How I Begin Teaching Phonics in Kindergarten

        When we started the school year after being out due to Covid for months, I tested my students that first week to see where they were on the basics of Kindergarten. I do a very quick assessment, so it is not overwhelming or take a long time at the beginning of the year.  

        My biggest concern- most did not recognize letters (upper and lower case). Now, I know that each class is different, but at our school, most go to Pre-k and know most or all letters before entering Kindergarten.  I knew this year we would have to back up in the beginning and catch up.  Let me tell you the best part- looking back now it is so rewarding to see how far they have come and grown this year! It is actually amazing.  

Of course, I still have some that are struggling with sounds, but they have grown so much, too! 

How I Start Teaching Phonics in Kindergarten 

         I begin with whole group to get routines in place for dry erase boards, markers, and erasers. We do LOTS of practice with it in the first couple of weeks. 

*Tip: I don't let them draw or add any extra squiggles on our boards- only letters and words! When I see someone start coloring, I stop and quietly get their board and marker. I don't make a big deal about it, but trust me- they stop doing it. I want our phonics time to be focused on the sounds and words- not drawing.  

        I start with the book Spelling Through Phonics. I have used this book for years with whole group and small group activities.  It has helped them progress so much!!! This book is available on Amazon, but it is harder to find.  Here is the link on Amazon if interested! 

      

        We start by making a "gameboard" on our boards. It is just a line in the horizontal and vertical line in the middle making 4 boxes for our letters/ words. 

 

        We begin with the letters m and s and progress through by adding a letter. They write if they hear the letter at the beginning or ending of the word.  Soon after, they write the letter they hear at the beginning and ending of the word and moved into CVC words. 

         They stretch each word and write the sounds they hear.  After finishing the word, they point with their finger under the word to read it back.  After we did all 4 words, one student at a time would read a word to erase.  This helped the student practice reading the word, and the other students had to figure out the word chosen on their board.  

          Once they learn the routine, I begin small groups since not everyone will progress through the letters and word building at the same rate.  I also move students around into different groups as needed throughout the year.  

         In the middle part the year, many of my students are on blends and digraphs, but there are a few that are continuing to work on CVC words. We also start writing sentences using our sight words and phonetic spelling. I always see so much improvement in their writing after doing this weekly.  It builds their confidence realizing they can write! I love seeing them become so proud of themselves!!  

         I started using digital phonics for extra practice and have seen them as very beneficial for my students.  I currently have 2 virtual students, but I use the digital activities with both groups. We use Seesaw learning, so I can easily add this to their assignments for home and at school.  I definitely plan to continue using digital activities after this year.  They are like games for the kids, and my students LOVE them!! 

Here is a fun FREEBIE you can use with your kids! It is on Google slides and Seesaw.  Click HERE to grab this CVC activity.  

        If you love this, I have several digital phonics products available.  I am working with my students on blends with this blend bundle (R, S, and L blends and Beginning Blend word building). This bundle has 80 slides on Google slides and Seesaw.  Here is the link for the bundle! 

       One reminder: It is so important to pause and celebrate ALL the victories this year - no matter how small! I find it so helpful to stop throughout the year and make a list of all the victories.  When you begin to feel frustrated and exhausted, it helps to come back to this and read your list. It keeps you going! TRUST ME! Let me know if this blog post helps or you try any of the activities!  I would love to hear about it.  

Building Positive Relationships Teaching in the Classroom and Virtually

Building relationships with our students really is EVERYTHING!! Getting to know my kids is my favorite part of being an educator. They walk in your room on that first day.  Many are nervous.  Some are excited.  Some are both.  I know I am always nervous- EVERY year! Do you get the 1st day jitters, too?  It doesn't matter how many years I have been teaching, but I always feel excited and nervous.  When we start our day together on the rug for whole group time, I always share how I am feeling, and I love all the suprised looks I get.  They would have never thought their teacher might have the jitters! 

It is so important to start the year building a relationship with each student individually but also building our class community. Each child needs to know they are important and a part of our class family.  Knowing we care about them helps them feel a part of the class.  

