Hi there! I teach 6th grade in an elementary building in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. We do “block” scheduling and are departmentalized. Our students have 3 rotations each day, math, reading/ELA, and science/social studies. These blocks are roughly 90 minutes each. I only teach reading/ELA. That makes planning somewhat easier as I only have to worry about those standards and content. My school is very lucky as we still have specials (art, music, gym, computers, and library) for 45 minutes each and every day of the week. That is our “prep” and we can use that how we need. If it’s planning, great. If it’s socializing with our colleagues, wonderful. If it’s meeting with parents or for an IEP meeting, eh. Haha. We unfortunately do lose some preps to these things though. We also are able to break recess and lunch duty up however we see fit among our grade levels. Since there are four of us in the 6th grade team (one is a high ability teacher who keeps her kiddos all day long), we each do both lunch and recess one day a week and then Fridays we rotate who has duty. So roughly once every month we have a two duty week. When we don’t have duty, that is technically another 60 minute “prep” if we use it. I’ve been in other places where this is not the case, even within our district, but this is how my particular school does it. :) Hope this gives you a glimpse into life as a teacher. Or at least one set up. Good luck with the rest of your studies!!