Classroom jobs can feel like it belongs in the elementary school but really any level classroom can benefit from having class jobs. I tried them for the first time last year, made some tweaks this year, and now I'm totally sold. Read on to see why I love classroom jobs and which jobs I give my students!
Advantages to classroom jobs:
- They give students agency and ownership in the classroom, which leads to better behavior. In my experience, kids who can be more difficult actually LOVE a job.
- They save your energy. Teaching is exhausting. Classic veteran teacher advice is never do something the students can do.
- They save time. It takes a lot less time to have 4 people passing out notebooks, 1 kid handing out pencils, and 2 more passing out papers than if I did it all myself.
- They help avoid arguments. Kids love to help and before would argue about who I picked to pass out things. Now that it's assigned there is no question over who does what. (Just be sure to swap them out every once in awhile - mine change at the quarter.)
- They encourage student target language use. My pencil passer walks around asking ¿Necesitas lápiz? and his classmates don't get one until they say "Yo necesito un lápiz." The greeter answers the door with an "Hola, ¿Cómo estás?" to anyone who comes into class.
- They save your sanity. I introduced the "Hey Alexa" this year because I got tired of repeating the same things over and over. I choose a sassy student who is always doing the right thing and they repeat things for me. Students have actually started listening more closely or looking at the directions closer because having a classmate repeat things to them is more embarrassing than me repeating things.
- They build classroom community. Students learn each other's names when they pass out notebooks. They learn who needs a pencil each time (and sometimes will loan a neighbor one if our pencil passer runs out or is being slow to come over.) They like being warmly greeted when they come back from the bathroom.
My number one tip is to not overcomplicate things!
I only have 6th grade for a quarter at a time so no jobs for them because I would have to switch them up more often and I don't know them as well as my 7th and 8th graders.
I had more jobs last year but several ended on the cutting room floor because they didn't yield any of the advantages mentioned above.
I also don't do applications. I go through the list, ask who's interested and write those students down. If no one is interested in a job, some kids get "voluntold." I do keep all the names in a spreadsheet that is posted on my whiteboard so I know who to call on when needed.
My receptionist, greeter, and Alexa started the quarter with tents on their desk that marked them out for that job so that everyone in the class, including me, could remember who was responsible for that job. (Because sometimes students like to "forget" and jump up to answer the phone when they know full well it's not their job.)
It isn't on my cute classroom job poster because it's just in my homeroom class, but that class has an attendance reminder who makes sure I take attendance every morning and give out house points on the days we wear school gear and house colors.
Do you have jobs in your classroom? What are your most important jobs? Share in the comments below.
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