When you teach upper
elementary, having classroom jobs not only is good for the students it can make
your life easier! Over the course of my years teaching I have finally found a
smooth hassle-free class job system that works for everyone.
What Kind
of Jobs to Create?
First establish what kind
of jobs/roles your classroom needs. Each year I had a different number of
students, so determine how many jobs you need to fit the size of your class. Remember
that some jobs can have two or more students in charge, ie. material master.
If
you need help with a list of jobs and posters for your classroom,
Job
Bulletin Board
Create a bulletin board in
your classroom with job titles....I'm so bummed that I never took a picture of
my job bulletin board...sorry. Then get wooden clothespins from the dollar tree
or wherever and label them with student numbers or names. Clothespins with
student numbers can be used for so many things and reused from year to year!
These clothespins can be easily attached to the job titles and transferred when
jobs get changed. Having a board helps you and the class know who is
responsible for what.
How to
Assign Jobs?
The first week of school
and introduce the class jobs to the class. I handout a packet that describes
each job and their responsibilities along with a job application form. Both can
be found at my TpT store, Mrs
Kearsley's Class. By the second week, I assign the jobs. In my class, some
jobs have more responsibilities then others. To make it fair, I have high
paying jobs that require more work and responsibility and low paying jobs that
don’t require much work. The high paying jobs are things like: Teacher’s
assistant, Banker, Homework Monitor, etc. These jobs pay more because they are done
frequently and have a high-level of responsibility. They also require more
training up front, so these jobs are held the entire year of half of the year
so that they become proficient and you don’t need to consistently be training new
students in that role. I tell my students that all have the ability to lose
their job if they don’t do their job or perform it correctly….just like the real world. This allows some students to
have two jobs potentially; however, most of the time this never happens because
students want the money. The lower paying jobs like: pencil master, door monitor, light monitor, etc. rotate once a month. All you do it switch the clothespins and announce the new roles for those students.
Class Economy and Class Jobs
At the end of each month, students get paid for their jobs. Students have bank accounts (account sheets in a binder) and get a "direct deposit" each month. All high paying jobs get $100/month and low paying jobs get $50/month. However, they are not guaranteed to get the full amount if they have not done their job for the month. Students can get a cut in their pay if they do not perform their job.
Hope this helps give you an idea of how to implement classroom jobs into your classroom. It takes a month or two before your class starts running like a good oiled machine.
