My time-saving tip is to give more responsibilities to your students and keep them in the same classroom job all year long.
I don't know about you, but it always seems like I have too much to do in my classroom and not enough hours in the day to do it. However, we have an entire classroom full of helpers all eager and willing to help their teacher out! Assigning classroom jobs to students not only teaches them responsibility, but it also gives them pride and helps to build classroom community. So, why not make them more responsible? An added bonus is that you won't be completely exhausted at the end of the day from all of the extra chores you have to do around your classroom. The best thing I ever did was keep my students in the same jobs all year long. Yes, you read that right. No more rotations, and no more new jobs every week. I assign each student a job, and they keep that job for the entire year.
When I rotated jobs, students would forget to do them or not know what to do. The consistency of keeping the same job means that everyone is responsible in making our room function.
I typically wait to assign jobs until I really get to know my students. Then, I introduce and model how to complete each job in our classroom, I let them apply for the job they want, and then I match students with a job that will fit them best. Some jobs happen in the morning, some jobs are throughout the day, and many jobs happen at the end of the day. But no matter what the job is, within days of assigning the jobs, every student is responsible for making our room function, and they are all so proud of this.
Click HERE to check out some of the jobs my students have in our classroom.
Last year, when we found out that our custodial services would only be happening two days a week, I had a parent donate a vacuum and a mop to our classroom. I kid you not, the most popular jobs were vacuuming and mopping, and the students that earned those positions were so proud to do this every single day. Oh, and the other FAVORITE job? Cutting lamination. Some would even beg to take it home to cut for me on the weekends!
Seriously! #everyteachersdream.
Besides the benefits of building responsibility and classroom community, when students each have a job and perform it well everyday, your classroom will run like a well-oiled machine. If I am ever out of the classroom and we have a sub, I know that I will come back to a spotless room, with everything in its place. With all of the holiday parties coming up, my students know that they are responsible for their room, and they will work hard to keep everything running smoothly.
So, while it may be a small change in your classroom, try it! I promise it will leave you with more energy at the end of each day, so you can go home and enjoy more time with your family!