Building relationships impacts their behavor AND academic learning. Like I said before - it is everything!  My parents will choose if they want their child to learn at school or learn at home.  I want  them all to feel included in our class family.  Parents have the option each 9 weeks to bring them to school, so they may begin coming during the school year.   

I am listing out some ways I begin to form relationships with my students. There are so many, so please share if you have more ideas, too!  

Since it will be quite different this year, I also am sharing ways it can be adjusted this year.  

How can we build relationships in school?

*Talk to them one on one  

It doesn't have to be about school- just take the time to get to know them.  It can be about anything. It shows them you care and want to know them. When tying their shoes, taking restroom breaks, helping with snacks, take those opportunities to get to know them.  

*Lunch buddies 

You begin to know their personalities pretty quickly and who might be needing lots of practice with routines and teaching correct behavior. Teachers, you know what I mean! Ha ha! Have lunch with them first- trust me- it helps!  When I have lunch with each one, I really get to know them much quicker, and they start to open up more with me.  I love this time with them.  They tell me about their families, what they like, their favorite things, and much more. Later on in the year, I might have two of them eat with me for some social time.  

This year:  We have to eat lunch in our room this year, so I am planning to have 1 near me at my teacher table to still get this time.  

*Morning Greetings

 I love greeting them when they walk in the room every day! I have my morning greetings up in the doorway, and they can choose how they want to be greeted.  Again, this year will look different, so we will have different morning greetings, but they can still be fun and let them know you are excited they are here. I am working on these this week so they will be in my TpT store soon! 

I also have each one greet the person next to them when we start our morning meeting. We usually shake hands and say "Good morning, ____".  This helps them learn each others names, too.  

This year:  I am still planning to have them greet each other. We will learn different waves they can still do around the room.  It can be waving and saying, "Good morning, Johnny".  It can also be something silly like move your arms like a chicken or wave high/ wave low.  

*Sharing Chair

 My students love to sit on our sharing chair.  We use it for morning meetings, writing time, show and tell, and any time they want to share. In the mornings, I let them talk about anything they want to most mornings, and then the others can raise their hands and ask a question. This is always great practice for asking questions, too. Let me also say- not everyone shares each day. I ask them if anyone wants to share and have a jar of popsicle sticks with their names on them. I check to make sure they haven't shared recently and flip their stick to "shared".  This way it is not the same ones sharing.  

This year:  I am hoping to still use this chair but have a much wider space to spread out. I will let you know how that will work.  I am planning to use sit spots instead of places on my rug so that should help.  

*Student of the Week

 This is one of my favorite ways to get to know each student even more!  The kids LOVE it because they learn more about them outside of school. The parents choose a week that works best for them, and each student brings a poster with pictures and all about them and their favorite things. They share their poster on Monday, and it stays up all week until they take it home on Friday.  The kids look at it all week, and they feel so proud of their posters!  

This year: I plan to still have student of the week, and record each one sharing so they can also see it (at home or in school).  The ones that are at home can make their poster and drop it off at school or can make a digital version that I will share with everyone. (I will give them a template) I want to share everyone's posters because we still are a class together.  

*Classroom Jobs

It is very important to me for everyone to have a job.  Now, this year will definitely be different and lots of jobs will be changed some.  We might not be able to have as many jobs this year since they will need to do a lot independently.  They may be doing all the jobs somewhat, and that is okay!  It teaches them responsibility and makes them feel part of the team.  We all work together!

Let them be a leader.  It tells them that we trust them to do what is best.  My most challenging kids make the BEST hellpers!  

*Sharing our thoughts/ feelings

We spend a lot of time learning social emotional skills.  A LOT!  We learn how to talk with each other, how we feel, how others feel, how to be a good friend, how to give personal space, how to show respect with each other, and the list goes on and on.  This helps so much to become more self aware and aware of other's feelings. 

