Re: Planning Time - Elementary Schools by Cheryl

[b]I believe this is a problem statewide. How do you fit everything into a school day? If your teachers have 45 minutes, that is fantastic! In my school, the primary teachers have 30 minutes and they have to rotate recess duty among themselves in the grade level.

We are on a six day rotation schedule. The PE, art, and music teachers see the students either twice during the rotation for 30 minutes. Some of them have 10 classes a day. It is a killer schedule. That is close to 300 children a day in the revolving door, grades K-4. They get 30 minutes of prep too...

There is only so much money in the pot... to add more prep minutes means to hire more special area teachers. That presents several more problems. One is space. In small districts with steady enrollment, there is not enough space. We utilize the PE room and the cafeteria when not in use for breakfast or lunch. I don't know of many school sites that have additional space to build multi-purpose rooms for PE, or additional classrooms for art and music. Those teachers who want more prep...would they be willing to give up their classroom to accommodate those additional teachers? Sending primary children outside for PE class when it is 110*F is not appropriate and certainly the PE teacher wouldn't think those were good working conditions!

To hire another teacher in those three areas, in my school alone, would cost approximately $135,000 (at an average salary with benefits calculated at $45,000). Figure how many special area teachers per building in your elementary schools, double that, and use the average salary in your district...

This is also the same argument when teachers say they want smaller class sizes. Who doesn't? The parents want more individual attention for their children. The teachers would like to give more students individual attention. The bigger question is, where will the funding come from? If you ask most patrons in your community, would you mind if we rise your taxes to hire more teachers for smaller class sizes or to give existing teachers more preparation time, what do you think the answer would be?

Again, one pot of money. Realistically it comes down to:
Do you want to pay the people you have more money, or pay more people?

Until the Legislators of this state provide adequate funding to ALL public schools to pay for the resources we need to teach our students, buy more land, build more buildings, hire additional teachers, and pay the ones we have now a “living” wage, my guess is, there won’t be more prep time available to anyone.

If anyone out there has a solution, please respond. As a teacher, I would love to have more prep time, smaller classes, additional resources, and MORE PAY!

Re: Planning Time - Elementary Schools by Janie Hydrick

Planning time? Teachers would love to have time that is truly for planning: time to work alone or with colleagues to focus on where the students are developmentally and academically, what they need to know for life and for “the test,” and how best to use limited resources to help them achieve. Thoughtful, professional planning involves more than five minutes here and 12 minutes there. It involves sustained time set aside to consider differentiated instruction, curriculum integration, efficacious use of resources, and a plethora of other facets of the art of teaching.

Let’s just think about one “block” of planning time for elementary teachers: recess.
Hopefully it’s not raining, in which case you would have the students with you the entire time. Discount the time that it takes for students to leave the room and for them to settle down after returning to class. The time that is left is probably a few precious moments in which you can work with one or two students who desperately need some one-on-one. Or, those few precious moments could be spent going to the bathroom, phoning parents, preparing classroom materials, or grading papers.

Every teacher has a take-home box that fills up quickly during the day with papers to grade, materials to prepare, teachers’ editions to scour, and a gazillion other things. Time during the day must be spent doing those things that cannot be done at home such as working with students; maintaining a clean, organized, productive learning environment; rounding up resources from colleagues and the media center; phoning parents; meeting with special education teams, psychologists, and nurses; serving on a site committee; preparing materials (photocopying, cutting paper, dividing supplies, etc.). Home time is time for analyzing where the students are academically, applying what we know about their developmental needs, and checking resources and time constraints to plan the most engaging, meaningful learning experience we can. Hmmm, somewhere in our schedules we also need to fit in staff meetings, parent conferences, recess and bus duties, SEI classes, and oh yeah - our own families.

Planning time? Bring it on, baby. We’d love some!


Re: Planning Time - Elementary Schools by Michael Krill

As a music teacher I resent the AEA's painting "specials" as planning time. Watch the video again. PE and Arts teachers obtain the same education and professional credentials as any other teacher. Research has shown significant correlation between athletics/arts and higher student achievement in all areas. Please be careful when separating us into groups. I believe as a music teacher I am contributing a substantial piece of my students' personal and academic growth. There are many studies which back up my beliefs.

The last time I checked we are all professional teachers. I think it is time we unify as a profession and not categorize one subject as more important than another.

Respectfully,

Michael J. Krill
Band TEACHER
Phoenix, AZ

Re: Planning Time - Elementary Schools by kirk hinsey

In response to Michael's assertion that AEA does not honor the value the efforts and education and contributions of the specialists. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, as a classroom teacher, we often refer to the time the students are in specials as planing time. That takes nothing away from specialis's curriculum and knowledge base and educational opportunity for the students. As a specialist, your planning time is given when students are in reading or math or writing.

I do not believe that most teachers undervalue the efforts and contributions of specialists, but it is the law and politicians outside of education that are making the rules. It is the stress and overemphasis on test scores that is the pitting of one group against another. This is why it is imperative that all teachers speak up and have their voice heard.

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