I started the year a little differently this year. Instead of the typical letter to the teacher, I have them write letters of application. This is 7th grade by the way.
First I made them brainstorm jobs. Jobs they wanted to do in the classroom and jobs that needed to be done in their opinion. See how I was finding out about them and their self-concepts? And for the most part, I have very few occasions where students were interested in the same job. The jobs themselves were the funny part.
There was the common jobs like office runner and paper passer and reader but here are some of the more unusual jobs.:
Skit Writer
Sub Helper
Window Guardian
Desk Straightener
Party Planner
Homework Master
Computer Whiz
Decorator
Artist
Sports Reporter
Dress Code Police
Demonstrator
Good Friend
So as I begin this year, every student in my room will be given a job. I plan to run my room like a small company where each employee has chosen their own job. I will keep the list with my sub folder so they will also know whom to turn to for what.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
This is a great idea! I teach high school but I think that running your classroom like a business and giving the student accountability for something will help them more than any instructional lesson set in front of them down the road. Nice job! Good luck this year.