One activity that I like to do at the beginning of the year was about feelings. Each day we talked about a certain feeling like being angry, happy, etc.  I made a chart for each one and asked them all what makes YOU feel that way.  They came up and shared the pen (bonus interactive writing lesson- ha!) and wrote what makes them sad or happy depending on the feeling that day.  We learned SO much about each other through this! It led to many discussions later on because a lot relating to situations at school or home.  Great activity!  Here is one we did early on (this one wasn't with interactive writing). 

*Find out their interests

Find out what they like and what they want to learn about. It is good way to let them know we value them and want to know more about them.  We can celebrate our differences and strengths! They will also be much more engaged and eager to learn when we can tie things in with their interests.  

*Redirect or praise privately

 No one wants to be called out or embarrassed.  It hurts your relationship and makes them feel so small.  I have heard the comparison - think how you would feel if you were called out in a staff meeting in front of everyone.  It would be awful, and I would start to lose respect for that person. I may even start to question it like- why does it matter what I do?  That is how our kids feel. 

*Play and laugh with them

 I'll be honest here- sometimes I have to remind myself to play and have fun, get silly, and just laugh!  I get caught up in all the things we need to do, but when we can pause and play music or have a little dance party, it just gives us a break and have fun together!  

How can I build relationships while Distance Learning?

This year will be a little harder starting with distance learning to build the relationships like we normally do, but it can be done.  

*Lessons as a group

  If you are teaching in person and virtually (like me- as of now), then include them as much as you can with daily activities. I am planning to zoom with mine at home during calendar and morning meeting and read aloud. This is our bonding time, and I want all of them to be a part of it!  

I am also planning to do some lessons with all of them.  I think some lessons will need to be recorded because not all lessons are on schedule in Kindergarten.  They mostly are, but you have to have a little flexibility.  Right??

*All About Me activities

This is a great way to get to know each other in the beginning of the year and can be done very easily even digitally.  It is important to find ways to get to know each other.  This is a fun way to do it, and you could share the screen on a zoom to show each other's work.  Take a couple of weeks and do a few at a time.  They will love it and feel more comfortable knowing more about each other and develop friendships.  

*Small groups online

  I loved meeting with small groups during distance learning.  We all had a few minutes to share as a whole group, but it is much easier to do in a small group.  We may start off talking about a lesson or something we are working on, but then I allow time just to talk.  It is so nice to have that time.  

*Lunch zooms or chat time

Just like in small groups, I love to visit with them one on one or with just two of them.  I have used facetime and zoom - whatever works best for you.  It is just a relaxing way to chat with them, see how they are feeling, and enjoy our visit.  Sometimes they would tell me what they like and don't like in our online lessons which I like. It can be very helpful!  

*Spirit Days

 This is so much fun and an easy way to get them excited!!  Some spirit days might be your school spirit shirt, wear your favorite shirt, wear a certain color, silly socks or crazy hair, dress up.  There are so many ideas you could do for that.  

*Social Emotional lessons and activities 

 This is soooooo important no matter what. They need to know you are there for them and believe in them.  There are so many amazing books to read with them that lead to great discussions and activities.  I will share several soon!  

*Seesaw Blog

 I have mentioned this in my last post about distance learning.  I can not tell you enough how much I LOVE using the blog!!  We had so much fun with it, and they made me laugh every day!  I would assign a question like what is your favorite pizza or show us your favorite toy.  They would make a video and share it on seesaw.  It was so cute!!!  Then, I added it to the blog so that everyone could see it and comment on it.  They would comment on each others through voice comments or text.  

We also used it to share crafts they made or their writing (author's chair).  They loved going through it and seeing everyone's posts. 

The blog is so easy to set up, and the kids can click on the world icon (blog) to see it.  I do not have my group set to being able to see each other's work, and I prefer using the blog to show some of it instead.  You can give the link to parents and set a password so they can view it also.  When they students want to add something to the blog or comment on someone's post, it always goes to me first to approve it.  I am glad for that!!  Definitely check it out if you use Seesaw!  

There are soooo many ways to build and develop relationships with our students and within our class community.  What ways do you like to build relationships?  

Something I personally like to consider- What am I doing to strenthen this relationship? 

