You're Hired!: Classroom Jobs

Classroom Jobs

I have 27 students (that's a lot of seven year olds!). They each have a role in managing our classroom by holding a job (that's a lot of jobs!). During the first week of school, after I've introduced the jobs, the students complete a job application. This is the application I used last year from Mrs. Kincaid's First Grade.

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE.

Then I assign them their jobs, which they keep for six to eight weeks (or until they get antsy and are ready for a change). This may sound like a long time for them to keep the same job and they don't have an opportunity to hold every job. However this extended time allows them to become experts in their field, especially the jobs that require mostly speaking, like the Calendar Leaders and Lunch Counters, for my ESOL students. The students also truly take ownership for their responsibility. It's also one less thing (the job rotations) for me to manage every week.

Here are all of the jobs that are used in my classroom:
Caboose (1)
Calendar Leaders (2)
Class Assistant (2)
Computer Assistants (1)
DJ (1)
Door Holder (1)
Electrician (1)
Greeters (2)
Librarians (2)
Line Leader (1)
Lunch Counters (2)
Lunch Helpers (2)
Mail Carriers (2)
Messengers (2)
Secretary (1)
Timer (1)
Water Bottle Crew (3)

All of the jobs are important and most are used on an everyday, if not weekly, basis. My three favorite jobs are the Greeters, Librarians, and Secretary. I'll elaborate on them as they may not be as common.

My Three Favorite Jobs

Try them out in your classroom!

1. Greeters

 

Having Greeters in each classroom is a tradition at my school. I work at a specialty school so we sometimes have visitors/parents who are interested in having their child attend our school. The Greeters welcome guests to our classroom.Two of my students will open the door for the guest(s), introduce themselves, and share what we're doing/learning. I love this job because it involves having the students practice an important social skill, makes our guest(s) feel welcomed, and allows the rest of the class and I to continue with what we're doing.

2. Librarians

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I keep a leveled classroom library. How do I keep the books organized and in the correct bins all year? With Librarians! When my students are ready to return a book to our classroom library, they put their book in the Re-shelve Basket, just like you would at a public library. When my librarians notice there are books in the Re-Shelve Basket, they re-shelve, or re-bin them. Easy peasy!

3. Secretary

Doesn't it just stink when your classroom phone rings and you have to sprint across the classroom and hurdle over kids to reach it? or You just got settled into reading The Duckling Gets a Cookie?! to the class when, BRRRIINNGGG, the phone rings? This is where having a secretary comes in handy! The students die to have this job! When the phone rings, one of my students answers it, and I have a handy-dandy script for them to read too (a great social skill to practice!). Most of the time I continue with what I'm doing with the rest of the class and my secretary will relay the message in my ear. Occasionally the phone call is not for little ears though so I sometimes do have to stop instruction to speak with the caller.

Happy Hiring! Thanks for visiting!