First Grade Classroom Jobs

Classroom jobs can help to make the day run smoothly…if they are done right! During my twelve years teaching primary students, I have had my jobs set up in many ways. Read on to learn what has worked best (and what hasn’t!)

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My first five years of teaching were spent in kindergarten. I taught half day and was in super survival mode. I can’t even remember if I had classroom jobs…😉 Somehow we made it through though!

When I moved up to first grade I started the year without jobs. I didn’t know what to do and obviously wasn’t used to jobs in kindergarten. I had a specials teacher remark to me that jobs would make everything easier. I took offensive to it at first, but then realized she was right…

The first type of job I tried was just one boy and one girl. They would be the helper for the day. I found this didn’t work for me because I didn’t have specific tasks for them. I ended up doing everything and then remembered afterwards that they could help me.

From two very broad jobs I went into very specific jobs including one for each student. I got desperate to think of jobs – who wants to be the garbage collector?! – and found that some jobs had a lot to do and other jobs has basically nothing.

This worked for me for years. I rotated the jobs every two weeks. Kids were happy with jobs like line leader and teacher helper. Not so happy with jobs like electrician and locker checker.

I decided it was time for a change. An in-between of my two attempts at classroom jobs.

I narrowed my list down to the ones that actually had tasks daily. Below is what I kept –

Morning Folders – I have someone collect our homework folders when kids take them out of their backpacks in the morning.

Teacher Helper – Basically the job that encompasses all jobs! Could be anything from turning on lights, to filling out our calendar.

Errand Runner – Runs errands for me in the school.

Line Leader – Leads our line whenever we walk in the hallways.

Substitute – Takes over for kids that are absent.

Lunch Cart Pusher – We put our lunches in a cart. This person pushes it down and sets the lunches out. If I have enough students, I will assign two kids to this job. If not, I will let them pick a friend.

Quiet Monitor – Has a clipboard with names on it. Walks in the hallways watching our line and looking for kids doing a great job. I never really follow up with the list that they make – they just like doing it!

iPad Plugger – Plugs in our iPads.

Afternoon Folders – Passes out our folders at the end of the day.

On Vacation – Currently doesn’t have a job!

The best part of the change I made was that I put all the jobs on one piece of paper! My old chart took up so much room. This one doesn’t. I can move the kids around with clothespins. I have also used magnets. There are a lot of possibilities!