The most important class job- inspectors

Like many other classrooms, I use class jobs. Each student is assigned a job for the week that benefits the classroom in some way.

I have many of the same ones that I know every teacher has- door, lights, line leaders etc. But I have two jobs that might be more unusual, and are easily the most useful jobs I have.

They are both inspector jobs.

The first job is floor and desk inspectors. I assign two students this job for the week. After our clean up time, where every child is responsible for their own floor and desk as well as their assigned job (library, boards, etc.), I give the inspectors a minute to check.

Every piece of trash they find, either under or in a desk, they charge the guilty student a class dollar. Dirty/unorganized desks also can be charged the dollar fee. The inspectors get to keep all of the money they make inspecting.

This works great for many reasons. First, my students are diligent about checking the floor around their desk and keeping their desk neat because they don't want another student to get any of their money. Also, the inspectors do an excellent job checking (much better than I would do, or want to do) because they benefit from finding a problem. In addition, having the two inspectors means that no one is free from having to clean, because the inspectors can check each other's area. I encourage you to try it. It does take some training in what is a big enough piece of trash to charge a dollar for, and how big of an area each student is responsible for, but once the kinks are worked out, it works well enough that I couldn't imagine clean up without it. (the janitors have complemented my clean floors too, they said they almost never need to be vacuumed)

The second inspector job that I have is snack inspectors. One of our health units for the year is nutrition, and so I encourage my students to eat a healthy snack. Just one of the methods I use for this is snack inspectors. I have the class start getting ready a few minutes before recess and they stand at their desks with their snack. Then I have my snack inspectors go check everyone's snack. Healthy snacks- like fruit, string cheese, nuts, etc. can earn a class dollar from inspectors. Medium snacks- chips, cheese its, muffins etc. are allowed to be brought out, but don't earn a dollar. Desserts- cookies, candy, cake are not allowed to be brought out at snack time at all. These students are asked to bring out something else, and to save their dessert for after lunch.

Some benefits of snack inspectors is that every child learns what a healthy snack is, either by being paid for it, or knowing that you, as an inspector, can give a dollar for that snack. Frequently I am asked by my inspectors if ____ is a healthy snack, and I can answer honestly, and explain why it is or isn't. The students learn what snacks to pull out of their lunch bag, and also what snacks to ask their parents to pack, based on what they can be paid for. I, of course, have had some students who don't care about the dollar, and bring out chips everyday. I am not their parent, and so I don't push the issue more than simply rewarding the healthy snacks.

I recommend adding these jobs to your class job list if you haven't yet. You won't regret it.