How many different classes do most high school teachers teach?

Last year I had what I consider to be one of the most absurd teaching loads I've ever seen.

Four classes per day (the same four every day for the first half of the year)...

First block had two non-overlapping senior academics at the same time.
Second block was different.
Third block had two non-overlapping senior electives at the same time.
Last block was different.

Six different classes per day, every day. I'm not sure what I did to piss off my principal.

Most years I had 3 preps with 2 periods of one, 2 periods of another, and 1 period of a third. That was my favorite schedule and it kept things from getting redundant and monotonous.

The worst year was when I had 5 different preps (1 period each), coached soccer, helped with track, was dept. head, had 2 clubs, and had a 2yo daughter and infant twin sons (one feeding at 11:30 pm - go to bed - another feeding at 5 am and off to work).

That was in 2008. I had my soccer team pictures on my wall, but got tired of kids asking me what happened in 2008 and took them down. I literally went from young and vibrant to old and haggard in one year and never recovered.

:( haha

I'm 50 now and I think people are finally getting close to guessing my actual age again.

At my kids' school, the teachers usually teach two or three preps within the subject area (such as social studies or science). Most teachers I know don't want to just teach the same thing period after period because it is too boring. If you teach intro to biology a couple times a day and ecology or genetics as well or AP environmental science, that makes for a better mix.

But few teachers teach in an entirely different endorsement area because legally they have to have the credentials to go more than 1/5th of their day (or whatever it is in their state) outside their endorsed area. A math teacher can't teach history or English, for example.

p.s. Some subjects might not have official endorsements: yearbook, study skills, leadership, robotics, certain electives... I don't know if those areas need their own endorsements or if you just need a teacher who is enthusiastic about the content.

I can't imagine anyone over 40 with the energy to do this. Definitely a young person's game.