 

My Top 10 for Distance Learning Success

I don't know about you, but when I first heard we would be teaching virtually, I have to admit- I was frozen. I had no idea where to begin and what I needed to do first.  My mind was racing trying to figure out how I was going to continue teaching my littles online.  We went home for spring break and never came back.  I am thankful that we had already been through most of the year together.  We had built our relationships and taught most of the concepts for Kindergarten, so that was a relief.  I was AMAZED by all the educators and education online programs that came together to support each other and how we faced the challenge and learned so much in the process!! So many companies offered services and websites for free to help us through it.  I will say that I did feel so many emotions during this - wanting more for the kids, sad they missed all the fun end of the year activities, worried for the families knowing it was hard on them.  Just so many thoughts and big feelings throughout- not even counting the stress and exhaustion we all felt.

BUT through it all, we conquered it and overcame our obstacles.  I was so proud of my littles and their families, and we all worked together!  I can honestly say it was a success!

Now, the uncertainty remains.  We do not know how we will begin the year.  Will it be in person, virtual, or the start date moved to after Labor Day?  So many questions.
I am doing my best to plan for anything.  I am such a planner by nature, so the unknown is not my favorite!
We were told we were starting our year with virtual learning, and we have to be ready to plan for both most likely. Once we can return to school, parents will have a choice if they want their children to learn virtually or in person. They will be able to change their decision at the end of each quarter.  I am not sure yet how I will manage teaching online and in person, but that is a work in progress!

My Top 10 for Distance Learning: What Worked for Me

I think it is important to reflect on what worked the last months of school and decide what made this time successful. It was definitely a learning process and still is!

1. SEESAW:  I had seen this platform before but really didn't know much about it before we started distance learning.  Over spring break, I learned as much as I could about it and LOVED it!!  First off, their training is amazing.  They offer free training called PD in your PJs.  There is so much on this for beginners to more experienced users.  I knew I wanted to continue using this in my classroom when we return to school. Here are some reasons I love Seesaw...
*It's user friendly for the kids and parents 
*I could differentiate easily with my students - different books and activities can be assigned to certain students.
*The kids had choices in how to respond or complete the activities. They could add text, upload a photo to show their work, make a video, and speak with the microphone to explain their answers.  They LOVED doing this.  I had several of my quieter students really enjoy using the microphone or video!
*It's easy to add links to videos or upload pdfs or google docs
*With the premium or school version, you can schedule assignments which is wonderful!
*SEESAW BLOG- amazing way to connect and give them the sense of community!  They missed each other so much.  I did choose the option to not see everyone's work in this situation, but they added to the blog to share their writing or record a morning meeting video. I asked them a question 3 days a week and they could respond by video.   In the blog, they can look at their friends' posts and comment by text or voice.  I HIGHLY recommend using Seesaw for distance learning or in the classroom!

2. READ ALOUDS:  This is one of my favorite times of the day in school! They loved listening to books each day, and I did not want to give that up.  I started recording videos of myself reading aloud and posted them to youtube as private.  On private, only the people who have the link can see it.  Sometimes they would respond if I asked questions about the book, and sometimes it was just for fun.  I highly encourage you to continue reading to them.  They love it!
I used my phone, and I bought a ring light tripod stand on amazon for better lighting and to hold my phone steady. This is the one I purchased on Amazon.  Here is the link if interested.

3. RAZ-PLUS: This was a life saver!! I already had Reading A to Z, so this was a free add on during distance learning.  There are SO many great readers on this site!!  I was able to continue with their leveled readers and assign them each week, and many were moved up to the next level after talking with parents and students.  There is an option for the book to be read to them, but I decided to record myself reading their leveled books, so they could follow along with my voice.  They could also turn down my voice and read on their own. There are comprehension assessments as well they can take after reading the book. I absolutely love this website!
Epic was another fun site my kids loved!!  There are so many books on there to enjoy!

4. SCREENCASTIFY:  I know there are several apps for this, but I used Screenscastify a lot to record my screen.  There are so many great options to use as well.  It was so easy to use for recording and then upload directly to youtube.  I got the upgrade so that I could edit my videos as needed. This is what I used to record reading their leveled books.

