A New Take on Classroom Jobs

I almost titled this post “Why I Hate Classroom Jobs.”  Because I do.  I’ve tried to get classroom jobs going so many times and it always ends the same way.  It becomes tedious for me, boring for the kids, and I eventually just stop bothering.  But I do think classroom jobs are important and have the ability to serve as powerful learning experiences for kids.

Potentially, I think classroom jobs could:
* Encourage teamwork
* Build classroom community
* Inspire student ownership of the classroom
* Develop leadership and problem-solving skills
* Promote hard work and responsibility

But instead, I always end up frustrated… because I can’t remember if I’ve rotated the chart yet, or kids fight over being “line leader,” or someone complains about this job or wants that job.

And when it comes down to it, what does being “line leader” teach a child?  That being first is best?  I don’t know, but I do know that it doesn’t accomplish any of the awesome things listed above.

So what would it take for classroom jobs to accomplish meaningful goals?

This question got me thinking about jobs in the real world.  In general, you’ve got an important task or goal and a team of people working together on that task or goal.  Why not organize classroom jobs in the same way? And what are the big goals of a classroom?  Creativity.  Problem-solving.  Kindness. Teamwork.  Organization.  And of course, a focus on learning.

And ta-da – Team Jobs!  It’s simple.  Choose a few meaningful, important goals and have kids work together in small teams to reach these goals.

I chose a set of goals that I think are most important in order to create a happy, learning-focused classroom.  Different teachers might have other ideas, or even better, might want students to come up with the goals and teams.  (Maybe one day…)

Here are the teams I’ve come up with so far.  I made posters and added them to my store on TPT, plus editable templates so that you can cater them to your specific classroom needs. Click here to check them out.

What other goals might work as meaningful classroom jobs??  And has anyone tried classroom jobs in teams?