Teacher-Tested Tips:

A Classroom Job For Every Child
Submitted by: Jaicie
This is the easiest way I've found to do classroom jobs. I was doing a lot of tidying up and organizing each day after school and thought that my 1st/2nd graders could do most of these things with a little training. I gave every child in my class a job. This builds community and responsibility. Children have a new job ... more »»
Grade Level(s): K, 1-2, 3-5, 6-8

BATTER UP
Submitted by: Cheyenne Swenson
My jobs and discipline follow the theme of baseball. I made a large poster of a baseball diamond with all of the positions labeled on it. (You can add coaches and umpires off to the side if you need to). Each position has a specific classroom job and I rotate jobs every one-two weeks. I separate my class into two or... more »»
Grade Level(s): K, 1-2, 3-5

Busy Bees
Submitted by: Jennifer Stackhouse, Brandon, MB, CAN
I made a big bee hive out of yellow Bristol board, then made smaller hives for each of the jobs I have in my room (I labeled them with the job). I wrote students' names on "bee tags" which are put out by a company called Trends. I arranged the small hives around the big hive, and the students names are rotated weekly. The students who are not assigned a job for that week buzz around the large hive. This worked well in a Grade 3/4 classroom.

Class Leaders
Submitted by: Karen, Third
I have a small poster of a kitten in my room. Beside the poster is a laminated card on which I write the names of my helper for the week. This helper is called the "Teacher's Pet." Each student gets to be my pet for a week . The pet's duties include line leader, lunch count carrier, supply manage and general errand run... more »»

Classroom Daily Managers
Submitted by: Janet in Oklahoma
I have a bulletin set up for the year. This year is it the bulletin board set for the "school of fish". I have 9 managers a day. They each have a job to do, usually at the beginning of the day, and then during D.E.A.R. they are allowed special items to read with. The managers are: Gardener and Pet Caretaker- they mist or water the plants, and feed the classroom pets. They also get to keep a classroom stuffed animal at their desk for the day; Food patrol: takes the lunch count down to the office each day and lists the number of students here and absent on a wall chart; Doorman: is always second in line and opens doors for the class to enter or leave; Line Leader: is always first in line and leads the class everywhere that day; Office Manager: calls tables to sharpen pencils in the morning; checks to see that students have highlighted their names on their handed in papers; Calendar: marks the calendar for today, tomorrow, yesterday. Also marks the 100 day chart; Math Whiz: puts up the daily math money and sets the clock for students to record the time on their math paper; Paper handler: helps hand out or pick up papers, also runs errands; Librarian: keeps class library neat. Each manager gets something special to use during D.E.A.R. The things I have in my class are beanbags, a "Magic Treehouse" out of a refrigerator box, lawn chairs, and children's lanterns that have cricket sounds. They all love to be managers, and switching everyday gives them a chance to do a least 2 manager's jobs a week. I keep track of different jobs monthly on an Excel spreadsheet. The job descriptions are listed on the bulletin board for them to review when it is their turn. Once this is set up, it only requires the teacher to move the names each day. It is a great way to teach independence and give them ownership of their classroom! more »»
Grade Level(s): K, 1-2, 3-5

Classroom Helpers
Submitted by: Doreen W.
I divide the children into 6 groups for the school year. Each group is represented by a color. There are 6 jobs and 6 groups (6 colors). I make a small poster listing the jobs. Next to the job is a piece of velcro. I attach the color cards to the velcro. The people in that color group do the job for the week. ... more »»
Grade Level(s): K, 1-2

Classroom jobs
Submitted by: Rose Freeman, 4th
I saw some great ideas online, and so I borrowed some and added my own touch. I assign 3 helpers each week... more »»

Classroom Jobs
Submitted by: Katherine
Star of The Week - As many teachers do, I have a star of the week. Our star of the week is also our class leader for the whole week. During our morning circle we assign each child a class job daily. In addition to leader, we only have 5 class jobs. We put 5 stars with names on them in a bag and the S.O.T.W. picks th... more »»
Grade Level(s): Preschool ,K, 1-2

Classroom Provosts
Submitted by: Lenora Barnes, Grade 4, Gary, IN
1) Head Provost - Student leads class to restroom, lunch, dismissal. - 2) Paper Provost - Student distributes paper. - 3) Pencil Provost - Distributes pencils, keeps sharpened. - 4) Emissary - Delivers messages/goes to office when messages/materials are needed for classroom. - 5) Chalkboard Eradicators - Students clean board at end of day.

