Teaching with Mel D

Classroom Jobs Linky Party

Holla if you like linky parties! I know I do! I am hosting my very FIRST linky party & I hope you all will join in on the fun & swap some ideas before we go back to school!
My linky party is going to be about classroom jobs. Even when I taught kindergarten my little ones had jobs. Isn’t part of our responsibility to teach them responsibility? I just love when they come in on the first day and think you are going to do EVERYTHING for them, don’t you? Well, after a few years of just having one classroom assistant I said forget this I’m putting these little ones to WORK! Here is a pic of my current classroom job chart. 
As you will see every one of my students has a job.  They will have the job for a week & then I rotate the jobs down. On Mondays I always have a crowd @ the door because they are looking to see what their job is that week. And believe me if I forget to change the jobs they let me know RIGHT AWAY! The following is a list of jobs & their responsibilities: 
1. Paper Passer: This job is to pass out all lessons & this lucky booger gets to pick someone :o)
2. Mail Carrier: This person loads all the mail into their homework folders (see pic below), which are empty by the end of the day. 
3. Door Holder: This person holds the doors for specials, recess, etc. 
4. Directions Director: If a student didn’t hear the directions from the teacher they go directly to the “Directions Director” to find out the directions. 
5. Cubby Inspector: This person checks the cubbies after the bell in the morning & before the dismissal bell. If anyone leaves anything on the floor they owe a warm fuzzy for each item. 
6. Morning/Name Homework Checker: This student checks to make sure all homework is handed in BY THE BELL & each paper MUST have a name on it…if not, guess what..yup they owe a fuzzy. 
7. Zoo Keeper: This student keeps control of all the animals in the room…no I don’t mean the kids silly..I mean the stuffed animals :o) The Zoo Keeper was doing their job during our penguin unit :oP
8. Substitute: This student takes the job of any student that is absent. 
9. Chair Checker: This student makes sure all the chairs are put on top of the desks before the dismissal bell..if it’s not..yup they owe me a fuzzy. 
10. Messenger: This student runs notes to the office & runs notes to my friends down the hall :o) 
11. Board Cleaner: This person cleans off the very small part of my dry erase board that shows.
12. Teacher’s Assistant: They are busy all day! They love this job because they help me all day!
13. Scrap Monster: This person picks someone at the end of the day & checks under everyone’s desk. If they have anything under their desk (pencils, paper, erasers, etc) they owe me a  fuzzy. If they are clean & organized then they get a fuzzy. 
14. Line Leader: Not only does the line leader lead the line they also get to pick “THE SECRET WALKER STICK!”. Learn about that here. 
15. Homework Passer: This person gets to pick several friends to help pass back homework. This helps them with name recognition especially in the beginning of the year. 
16. Afternoon Homework Checker: This student picks someone to help them empty all the folder’s above which are filled with homework. They put a sticker on their homework chart & then neatly places it in the green basket. 
17. Desk Inspector: This student gets to check everyone’s desk on Friday for “desk check”. If they have two nice neat piles & everything is in it’s place the Desk Inspector gives them a fuzzy & they get “desk check”…basically an extra recess.
18. Pencil Sharpener Monitor: This student keeps an eye on the pencil cups below 
If pencils need to be sharpened then they pick a friend to help them sharpen. I have two electric sharpeners & one manual. They also call quiet tables after lunch to sharpen pencils. They only have 2 opportunities to sharpen pencils & this eliminates constant disruption during lessons. 
19. Food Patrol: This student picks a friend & they carry the container filled with home lunches to the cafeteria. 
20. Lunch Count: This student makes sure everyone has picked their lunch by the bell. When I am ready for the count they count the colors & report back to me. It’s empty in the pic below. 
One additional job I will have next year will be an “Electrician” & they will turn on & off the lights as well as the Smart Board. I’m looking for more ideas.
What kind of jobs do you have in your classroom? PLEASE grab my button below, blog about the linky party & link up below & lets share ideas. 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wow! How do you keep track of them all?? I'm sure the kids keep better track of whose job is whose. 🙂 I only have 5 jobs but I like some of the ones you had that would help in my room. Thanks for sharing–If I can get a picture of my job board, I'll link up with your party! (I just have to get to school 🙂
    Stacee

  2. hahahaha. I am cracking up over here. "This student runs notes to the office & runs notes to my friends down the hall" You are too funny! So glad I found your blog.

  4. I only change my classroom jobs once a week. Two main reasons:
    1) Easier for me 🙂
    2) They get the job down pat and are the expert!

    Jennifer

  5. Great idea! I have been thinking of changing how I do my classroom jobs. I went to an inservice on vocabulary last year. They suggested that you call your weather helper "meteorologist," your plant helper "horticulturist," increasing vocabulary! I thought it was a good idea. Oh, if you had a pet…zoologist (spelling?!)
    Tammy
    Live Love Laugh Everyday In Kindergarten

  9. I love all the jobs! I have always stayed away from every kid having a job. But I might just try it out this coming year. Part of the reason I have stayed away is due to the fact that the cool fish job chart doesnt have enough fish bowls for more jobs than what I have!