5.  BRAIN BREAKS:  These were so fun to assignm and the kids loved them.  I usually chose 2 each week, and they could watch it any time.  My favorites were Cosmic Kids Yoga and Jack Hartmann or GoNoodle.  I usually chose one based on our theme for that week.  For example, if we were reading a pirate book, then I chose pirate songs.  These were a hit!  I even had some parents jumping in the videos with their kids on Go Noodle!  They even recorded themselves doing it, and we uploaded them to our blog.  Of course, the kids were thrilled!

6. WORD PROBLEM OF THE DAY:  I really tried to keep everything consistent and close to our usual routine.  We have a word problem of the day every day in school, so I continued this with distance learning.  For the word problems, they work on so many skills! They were addition and subtraction using a lot of our sight words, and they wrote the addition or subtraction sentence to solve it.  This is available in my TpT store if interested.  It is a digital resource that can be uploaded in Seesaw.

Link to this resource on TpT

Another site for math that my kids really enjoyed was Happy Numbers (happynumbers.com). They will give you reports of their progress and activity.  The kids loved it because it was like a game for them.  They would work on a skill and move up in levels. There is an initial pretest to start them on their correct level.

7. DOCUMENT CAMERA & LOOM (for Writing and Math):  The document camera is a must have!!  I used this for recording a lot for math lessons and writing mini lessons. I could add the direct link to their assignment in Seesaw.
 For writing, I would choose a mini lesson to work on each week.  For example, I wanted them to work more on adding detail.  I recorded myself writing a story and modeling adding detail to the pictures I drew and my writing.  Then, they had the week to practice and work on adding detail in their writing.  They also shared their writing during the week by posting a photo of it or reading it aloud in a video. We like to share our writing in the Author's Chair in school, so they were able to continue this through the blog.  The other students could comment on each other's posts.

8. MATH ONLINE TOOLS:  There are so many math tools through this web app to use when recording lessons or even teaching on Zoom by sharing the screen.  It was SO helpful!  We were learning time, so I did several activities using this site to record my screen showing different times on the clock. I would pause when asking them to tell the time on the clock so they could try to figure it out before I showed them the answer (this felt a little strange like Dora asking questions but it worked),  Go to Math apps and click HERE to see all the online tools. They have number lines, ten frames, geoboard, pattern shapes, clocks, money, etc.  You can do so much with this!

This is an example of how I used the clock.  I used Screencastify to record as I moved the hands of the clock.  You can choose geared hands or free moving hands.  I would write the times and then move the hands to show the time on the clock.  After working on this, I added pages from this resource to their Seesaw for more practice.  

Link here to this resource if interested 

9. PRINTABLE PDFs: My students LOVE making crafts to go along with the books we read, and there are many sight word and handwriting activities parents wanted them doing with a pencil and not having all work online.  Most of my parents had a printer and were able to print the work.  For those that didn't, I uploaded the activities in Seesaw, and they could complete the work there.  Some chose to write it in a spiral or paper at home which works well, too.  I didn't always want to send ALL the pages in a document, so I found this easy trick to save certain pages to a folder to send home.
          *Click print
          *Select the pages you want to send
          *Click Microsoft Print to PDF
          *Choose a folder to save the PDF
I had a folder for their weekly plan, sight word work, and crafts and titled it with the date of the week I was sending it.  This made it so easy to send everything in the folder each week!

10.  WEEKLY LESSON PLAN (for parents/ families): I sent home a plan for the week every Sunday.  I tried to keep it very simple, but it was very helpful for the parents to know what to expect.  I created mine in google slides and saved it as a pdf to send to them.  I did not add a lot of detail, but I wanted them to have a home learning plan to show what we would be covering that week.  This is an example of my plan.  If you would like a copy of the google doc, here is the link.  You will need to make a copy to edit as needed. 

