Tour of my New Classroom

Four preps. I found out today that I will have four preps this fall. Four preps and five classes. For those of you not sure what a "prep" is, the term is short for "preparation." It refers to the number of different classes for which a teacher must prepare. The more preps one has, the more work one has. I have had as many as six and as few as two. Most teachers consider three to be challenging, but it is quite common in small and mid-sized private schools (less pay and more work--go figure). Four is unusual and is usually reserved for rookie teachers (because of the demands of seniority, rookie teachers, the ones least prepared for it, always get the worst schedules).



My class load:

Two sections of US History

One section of US Government

One section of AP US History

One section of US Civil War



The last one is quite exciting. I have had the privilege of teaching the Civil War one other time and look forward to it.



Here are some views of my new classroom (taken very amateurishly with my new Canon A710is):



From the door (25 total desks):





From the front of the room (look at all of the storage in the back!)






From one of my two windows:





From the other of my two windows:





A key piece of equipment (an LCD projector--very exciting):

Not pictured: My Smart Board which is being installed this week or next.

Overall, the room is smaller than my last one, but it has more storage, better desks, an LCD projector and Smart Board, and an industrial sized dispenser of antibacterial solution mounted on the wall. The view is not quite as beautiful as my last room's (three pine trees loom out of one of the windows), but I still overlook trees.

Peace

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