High School Teachers-Same Subject Daily?

Quora Question: How are high school teachers able to handle teaching the same subject several times each day?

1. The subject may be the same but each class will always be different and interesting because the students are different. This poses an ongoing challenge to do our best to meet the needs of our learners.

   
   

2. Most high school teachers have more than one prep within their subject area. I always did. This is more work for us but also adds variety. I never taught just one course all day. I always had at least 2 different ones. For example: Chemistry and AP Environmental Science or Biology and Integrated Science, or Senior Project Class, Chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology. (sometimes teachers have too many courses to prep for-not o.k.-too much for them)

   
   

3. We choose a subject because we love it so we are o.k. with it. For me that was science. I had a very active classroom so when we did hands-on activities they would always be a little different each time. Always interesting! Here are some examples:

   
   

   1. Static Electricity Activities-When playing with static electricity there are many different activities and watching the students have fun learning keeps it engaging for me as well.

   2. pH experiments-There are many color-changing experiments and one that I love is using purple cabbage as an indicator solution. I LOVE watching students get excited about testing different substances and watching the color changes. This experiment never gets old for me partially because I feel the student’s joy as they are having fun learning.

      
      

4. The subject may be the same but we teach different topics/concepts within the subject so we are always having a different lesson throughout the school year. This keeps us on our toes and engaged.

   
   

5. Most teachers teach with a variety of strategies so that keeps the learning interesting as well. For example: small group discussions, hands-on activities, role-play, games, socratic seminars, etc….

   
   

Final Thought: A high school classroom is a dynamic environment with a LOT going on. I was never bored teaching. Always challenged, but never bored despite teaching the same subject.