It's that time...Back to School!! If you are anything like me, you probably haven't stopped thinking about school--it's okay, it's just a quirk we have in common :)
I'm so excited to be jumping back into blogging--maybe this year I will do a better job! I'm not making any promises, but I certainly will try :)
This blog hop is an awesome way to ease back into it--and who doesn't LOVE a giveaway!?!
**my classroom management tip**
One thing that I strive to have every year is a self-running classroom. One of the first activities I do {after getting to know the students, creating the rules, and discussing positive and negative consequences} is have the students apply for jobs.
I have a tremendous list of jobs that I've compiled based on my need and some jobs I've added based on student recommendations and classroom observations.
I have a freebie copy of the job list HERE, if you'd like a copy. Once you download it, you can add, revise, or delete whatever doesn't work for you.
I go over each of the jobs and discuss the responsibilities and requirements of each one. Some of the requirements get the students to laugh {Paper Passers--must not be afraid of paper cuts}, which helps lighten the mood a little bit!
My list of current classroom jobs has two sides and I let the students know that some people will have more than one job. At this point in the year, I really don't know which students are the most responsible, so it evens out the playing field. I give each student a copy of the list of jobs to refer to as they fill out the job application.
The application has them list their top three jobs and why they would be good at them. It's insightful to see why they think they are most qualified for the jobs and to see a little bit about their work ethic. Do they just copy from the responsibilities list? Do they make connections to what they do at home or to last year? You can see a copy of the application HERE.
Once I have chosen who's doing which jobs, I teach them how to do their jobs and we practice them often. When they have the hang of it, I'm not really needed to tend to these tasks, which is a huge time saver for me :)
**A final note**
I have the students keep the same job all year and it's never been a problem. If some students lose their job responsibilities, then I reassign new students to the job or use my substitutes.
This works great if you have a classroom economy and it also works if you don't! I've tried it both ways and I've never had a problem. The kids love having jobs and they love being responsible for the inner workings of the classroom. It's win-win :)
I hope you have a great school year! Don't forget to enter the giveaway below and click on the apple to go to the next stop!
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Click on the apple to head over to the next stop--Teaching Teens in the 21st
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