Hard Hat
Submitted by: Judith, 4th
I have a polished hard hat. Every Monday morning, I choose a name. This is my worker for the week. They do everything, anything special I need done. This is done at random, all kids get a chance. I velcro the laminated name to a green hard hat at my desk! It's a great visual and it implys that we all work together! The kids and parents love it!

Helping Hounds
Submitted by: Nancy Z, 3rd grade
I have a very long hound dog with the words "Helping Hounds" written across the dog. Each of my students has a small hound with his or her name written on it. The classroom jobs are written on doggie bones. The jobs are rotated on a weekly basis by simply moving the hounds from bone to bone. more »»
Grade Level(s): K, 1-2, 3-5

Job Application
Submitted by: Joanna
Make a handout of your classroom jobs and their descriptions. Then have your students complete a job application form. It should include their name, their top 3 jobs, an explanation of their strengths in carrying out those positions, and their signature. Add to the application if you wish to include previous job experience, hobbies, background, etc.
Grade Level(s): 3-5

Lunch Count & Attendance Secretary
Submitted by: Jane Myer, 5th Grade
A great time-saver for me last year was delegating the responsibility of lunch count and attendance taking to my "secretary." I bought a cheap cookie sheet and some small round magnets. After spray-painting the magnets white, I wrote numbers on them in permanent marker. I also used the permanent marker to draw and labe... more »»

Managing Classroom Jobs, Behavior
Submitted by: Susan Conrad, Kindergarten
I have a pocket chart with five rows, and five columns. Each column is labeled a day of the week, to be used for daily helpers. Each row is labeled with moveable arrows attached to clothespins. The classroom chores, such as Leader, Messenger, Clean-up... are labeled and moved at the beginning of each week. Each pocket ... more »»

Numbers
Submitted by: Mackenzie Boone, first
To emliminate always having to write new studnets names on small pieces of paper or whatever I was using at the time, I simply numbered my students and gave them each a clothes pin. Then I chose 5 needed jobs. I wrote the titles on sentence strips and placed them in a small apple pocket chart (any pocket chart will do-... more »»

Pick a Bell
Submitted by: Margo Bassarab
I bought a beautifully decorated padded box from Wal-Mart that had a stuffed bear on the top. In it I a a gold bell for each child in my classroom. On each bell, I print a child's name with permanent marker. Each morning I shake the box ( the bells make a wonderful sound) and whoever's bell I pick gets to be the leader for the day! I put the bell that was chosen each day into a zip-lock bag and after the last bell gets chosen from the box, I put them all back in, and start again.
Grade Level(s): Preschool, K, 1-2

Pre-K Classroom Jobs
Submitted by: Ms. Mandi, Pre-K
In our class we have helping hands. We have a lesson why each job is important. My class has 15 students so I have 12 jobs, so three get days off and the students rotate everyday. I have a door holder, line leader, flag holder, weather reporter, plant helper, pet feeder, lunch helper, snack helper, table cleaner, floor cleaner, book holder, and center cleaner.

Student-Chosen Responsibilities
Submitted by: Mz.E.
I let the children decide (after about two weeks of school) what needs to be done. We brainstorm enough jobs for everyone to have a responsibility each week. This year my students brainstormed the following jobs... more »»
Grade Level(s): 1-2, 3-5

The Boss
Submitted by: Debbie, 1
I made magnets with the names of all of my students. At the beginning of the day, everyone's magnet is on a designated place on my chalkboard. It is the Boss's responsibility to remove the magnets of those children not following class rules. Anyone whose name is still on the board at the end of the day gets a sticker. My students love being "The Boss". It shows me that they know the rules and that they can behave for people other than me.

Time Saver
Submitted by: divey
I used to have many, many jobs that I would assign each day and found that I had trouble remembering who was supposed to do what, as well as conflicts/hurt feelings among the children. Last year, I used the colorful cut-out handprints and put each child's name on one. I separated them into boys/girls and then put the... more »»
Grade Level(s): K, 1-2, 3-5

We Hop To It
Submitted by: Stephanie F., 5th grade
I have a large frog that sits on a lily pad and above him I put the words "We hop to it." On the lily pad I've written the jobs for the classroom. (I rotate the jobs weekly.) The jobs include boy and girl line leaders, classroom cleanup (they take care of the class trash and on Fridays they wash the board and get a "cr... more »»