    Sarah
    Fantastic 1st Grade

  12. I soooo want to join your party but I have no pictures and it makes me want to fake cry like a five year old!
    littlemisskindergarten.blogspot.com

  13. @Stacee…I just rotate their pics down every week..on Monday. Once you get into the routine & the kids do it's smooth sailing. I wouldn't change it for anything!
    @Ms. Male…I know it's funny but they really do run my notes to other teachers..they LOVE IT!
    @Tammy great idea for names! I could just see the look on their face when I first introduced them!
    @Mrs. Wyand…so glad this inspired you…you go girl! Your kids will love all their new responsibility!
    @Ms. Jackson..thanks for following! Classroom jobs are essential!
    @LOVELIVELAUGH they came from Really Good Stuff but if you look back at my labels..just make your own & slap a label on it.
    @Sarah The RTI box is for RTI homework. We switch classes so my RTI kiddos put their finished homework in there.
    @Mrs. Coe…who needs pics? Join anyway…anything you post will be great!
    Peace, Mel D
    Oh the Places We’ll Go

  14. woohoo!!! Yo are my first linky party. I finallyfigured out how to add a link to a site. You have some great ideas. Thanx

  17. I teach 4th grade and also have a job for each student…we were up to 24 last year. It gets a little tricky and you have to be more creative with the more jobs you need. (I'm currently looking for a few more…just in case.)
    On my job bulletin board I use library pockets with labels placed on the front for each job. Each student decorates a wooden hand and then I glue each hand onto the end of a tongue depressor. This makes it easy to move the "handy helpers" each new week.
    One thing I always do at the start of my year is to take the time to go through each job with its description. My students are old enough and I require them to write them down in their notebook. This way they are responsible for knowing what each job entails and I don't get thousands of questions when Monday comes and they cannot remember what their job does.
    I too use strong vocabulary, i.e. consierge (door holder), to help my students. Here a few more of my jobs for ideas:
    *Time Traveler (make note of special/fun/"wow" moments each day for our timeline)
    *Teachnology Assistant (turn computers on & off, help with overhead projector)
    *Messager (I always have 2 because our policy is to have 2 students together in hallway)
    *Student Time (keeps class calendar up to date)
    *Absent Student Helper (gather and organize work for any absent student(s) in a folder on their desk)
    *Green Thumb (water plants)
    *Attendance Clerk (report absences to teacher and take folder to the office)
    Hope some of these are helpful!! Have a great school year. :0)
    Thanks for sharing!

  20. I also had a job for each student, and with 34 that because a real challenge! Here are ones that I had that I have not seen on the comments list:
    I had 3 Reading captains, students went to them to ask questions about their work while I was in reading group.
    I had 3 Math captains, students went to them during math while I did math groups.
    Recess monitor, student made sure all recess materials are collected and put away.
    Librarian, make sure the library is straightened up at the end of the day

  21. Wow! I'm impressed with all the jobs! I have a boy and girl of each of the following: line leaders (girls lead to / boys lead back); door holders; paper passers; messengers; and helpers. This means about half of the class has jobs one week and the others are "off". I use a small pocket chart with each child's name on a small sentence strip and use clothes pins with the names of the jobs on them. I just move the clips down one spot each Friday. Simple and effective 🙂

  22. Great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing.

    I have a few more titles for class jobs. In our grade 5 class we have a bunch of the jobs mentioned above but also:
    -photographer (takes pictures of events, activities, and projects for our class blog)
    -blogger (responds to comments on our class blog)
    -art apprentice (sets up and cleans up art supplies – usually 3-4 students)
    -recycler (checks and sorts recycling)

  23. I absolutely love how you use so many of your students daily! I have a kindergarten class and we have large tables so I do table leaders. They are responsible for picking up/passing out things and making sure everyone at their table is on task. I am so going to put the "warm fuzzies" to work this year!
    Thank you so much for sharing your ideas!
    HeatherB

  25. I use classroom jobs as well. I would add to your list a "computer geek" for turning on and off computers and loading AR page, and a "Wish You Well" person for helping absent students get caught up. That person would put a "We Wish You Well" folder on the absent person's desk and a short note inside about us missing them and hope they are well. This folder will hold any missed worksheets and classroom work. The whole folder gets turned in when the work is done.
    I also was thinking of trying this year having each student keeping their job for a month. I sometimes have problems with kids remembering what their job is and what they are supposed to do at their job.
    Holly

  26. GREAT ideas!! Will definitely increase my number of jobs for next year!
    I'd like to add a couple that I didn't see mentioned yet:
    1. Germ Catcher – (sanitation engineer?)- gives a squirt of hand sanitizer to each child on our way out the door to lunch.
    2. Drink monitor (have to come up with a catchy title?) – stands by our classroom water fountain and counts to 10 for each child after recess, etc.
    3. Clip chart holder/carrier – our behavior clip chart travels with us to fine arts, etc. Line leader used to carry it, but this will create another job title.

    Thanks!

  28. I also have librarian (carry books to turn back in on library day), milk helpers carry the milk to the classroom for snack time, my caboose brings up the end of the line.

  29. I also have librarian (carry books to turn back in on library day), milk helpers carry the milk to the classroom for snack time, my caboose brings up the end of the line.

  31. Impressive web site, Distinguished feedback that I can tackle. Im moving forward and may apply to my current job as a pet sitter, which is very enjoyable, but I need to additional expand. Regards go to my site.

Get Free Resources!