The first step to teaching your students responsibility is to assign classroom jobs. Jobs may include door monitor, line leader, pencil sharpener, here's a few more appropriate jobs. Assigning students classroom jobs not only teaches them responsibility, but builds classroom community and not to mention helps you out!

Here are a variety of ideas to help you create the perfect classroom job chart for your room.

Helping Hands

If you don't like the idea of assigning classroom jobs to each student every week, then you should try "Helping Hands." Write each students name on a hand cutout and hang them on the wall. The girls names are one color and hung together in a group, as well as the boys hands. Each day flip a boys name, and a girls name off of the wall. The two students you choose become the helping hands for the day. These children are responsible for all of the jobs for that day. This is an easy classroom job chart, and students get the chance to help out every other week.

Classroom Job Badges

To help take the burden off of you to choose who gets what job each day or week, try assigning a "Leader of the Day". This student wears a badge (so everyone knows who's in charge beside you) and gets the opportunity to choose who does what job. You can print out badges for all jobs and have students wear them too.

Help Wanted

To make sure each student is contributing to the class community each day create a "Help Wanted" classroom job chart.

Label library pockets with specific jobs, such as lunch manager, calendar kid, or door operator. Each week (or day) students names are placed in the assigned job pocket and they are responsible to complete that specific job. Students can also apply for a specific job by filling out an application with their qualifications for that job.

Pin it!

A fun and easy way to create a classroom job chart, is to write each students name on a clothes pin and clip the pin onto the job the student is assigned to. Think of a list of essential duties you would like the students to complete, such as teacher's assistant (your helper), computer technician (turn computer off), meteorologist (checks weather), navigator (line leader). Then laminate these jobs onto a library pocket or adhere to fabric and hang. Each day (or week) move each students' clothes pin down to a new job. This is an easy way for all students to try out each job.

iHelp

Bring your classroom job chart to the twenty first century by creating a mock iPad or iPhone job chart. To do this think of the jobs that you would like to get done and create "apps" for each job. To create an "app" all you have to do is write the name of the job on to a library pocket and glue it onto a square piece of paper that would then mount onto a black background. To choose jobs for each students just place a Popsicle stick labeled with their name into the pocket, or clip a clothes pin also labeled with the students name.

Classroom Job Tips

• Circulate student jobs each day, week, or bi-weekly depending upon what works for your classroom.
• Make sure each student gets the opportunity to try out each job posted.
• Allow students to come up with at least one job as a class that they would like to see on the job chart.