Friday, February 24, 2023

Help - I Have Multiple Preps!

A common obstacle for teachers who are implementing CI/ADI in their classrooms or those who very much want to is having multiple preps. For some teachers, having 4-5 preps is common, especially if they are the sole language subject teacher at their school (e.g., Latin, German, Mandarin, etc.). So often these teachers want to facilitate CI/ADI in their instruction, but big picture, having to create 4-5 lesson plans daily is an overwhelming task!

While I usually only have two preps each year, I also know that upon returning to school after Spring Break, I have absolutely no motivation left - the well has run dry, and the name of the game is now survival. I am doing everything I can to keep my head above water. During hybrid teaching, this dearth of motivation was even worse, and teaching became such a burden. However, what I ended up doing then was something which I had learned about from experienced CI/ADI teachers who have multiple preps. Can the following be applied to your situation?

  • "I have multiple preps" - Consider doing the same activities and "lesson plan" for each of your preps each day. Although the material/units itself may be different (especially if you are using a textbook) among the different preps, the actual lesson plan itself would be the same but tailored towards that prep. This way, you only have to create one set of plans per se. This is what I do for the last six weeks of school upon returning from Spring Break - every one of my preps is doing the same things but with different material.
  • "I have multiple preps at the same time in the same class" - this is such a difficult situation but not uncommon. What do you do if you have a split level class of level 2 and 3 (for instance) which meet at the same time? If you are able (and this is a very big "able"), teach the same lesson/unit/topic but differentitate the level of "grammar" and "desired output" based on the level. For example, you could teach the entire class about Oktoberfest but maybe the upper level would be focusing on the use of the subjunctive usage while the other level's focus would be on another grammar topic. The idea would be to ensure that the lesson is comprehensible to everyone. This may not work if you are teaching from a textbook.

What other suggestions do you have for these situtations?