[kisito]

I have always wanted to ask what the maximum number of hours is that a teacher can teach before probably falling and fainting. I know this can be different according to the different levels of students. I mean average lessons with fairly responsive students.

[mesmark]

I teach 9.5 hours on a full Thurs. (Then I do a podcast afterwards.) I teach 3 classes at a nursing college (each class is 2 hours long.) Then I head home to teach 3 lessons at my conversation school, an elementry school lesson (1 hour,) a JHS lesson (1 hour) and an adult class (90 min.)

I don't recommend it and I'm a bit of a waste of space at the end of the day.

My Friday doesn't look much better ... (8.5 hours)

[kisito]

Hey Mark, doesn't that sound like a lot of hours for one day? You must feel exhausted towards the end. My Saturdays and Sundays are busiest. I have 3 high-energy kids classes on Saturdays begining at 9:30 a.m . Each class lasts 2hr 15 mins. There is a 15min break between each hour and an hour break between classes. I feel bad for students of the last class because by the last 30 minutes of the last class I am exhausted and they know it.
Sundays are different though. I have more hours on Sundays but feel less exhausted. I teach 3 hours of adult classes in the morning and 3 hours of teenagers from 12:00. Then another 3 hour adult class in the evening from 5 p.m.
These two days are busiest. But I wonder whether your lessons in the later hours of the day have the same quality as those earlier in the day.

[mesmark]

Quote kisito

... But I wonder whether your lessons in the later hours of the day have the same quality as those earlier in the day.

I'm not sure but what I have found is that if I'm very busy, I'm more in the teaching mode. I think I'm less distracted than on days where I do web-work (hobby) in the morning and then try to put a couple classes together in the afternoon or evening. By the time those classes roll around, teaching is not really what I want to do with the rest of my evening.

I think where those long hours really hit me is in preparation. I think I spend less time on those classes. When I have longer breaks in the day, I sometimes come up with better or more specific activities/worksheets for specific classes. However, on the busiest days, I pretty much just follow my curriculum.

[kisito]

You really do some amazing work on your site Mark. Our school is trying to do something on phonics and your site was first on my list of resource sites. Congratulations! It is interesting that we both have ESL sites that we need to update and at the same time we are teachers. Like you, my sites are a hobby. What I like about the sites is that it is a hobby that enjoys a symbiotic relationship with my teaching. Lesson planning for me is a chance to develop content for my sites.
The idea is that if a lesson plan works well, I update my sites with them. This helps me because the need to create more content for my sites makes me forget that I am planning. I keep developing exercises and storing on my laptop. I just tried counting the new worksheets and powerpoint developed over 2 months and they came up to some 300 exercises.

[HUE]

I think you also need to consider how many days per week you work. I teach for a couple of hours on Sunday, but if I work five other days in the week, I start to get pretty wound down after a month or two. Right now I'm teaching seven days a week, plus a few evening classes, plus the website.

[clivehawkins]

I teach 9 hours on a Monday, then 10.5, 8, 9 and 8.5. It's a lot and I feel knackered at the end of the day. However, I jealously guard my weekends and have always refused to do anything other than some work on the site (which I consider a hobby, therefore relaxing).

Also, I do a variety of teaching in that week, with ages ranging from primary school kids through to pensioners, individuals to large groups, general English to ESP - by breaking it up in that way it seems less tiring, and is certainly not monotonous.

The plan next year is to take on a more administrative role and teach no more than 2 or 3 hours per day. I'll believe it when I see it though!

[kisito]

Quote clivehawkins

However, I jealously guard my weekends and have always refused to do anything other than some work on the site (which I consider a hobby, therefore relaxing).!

Hi Clive, the way you view work on your site is same way I see mine. You consider it a hobby and it doesn't seem like work. It reminds of a quote by Chinese philosopher Confucius : Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. It is true that enjoying your work makes it seem light. I did some part time teacher training which was giving workshops to teachers on classroom games and activities. I had to do this on my two free days. I never thought of it as work. First of all I was well paid for it and secondly I enjoyed it.
I wonder how you guys make your teaching less monotonous. After 3 years of teaching I decided to start creating websites which I saw as a hobby that re-energized my teaching. I have been offered administrative positions within my institution but turned them down. I couldn't imagine leaving the classroom. At the same time I am always looking for ways to stay in the classroom but avoid the feeling of monotony that sometimes comes with the job.

[mesmark]

Quote kisito

You really do some amazing work on your site Mark. Our school is trying to do something on phonics and your site was first on my list of resource sites. Congratulations!

Thanks! I'm not exactly sure why I pop up so high for "phonics" but I'm not complaining.

Quote kisito

I wonder how you guys make your teaching less monotonous.

Well, like you the websites and internet stuff has really added something to the work week. It's fun watching the sites grow. Like you said when you get a good idea, you have a different audience to share that with. So, not only your students but teachers around the world can benefit. With forums like these and over at MES-English other teachers can do the same.

I think for me keeping it fresh is just that. I'm trying these days to look for new ways to do things. Of course my older games still work, but then you just get into a rut and every day feels like the next. So, I try to improve older games or adapt them. If possible I'll come up with a new game or activity. I've been on a reading writing worksheet kick these days.

It's easy to just rinse and repeat once you have a system down, even with websites. But, if you keep doing different things it stays a bit interesting. Right now I'm take a Masters (Applied Linguistics) course and that has been helpful but I'll be glad when it's over ...

[kisito]

How many hours a day is fairly good for a teacher to perform at his/her maximum? I mean if you were a director of studies somewhere and you were most concerned about quality of lessons. You can hire more teachers so that they have fairly good teaching hours at which they can perform at their best. The teachers work 5 days a week. How many hours a day will the teachers in your staff have to work to perform extremely well?

[mesmark]

At a conversation school, I think 5 hours a day is probably good. 4 or 6 hours/day is acceptable. (22-25 total hours per week) If you are at an institution that requires other work from the teacher, like research, managing students activities, attending seminars, ... then less hours teaching per day.

It also depends on how much time they have in between.

I'm a private teacher and I get paid for each class that I teach. The more classes, the more I earn. So, I get excited about a work day that has a lot of classes. A salaried teacher won't look at the work week in the same way.