Spend time during the first week or two of the school year introducing each of our classroom jobs. Here’s why spending time on that is so important. Discuss what each entails, what it looks like to do a “good” and “bad” job, and practice. Once ready, assign each student to a job. Some classroom jobs take only one person and others take two.

The easiest method for me has been using Popsicle sticks. Write each student’s name on a stick and place their sticks inside library pockets. Label each library pocket with a job and post them on the wall in a classroom job display. You could add a photo of your students on the end of the sticks for a cute display!

I like to include many different types of jobs that students can do independently with some practice. Some of the jobs we like to use are teacher assistant, messenger, chair helper, and pencil monitor.

Rotate student jobs every two weeks instead of one. I find that they need some time to get really good at the job before moving on. They also seem ready after 2 weeks for a change. This way they also have the opportunity to try each job at least once or twice throughout the school year.

We change the jobs together as a class so that they can remember which new job is theirs. As I call out each job, I ask students to give me a thumbs up if they know what their job is and a thumbs down if they need me to remind them what to do for that job.

See Classroom Jobs in Action

Responsibility Resources

Classroom Jobs Resource

This responsibility SEL curriculum includes 6 detailed, research-based lessons filled with hands-on and mindful activities that teach children about responsibility, goal setting, peaceful problem solving, and anti-bullying. Use this curriculum along with the classroom jobs system to build responsible kids!