By now, everyone has turned in their job application, survived their interview, and worked at their job for  a few weeks. We have fifth grade jobs for a number of reasons.

The librarians looking for overdue books.

First, we do the jobs  that make the class function smoothly. Managing a classroom and keeping it tidy and well organized is lots of work. If everyone pitches in; it is managable. The class is better informed about room organization, so it is easier to use materials properly, and  put them away. Once everyone sees how much work correcting a problem takes, they become much more willing to keep things clean and well organized. They also remind each other of what needs to be done to keep the classroom functional. This saves the teachers nagging. Classmate reminders are much more efficient than teacher reminders. 

The Building and Grounds Team cleans floors and tables.

Class jobs give another avenue for practicing breaking down a large task into managable steps and completing them with other people. For some people, this is best begun with mental tasks, for others, the  sequencing and organizing process develops more smoothly with real world challenges. Most of the jobs involve either working together with a team because of the size of the overall job, or coordinating with another team to get things done in good order.

Organizing the room with labels.

Jobs give each student an opportunity to be a leader and an expert. They learn the details of their jobs, and innovate to  make their  systems work efficiently. Each student is the authority about their job; they tell the rest of the class what needs to be done to make that sector of the classroom function well. Each job has additions, changes, and innovations which were figured out by a fifth grader. If a student needs something, they go to the person who is in charge of that area to ask them for help or support. This helps us become a more democratic classroom, and frees up a bit of teacher time for knotty problems and documentation.

The class blogger has interviewed class members about the first Math test.

The jobs pay money in the class economy that the group can use to purchase materials for the village project, as well as exchange goods and services with each other. This supports our Social Studies/History objectives, and also provides some Math practice.

The Cartoonist explains the use of the egg fidgets.

Jobs make everyone in the class helpful to each other and to the class as a whole. It is good for everyone’s self respect to make the world a better place for others. When you have  a real world problem, then find a solution and evaluate it, you have made things in your world better for the moment. But, you have also learned about how to spot and solve your own problems, and that will make your world better for the rest of your life.

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