 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Utvbp4p3m0HjLWYAtlGZNJY84rh6SvbnoIshDzLEBns/copy

I hope all of this was helpful!!  Please let me know what has worked for you.  I would love to hear about it!  As of now, we are going back virtually until Labor Day, but that could change as we get closer to September.  

Personal Space in the Classroom

     Have you ever had students who couldn't keep their hands off each other?  I have!! Some classes have this issue more than others.  One class I had really had a hard time with this.  They got in each other's faces, poked others when they walked by, sat super close to their neighbor on the carpet, and were always touching people, school supplies, you name it. Does that sound familiar? We had several talks about it in our class, BUT we still had trouble, and honestly some felt very uncomfortable with it and needed their space. 

     We decided to have a personal space camp.  We read two books that were amazing to go along with the lessons that week.  Harrison P. Spader, Personal Space Invader is hilarious!!!  We love all of Christianne C Jones' books! They are so funny, and the kids can really relate to it.  The other book that I love to read is Personal Space Camp by Julia Cook.  Both are very good for starting the lessons on personal space. 

We spent a couple of weeks practicing and talking about personal space.  We also referred to it throughout the year.  One of the first things I used to show what personal space looks like is hoola hoops.  I got mine at Dollar Tree, and they were a hit!! 

First, I had one hoola hoop, and put one student who I knew needed a little extra space inside.  He was comfortable and liked being in the hoop alone.  Then I added another student to join him in the hoop.  They were still okay but not quite as comfortable as having it all to themselves.  I kept adding kids inside the hoop until we couldn't fit anymore.  We all talked about how it was very uncomfortable being in there and not having space.  They said everyone was too close!  Yep!!  They were starting to get it. 

     We used the hoops throughout the week putting one student in each hoop and spacing them out.  This was so perfect in giving them a visual of what was comfortable and enough space for everyone.  They took turns talking to each other while in the hoop and LISTENING to each other about why they were upset or angry during the week.  This really allowed them to open up and learn how to speak to each other respectfully.  It turned out that some of the conversations were not just about personal space, but it gave them the opportunity to share what was bothering them.  This allowed them to feel safe and have a voice. YAYYY!!!  Isn't that the best? 

The expressions on some of their faces makes me smile!!  They are so funny! 

 

 

     Throughout the week we continued to practice when we were on the carpet, in line, at their tables, and it helped them have an awareness not only of how they felt and what was comfortable for them, but also how others felt!!! They even went home and talked about it with their families. 
We read the book that is in my resource, and they did a few activities on when we might need more space (like meeting a stranger) or when we don't need as much (with our family).

     At the end of the week, everyone got a hat and a certificate that they completed personal space camp!! I was so impressed with them!  They really learned so much and it made such a difference in the rest of the school year.  We still needed reminders at times, but overall it was a huge success!!! 

     I have now also added the book about social distancing and the importance for more personal space for our safety and the safety of others.  I will read this with them in the beginning of the year since it will be so new for all of them and me! 

If you are interested in this resource, it is available in my TpT store.  You can also try some of the activites as well on your own to see what your class needs.  There are so many skills that are kids do not have when they come to us.  Such a big part of school is learning social skills and social emotional learning! This is one of my favorite areas to focus on with my students!!  

Managing Jobs in the Classroom

   

 How do you manage jobs in your classroom?  I have tried several different ways in my classroom.  I have had only a few students have jobs, and they took turns.  Some people choose to have one person do everything because they find it easier.  What I have found that is most successful with my students is everyone having a job every week.  When I first thought about doing this, I wasn't sure I could think of enough jobs and how would I remember!?!  Let me tell you- it works like a charm, and there are plenty of jobs for everyone!! 

      I am a big believer in the importance of everyone feeling a part of our classroom community.  My students are so excited every week because they look forward to their new job!!  Now, some of the jobs are not their favorites, but that is okay.  They love helping and want the responsibility!  I have them displayed on one of my cabinets, so they know the rotation.  

     What Jobs Do I Need?

