As I began this year in my kindergarten class one of the classroom processes that I chose to focus on was our classroom jobs. In the past, as a part of our morning routine students chose a job for the day from the list of ten jobs. Not all students would have a job each day, but jobs would change on a daily basis. I found that this process was not as meaningful as I had planned, and it took two to five minutes of our morning circle each day. I wanted to build the role of classroom jobs into the fabric of our classroom community, so that students felt more connected to the structure of our classroom.
As I pondered this change in structure I was faced with a decision. Did I want to continue with ten jobs rotated daily or did I want enough jobs that every child would have a job for a week at a time? As I chose the latter, I was faced with the task of creating a bigger list of classroom jobs. Initially, I browsed the Internet for classroom job ideas. I found teacher blogs that discussed classroom jobs (mainly listing titles), and a few pictures of job charts on Google images. These resources gave me a few ideas that helped me expand my list of classroom jobs.
My classroom job list began as:
- Line Leader … Leads class in a line
- Caboose … End of class line
- Owl Helper … Helps teacher with odd jobs
- Door Holder … Holds door for line to walk through. Opens and closes classroom door
- Calendar Helper … Helps with daily calendar
- Weather Helper … Completes the daily weather graph
- Room Inspectors (2) … Inspects the room after clean-up to ensure all has been cleaned up
- Materials Managers (2) … Helps get supplies out or distribute supplies
After research, my extended classroom job list included:
- Line Leader … Leads class in a line
- Caboose … End of class line
- Class Ambassador … Answers classroom phone
- Owl Helper … Helps teacher with odd jobs
- Mail Carrier … Delivers papers to mailboxes
- Accident Attendant … Helps teacher with minor accidents
- Messenger (2) … Delivers messages outside of classroom
- Kindness Coordinator … Encourages kindness among classmates
- Librarian … Takes care of cleaning up and organizing classroom library
- Environmentalist … Takes care of recycling
- Door Holder … Holds open the door as we walk in a line
- Weather Reporter … Takes a poll about the weather and records weather on graph
- Kindness Reporter … Reports acts of kindness to the group
- “My News” Reporter … Selects sticks during morning circle for students to share news
- Book Reporter … Takes care of Lending Library
- Materials Manager (2) … Get supplies out when needed and takes care of table supplies
- Counter … Counts days of the month during calendar
- Trash Collector (2) … Collects trash from classroom during clean-up time
- Lunch Box Tub (2) … Carries lunch box tub to and from the cafeteria
- Recess Balls (2) … Carries recess balls to and from recess
We began the year with these jobs. For most of my kindergarteners this year was their first school experience, so we learned about each job and began the process of selecting jobs each Monday morning. As we neared the end of the first month, I realized that some of the jobs I had selected did not give students a lot of opportunity to serve in the classroom. At the same time, I began to see a need for a few jobs that I had not included.
I needed to find pictures to match the new jobs I wanted to create. I went to the Internet looking for pictures that I could use for my new jobs and I found a wonderful website that allows teachers to use images for classroom needs. To top it off, the site has an abundance of owl images, which caused me to change my entire list of classroom jobs to match my classroom owl theme. See examples below.
Learning and Revising as We Go
I changed the jobs in mid-October and have witnessed a change in my classroom community. By adding jobs that were needed and eliminating jobs that had little practical function, students are now more engaged in the process and have more ownership to each job. This revision has also impacted our classroom structures and routines positively. For instance, by adding a light monitor for times when the lighting needs to change in the classroom, that student quickly and efficiently takes care of the lights. I am not “selecting” one student over the many who would volunteer to turn off the lights, and students who want a turn can choose this job at some point throughout the year.
I try to make opportunities for all students to have a chance at selecting the most popular jobs by the way I post the jobs, and how I take down students names from the jobs chart. I post the jobs on our back wall from left to right — the most popular jobs to the least popular. When I take names down at the end of the day on Friday, I take them down from right to left, making sure that those who had the most popular jobs will be on the bottom of the stack on Monday and those with the less popular will be on the top of the stack. Often what are most desirable to one student are not appealing to another, but it gives each student a chance to choose a job such as Line Leader or Owl Helper.
Through this process I learned that I may begin the year with a list of classroom jobs that I anticipate would meet the needs of our classroom, but to build community through these jobs I must evaluate them over time to determine their effectiveness. My classroom jobs have become a distinctive part of our community, and are teaching my students how to work together to help each other and run our shared classroom.
My revised classroom jobs list:
Line Leader … Leads class in a line
Caboose … End of class line
Owl Helper … Helps teacher with odd jobs
Lunch Box Tub (2) … Carries lunch box tub to and from the cafeteria
*Telephone Attendant … Answers classroom phone
Recess Balls (2) … Carries recess balls to and from recess
Environmentalist … Takes care of recycling
*Door Holder … Holds open the door as we walk in a line
*Class Nurse … Helps teacher with minor accidents
Messenger … Delivers messages outside of classroom +
*Light Monitor … Turns classroom lights on and off
*News Reporter … Selects sticks during morning circle for students to share news
Weather Reporter … Takes a poll about the weather and records weather on graph
Mail Carrier … Delivers papers to mailboxes
Kindness Reporter … Reports acts of kindness to the group
Librarian … Takes care of cleaning up and organizing classroom library
*Paper Passer … Passes out or picks up papers
*Pencil Sharpener … Sharpens “dull pencils” from bin during Choosing Time
Materials Manager … Get supplies out when needed and takes care of table supplies +
*Chair Monitor … Makes sure chairs are all pushed in or up on tables at end of the day
Book Reporter … Takes care of Lending Library
Trash Collector … Collects trash from classroom during clean-up time +
*Sweeper … Uses small brooms/dust pans to sweep as needed
*On Vacation … Is taking this week off
* Indicates new job or new job title.
+ Indicates that job holder may pick a friend to help with job.