Your classroom is your little community that you nurture. The classroom community has diverse members, and each one of them has unique traits.
Like any community, the classroom community requires a structure, otherwise there may be mayhem in the classroom. And this is where classroom jobs for students come in.
Like any other teacher, I took classroom rules as a tool for classroom management. With time, I realised that there is a greater purpose to these classroom jobs.
Classroom jobs inculcate teamwork and leadership qualities in students.
I have a quote here, by Robert John Meehan, which reflects the teacher’s role in their classroom community: “Teachers shape not just individual minds, but entire learning communities.”
The members of your little community internalise the roles they play and develop a high sense of responsibility.
We are here to explore the role of classroom jobs with you. Let’s get exploring!
Pro-tip: spell out your expectations when assigning the classroom jobs, to give the students clarity on their new roles.
What Are Classroom Jobs?
It’s interesting how something small like classroom jobs for students, can leave a lifelong impact on our learners.
What are classroom jobs, though? What are some tasks that are considered classroom jobs?
You might sometimes randomly delegate tasks, like asking a student to erase the board or arrange the class cupboard. But a classroom job is when one of these everyday tasks is formally assigned to students.
A classroom job carries the same weight as a real job that has rewards and consequences. Students are motivated to perform well and fulfil their responsibilities, with a sense of ownership.
They know they’re accountable for their job and try to give it their best shot.
Pro-tip: promise a reward for each job. Give the job holder their reward when they’ve completed it successfully, and before the job is passed on to the next student.
Why Are Classroom Jobs Important?
Here’s why classroom jobs are important.
Dear teachers, assigning classroom jobs helps YOU save time! You can’t work yourself to the bone trying to manage everything in the classroom. Give yourself a break and make your students responsible for the classroom.
Again, you not only save time, but you save yourself from unnecessary trouble. With your students taking up the responsibility of managing the everyday tasks, you streamline your lessons and other areas of classroom management.
The classroom is a lot more settled, and learning is more effective when the students have classroom jobs. They don’t have the idle time to create noise and fly paper planes. They know how valuable each minute of the lesson is and use it productively.
Your young learners have a long way to go before they step into the real world. The classroom is grounds for them to develop essential real-world skills like time management, teamwork, effective communication, and leadership qualities. This happens when they have classroom jobs.
Pro-tip: This is a win-win situation, but make sure the students aren’t getting burdened under the weight of their responsibilities.
How to Display Classroom Jobs?
There are some other aspects of classroom jobs that you need to take into consideration. One of them is displaying the classroom jobs to inform the class, and the other teachers of the students who have jobs.
Here are some ideas you could use to display classroom jobs:
- Classroom Jobs Template: The internet is overflowing with great classroom jobs templates for teachers to use, like wheels, pockets, or simple signs. You can get these classroom job printables for free from Teachers Pay Teachers.
- Classroom Jobs Poster: Make a poster. Yes, it could be that simple as well. Take coloured paper, decorate it with stickers, and list down the jobs along with the names of the job holders.
Pro-tip: making the classroom jobs poster can also be a job!
What Are Some Classroom Jobs for Students?
Well, you’ll thank me for this, I’m sure. I’ve got a whole list of classroom jobs that you can assign to your students, not one, not five, but 15 of them. Presenting to you the much-awaited list of classroom jobs:
- Librarian – Best for Managing and Organizing Books
- First-Aid Manager – Best for Handling Minor Health Needs
- Attendance Assistant – Best for Keeping Track of Daily Attendance
- Missed Work Manager – Best for Keeping a Record of Assignments
- Peer Teacher – Best for Explaining Concepts or Helping Classmates
- Paper Filer – Best for Sorting and Distributing Handouts
- Furniture Inspector – Best for Ensuring Chairs, Desks, and Supplies are in Place
- Floor Inspector/s – Best for Checking that the Classroom Floor is Clean
- Assignment In Charge – Best for Collecting, Organizing, and Giving Assignments
- Bulletin Board In Charge/s – Best for Updating and Decorating Bulletin Boards
- Resource Caretaker/s – Best for Taking Care of Classroom Supplies
- Tech In Charge/s – Best for Managing Devices like Laptops or Tablets
- Tech Assistants – Best for Helping Classmates with Basic Tech Issues
- Tracker Manager – Best for Keeping Logs or Charts Updated
- Timekeeper – Best for Watching the Clock During Timed Activities
The classroom library needs a caretaker. Someone who will keep the books organised, report any missing books, and follow up with students to return the books to the shelf.
The librarian’s job will teach students how to manage resources, keep track of them, and respectfully follow up with peers.
This person has to manage the classroom first-aid kit. They need to make sure that any medicine or ointment that runs out is restocked. They also need to ensure that the first-aid kit isn’t being misused. And, when the first-aid kit accompanies the class on a field trip, they need to make sure it’s returned to its place.
This person learns to keep track and replenish stocks when they run out.
The attendance is the first order of business. While you’re busy settling the class, your attendance assistant can go ahead with the roll call, and report the number of absent and present students, or the names of the late comers.
