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Classroom Helpers |
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I receive many requests for assistance
with managing classroom helpers. I have included information
below about the method of managing classroom helpers that works
for me in my classroom. Please note that different methods
work for different teachers. |
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How many classroom helpers do
you have? |
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I
have only one classroom helper per day. |
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Why do you only have one classroom helper per day? |
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I
believe in working smarter, not harder. Keeping track of
multiple classroom helpers daily or even weekly can be very time
consuming. Also, young children often forget their
classroom jobs and have to be reminded. Having only one classroom
helper per day takes the burden off the teacher and places
responsibility on the child. Allowing young children to
feel like they are "in charge" gives them a great sense of
empowerment. Children who feel empowered are more likely
to enjoy school and take more academic risks. Many
young children have feelings of still being "babies" or think of
themselves as being "too little" to do many things, these
attitudes often come from their families or the public in
general. One of the goals of any good early childhood
program is to teach independence, by allowing them to be control
for the entire day they feel incredibly empowered and
independent. |
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What about building a sense of community and creating a sense of
belonging and ownership? I thought using a job chart is an
important part of that? |
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Yes,
I agree that building a sense of community, belonging, and
ownership are very important aspects of any early childhood
classroom. However, there are so many other ways to
accomplish this task without the use of individual jobs. I
have the student's pictures all over the room, there is a
picture of them next to their name card in their cubbies, they
have name cards with pictures for attendance in the morning, for
writing their names, we sing a good morning and good-bye song
every day and I greet each student as they enter the classroom.
I teach them that we are a family and we take care of each other
and so much more. You can accomplish these goals
without the use of a job chart. |
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Do you use a chart or system to help you keep
track of your classroom helpers? |
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No, I believe
that elaborate charts and tracking systems for classroom helpers
waste too much time. Classroom helper displays and charts
take up valuable wall space and can be very time consuming to
change and keep track of. |
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How do you
select your daily classroom helper?
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I have a class
set of name cards in an envelope with the words "Leader of the
Day" printed on the front. I laminated the envelope and
cut an opening in one end of the envelope. I slide one
name card out of the envelope each morning revealing the first
letter of the child's name first. Any students who begin
with that letter instantly stand up as the class tries to
guess who today's leader will be. I continue slowly
drawing the name card out of the envelope revealing one letter
at a time. The students sit down when they realize it's
not their name. Only one person is left standing when I
am finished removing the card and that person is our Leader of
the Day or L.O.T.D. I created an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of
laminated paper that reads "Leader of the Day" in big letters;
I take the name card out of the LOTD envelope and attach it to the sheet
with sticky tac. Our L.O.T.D. gets to wear
our special leader vest, see pictures below.
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Leader Vest
My mom makes these vests for our
L.O.T.D. They have stars on them so essentially it is like a
Star Student vest. I tried using necklaces for our
L.O.T.D. but they were always getting tangled and didn't seem safe
enough to me. I wanted to distinguish the leader in some way
but I also wanted it to be safe and easy for the L.O.T. D. to get on
and off. I have been using the vests for about 7 years or so
and they work very well for us. Whenever our L.O.T.D. is
walking down the hallway everybody instantly knows who they are and
whose class they are in. |
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What about jobs that require more than one child? How do you
handle those situations? |
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For
jobs that require more than one child I allow the L.O.T.D. to
choose helpers. For example, the L.O.T.D. is walking
in front of the line, he or she can appoint a "caboose" to turn
off the lights and somebody to hold the door if he or she does
not wish to do these things. |
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What exactly does the L.O.T.D. do? |
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Our
L.O.T.D. does everything. Some of the jobs of the L.O.T.D.
include calendar helper, selecting songs, selecting stories
after lunch, checking clean-up at centers, pushing in chairs,
turning on and off the lights, holding the door, leading the
line, selecting certain activities, choosing centers first,
lining up first, going to the office or escorting students to
the clinic etc. |
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Do you have any other special jobs for students? |
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Yes,
I do. I also have a Scientist of the Day and a King and
Queen of Writing. You can read more about them below.
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Scientist of the Day
The Scientist of the
Day came about when our principal asked each grade level to create a
plan of action to raise science scores in the upper grades. I
decided to create a Scientist of the Day to spark interest in
science. I have a child sized lab coat that the Scientist of
the Day can wear. I also created science backpacks that
the Scientist can take home. Some of our science backpack
themes are: seeds/plants, life cycles, weather, seasons and
more, you can see pictures of some of them at the following link:
Pre-K Pages
Buddy Bags Our Scientist of the Day also gets to select
one of our weather bears (see picture below) and check on or feed any class pets we may
have. I select the Scientist of the Day after lunch so
the L.O.T.D. does not get overshadowed. I select the Scientist
based on good lunch and recess behavior. I select the Scientist in much
the same way I do the L.O.T.D., except I use pictures instead of
name cards. I took a digital picture of each child wearing the
lab coat and safety goggles, printed, laminated, and cut out.
I place these pictures in an envelope and select one per day.
I created an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of laminated paper and decorated it
with science clipart, it reads "Scientist of the Day". I use
sticky tac to attach the Scientist's picture to the paper.
Weather Bears
(click on the picture above to
enlarge) |
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King and Queen of
Writing
The King and Queen of
Writing came about when I wanted to really motivate my students to
do their best during Writing Workshop time. Those
students that listen during my mini-lesson and try to incorporate
what they learned into their work are selected to be the Queen or
King. Each student is selected on his or her own personal
best, not based on their work compared to others. If I notice
a student who is still in the scribble writing stage attempt to make
a letter like mark on their paper we celebrate that just as much as
a student who is writing and sounding out words. The king and
queen get to wear capes, I have a pink cape for the queen and a blue
cape for the boys, see pictures below. I select the King and Queen of Writing
after our Writing Workshop time so I don't detract from the L.O.T.D.
or Scientist of the Day. The capes are flame retardant, cool,
lightweight, one-size fits all, and have a Velcro closure at the
neck so the
students can take them off independently.
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King of Writing
(Click on picture to
enlarge) |
Queen of Writing
(Click on picture to
enlarge) |
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