagers. They want to know what’s going on in your life, just as you want to touch base with them.
It can feel like you are being anti-social, but you need to take care of yourself. Practice going to the office with a big smile and a big wave. Zoom in, say “Hey!”, give a wave and a smile and zoom on out. I promise that if you are open and happy, and make sure you talk to them (however brief), they will think you are positive and friendly. Then on the days you have more time to chat or after school, you can – without falling behind.
3. Answer Email
Wait, what? Don’t check my email? Nope – don’t answer your email. Yes, you need to check your email, but you don’t have to answer.
I always checked my email to make sure I didn’t miss a meeting announcement or something from my admin. But I didn’t open email from parents. I waited.
I’m not super productive at the end of the day, so that was my time to do the mundane tasks I needed to do – like answer email. I never left school for the day without responding to email – even if it was to acknowledge an email and let a parent know I would get back to them. But if I answered during my prep, it would often spiral into other tasks. Or if it was an email that caused an emotional response, it was hard to hold onto it and focus on teaching.
Track Your Time
I think one of the most important first steps to improving how you use your prep time is to first examine how you use your time.
You can do this by simply stopping every 10 minutes and writing down what you did during that time. The hardest part of this is being honest with yourself and not changing your actions simply because you are tracking it.
I suggest tracking for an entire week – I don’t know about you, but I am way more productive on a Monday, then a Friday.
Download my time tracking sheet to help you.
After you have tracked your time for a week, you can add up how much time you are using for different tasks: planning, grading, email, bathroom, chatting, cell phone, etc.
Then set a small goal to improve or a big goal to change how you are using your time.
How to get more out of your prep time
Okay, okay! But how do you get more time?
Practice.
I use the following two methods to help me focus on what I need to do.
1. Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro Method is easy. Pick a task – just 1 (like planning for 10th grade English) and work on it for 25 minutes. Then take a 5 minute break. During this break was when I would run to the office to check my box. Or check emails. Or pick up my copies from the copy room. Or go to the bathroom!
But set the timer and STOP after 5 minutes. Then continue with your task for 25 minutes or move to another task.
I would see how much I could get done in the 25 minutes of planning for one class. Often I could get 1-2 lessons outlined. Then in my next set of 25 minutes I would start working on planning for the next class.
Remember to not do anything else during this time – no email, no texting, no social media.
2. Power Hours
A Power Hour is just like the pomodoro method, but instead of 25 minutes, you do a whole hour. I would use this when I wanted to get further ahead in planning. Or when I needed to grade essays. I have an 80 minute prep period, so I could do 1 power hour, with time to go to the bathroom and the office.
3. Be a Hermit
And last but not least, you may need to be a hermit in order to use your planning time wisely.
What do I mean by being a hermit?
Turn your lights off.
Shut and lock your door.
Get shit done.
So YOU can go home to your kids, spouse, pets, or to take a nap, work on a hobby, or exercise. Whatever YOU want to do. Fill your own cup!