The attendance assistant has the most important job. They have to be sure of the number of children absent or present to avoid creating a serious misunderstanding. In case of latecomers, they need to update the teacher to mark the absent child present.
In case a child has been absent from school, the missed work manager helps the child catch up on missed work. They keep any worksheets or handouts that are given out during the child’s absence and guide them with all the missed assignments.
To ensure that the absent child receives all the missed work, this job holder will first make a conscious effort to update their work. When the student returns, they will pursue the child and make sure to help him complete all pending assignments.
This role is somewhat like that of a teacher’s assistant. The peer teacher is responsible for helping their classmates understand difficult concepts. They can tutor their peers during the lesson, after completing their own work, or later in the library or playground.
This classroom job comes with great responsibility. It also develops empathy in the peer tutor for others who are not academically strong.
This classroom job requires filing papers for the teacher. The paper filer will maintain the teacher’s files and organise them. They can divide them into sections, label them, and make sure none of the papers tear from the holes and fall out.
With this classroom job, the paper filer learns the importance of maintaining important documents and develops organisational skills.
The furniture inspector keeps a strict check on the cleanliness and maintenance of the classroom furniture. They also remind students to clear their desks before they leave the room and rearrange their desks.
The furniture inspector develops respectful but effective communication. This job also gives them a sense of ownership and great responsibility.
This job might need more than one job holder. The reason is, they both need to keep an eye out for bits of paper and other trash that make their way to the floor. Before leaving the classroom, they are responsible for clearing the floor of every last bit of trash.
These guys learn to work in harmony and delegate cleaning tasks to their peers with firmness but politely.
Give this one a clipboard with the class list attached. They will go around to see who has brought their homework assignments for submission and put ticks or crosses against their names.
This poor kid will really have to show a high sense of character integrity and mark their peers with honesty. They learn not to give in to anybody on the basis of friendship or in exchange for a favour.
Again, this could be a two-person job. They will maintain the bulletin board, making sure that any material that is falling off is put back in place. Those in charge will update the board regularly and will keep it neat and tidy.
This job brings a sense of organisation, and the two in charge learn how to collaborate with each other and share the task equally.
The classroom has several resources like the markers for the whiteboard, the duster, the stationery, storage bins, file organizers, and so many others. Resource caretakers look after all the resources. They maintain the classroom resources so that they are organised and not misplaced.
Resource caretakers learn to take responsibility for the safety of everyone’s belongings. They work together to maintain the resources, and they develop trustworthiness.
Maybe the coolest job, but one that requires a great deal of responsibility, is that of the tech in charge. They maintain and take responsibility for all the digital resources in the classroom. The classroom may have an overhead projector, a PC, and other devices that they are in charge of.
They will turn the devices off when leaving the classroom, not let anyone fidget with them, and report if a device malfunctions.
This job develops a high sense of responsibility in learners and makes them keen observers as they look out for anything out of the ordinary.
How is this job different from the previous one, you ask? Well, this classroom job holder will help the teacher create presentations for the lesson, edit a tutorial the teacher filmed for the class, or help the teacher with apps and software used for lesson planning, etc.
The tech assistant learns to meet deadlines as they must complete the assigned task within the given time. They learn the importance of time management.
The teacher can assign the task of creating, displaying, and managing a tracker for project deadlines, a monthly read-a-thon, or even just the weather. A tracker manager will be responsible for updating the tracker/s displayed on the class bulletin board.
Students develop honest and fair reporting skills with this classroom job, and they learn the importance of doing tasks promptly and regularly.
Almost all class activities are timed, whether it’s a quiz, an essay, or a word problem. The timekeeper keeps track and announces when time is up. The timekeeper could have some kind of a timer that indicates that the given time limit is up.
OK, this job holder has to be sure to complete their work before time goes up, teaching them time management skills. They also need to be vigilant but polite to spot anyone who continues writing after the time is up.
Before You Go
I’m sure you can picture how smoothly your class will run when you have classroom jobs for everyone.
Classroom jobs are not mere activities to keep students on their toes. They are a form of experiential learning. They give students opportunities to explore their potential, develop real-world skills, and create a close-knit and thriving classroom community.
Teachers need to take care of a few things when assigning classroom jobs:
- Learning outcomes and the hidden curriculum are as important in classroom jobs as in everything else in the curriculum.
- To ensure that the students follow through, you need to monitor them and keep an eye on their performance.
- Model the behaviour you expect from them to create an honest and polite culture in the classroom.
People Also Ask
Classroom jobs are tasks that the teacher assigns to certain students for a specific time period.
Learners develop real-world skills like time management, leadership, and teamwork when they have classroom jobs.
Yes! Every child has to shoulder some responsibility in the classroom. The jobs are assigned in rotation so that students get to experience different jobs.
Students follow through with classroom jobs when they know the rewards and consequences. Teachers should acknowledge and reward students when they do their jobs diligently, to motivate other students to do the same.