     This is up to you and what works for your classroom.  Consider all the things that need to be done each day or week.  Think about all the little things YOU do that they could help with.  Trust me- letting them help makes life so much easier!  There are the common jobs that most use: line leader (everyone's favorite), door holder, caboose, lunch helpers. At our school, we have table cleaners at lunch.  Two students wipe down tables once everyone is finished with lunch.  

Here are others I have used and what they do:

Electrician- turns on/ off the light in the classroom when we leave, come back, or using the smartboard or projector 

Librarian- helps maintain the library in our classroom (you might have 2 for this) and takes library books to the school library on book return day

Custodian & Chair Stacker- these are nice especially at the end of the day and usually need more than one 

Room Inspector (goes along with custodian) They make sure everything is picked up before dismissal.  This does not mean they have to always clean everything up because it is expected that everyone picks up after themselves, but they help monitor.  

Greeter- My students love this job.  They stand at the door in the morning and help greet everyone that comes in the classroom.  Students come into our rooms between 7:40- 7:50.  I also green students as well, but they like to help. They can also greet adults that come in during the day.  

Pencil Pal- sharpen all the pencils at the end of the day 

Messenger- takes notes or anything that needs to go to the office 

First Aid- takes others to the clinic (depending on the issue)

Materials Manager or Supply Helper- help pass out supplies to the tables or on the carpet (ex. dry erase boards, markers, and erasers during whole group phonics)

Group Captains- I choose these for each table or group so they are not necessarily part of the rotation

Sanitizer Helper- gives everyone a squirt when needed 

Star helper- this can be anything! When I had a partner teacher, we exchanged books after we read them to our class, so the star helper took the book to their room

Prayer Leader-  I teach in a Catholic school, so these students lead our prayer before meals, rosary, end of the day, etc. 

Song Selector- they choose the song during our morning meeting or throughout the day when we have brain breaks 

Kindness Recorder- they notice and share when they see others being kind

Substitute- fill in when someone is absent

Cheer Captain- (similar to song selector) they choose the brain break or cheer for the day/ week

Support Squad- this is a new one for me.  They will help others when they see them feeling sad or upset.  Of course, I will help as well, but I love when they offer support to each other, too.  

Vacation- another new one! When they are on this, they can take a week off and help as needed.  

Some of the jobs I created based on the book Conscious Discipline by Rebecca Bailey.  This is a wonderful book if you are wanting to create a school family and build your classroom community.  She also has a book called Creating a School Family which is amazing and filled with ideas.  They can be purchased on the Conscious Discipline website or on Amazon.  

     How To Manage Them

     Since I have multiple jobs, I like to use library pockets on a wall or a cabinet.  I put the labels on the pockets and use 3x5 cards with their names on the card.  I usually start in alphabetical order and place them all in the pockets.  Each week I rotate each card to the next pocket, and everyone has a new job.  I also have used jumbo popsicle sticks with their names on top instead of the cards, or you could use clothespins, too.  The labels could be on ribbons if you are limited on space, and clothespins can be clipped on each label. 

     Any labels can be used.  You can create your own on cards, create a chart, and even write the jobs on cards.  There are so many ways to set it up.  

     One thing to consider: place your key jobs in top positions depending on the number of students you have.  There are times that some jobs are never given due to a smaller class size. 

Sometimes I have been asked - how can you keep up with who does what each week?  They do!!  It is true!  I usually put it right by my door, but they always know who is supposed to be doing what.  It is funny how that happens.  

     This has worked so well for me for several years. They all feel like a team and work together.  It really gives them a sense of community, and they feel appreciated and valued. It has made such a difference in setting up my routines and procedures.  During the first week, we usually only practice line leader and door holder.  We begin learning about all the jobs in the first few weeks.  I go over expectations for each job, we role play, and we practice. It doesn't take long before it is running smoothly.  They all want to help and want to do their job well.  

     If you are interested in the labels, I have these in my store. My library pockets are from Amazon (created by Schoolgirl Style and Carson Dellosa).  They are part of the Industrial Chic theme.  You can also find other colors or themes on Amazon or stores that carry teacher supplies.  Let me know if you decide to try having more classroom jobs!  I would love to hear about it.