How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the school year, I created jobs. Attendance taker, absent helper, paper collector and organizer, supplies distributor, supplies gatherer. I also, when needed, have delegated the task of guard for password checker to enter the classroom. I would like to make a corrected papers distributor but I don't want them to see everyone's scores.
Self-running home. The best (only) way I do this is by making a family size recipe of soup and freezing it in individual portions for my lunches during the week. I suppose I could make a chore schedule so I know which day I'll clean what to take off the mental load of it all.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility?
ReplyDeleteI assign students jobs every day. I have attendance helper, supplies manager, paper passer, etc. If there are other jobs that I think they can handle as third graders, I utilize them and have them help me. They actually really enjoy being able to help and take leadership in the classroom and it helps every day activities run smoothly.
In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
At home, it's only my husband and I and our 10 month old daughter. My husband and I know the things/household tasks that need to get done and work together to make things run smoothly at home. We are a great working team and realize when we're struggling or just need a break. We make things easier for each other and are extremely supportive and helpful when we know it's necessary.
I love the idea of a more self running classroom, but that is hard at Kindergarten. They do know that every morning the daily work will be at their table spot and needs to be completed before they can do some coloring sheets while I do lunch count and attendance. They also know that when they complete any work that we are doing--instead of telling me they are done--spelling words are on the white board for them to practice. At lunchtime, they know that they have to get dressed for recess depending on the weather.
ReplyDeleteAt home, it took me longer to let people help with chores at home. But now I ask them to help or love it when they surprise me and unload/load the dishwasher.
As a high school special educator I can play support system or I can play safety net. But working on handing over the responsibilities is, I believe, one of my main jobs. Ideally, my students will be able to work independently using the tools and phrases that they need to help them all. Each week, I go through and write out missing assignments, it occurs to me that I could train them to write assignments that are missing-- this is an accountability measure, but who better to be accountable than the actual student.
ReplyDeleteI am a mother of a 6 year old and holding him accountable for things like picking up toys, laundry, and helping with prepping supper is something that NEEDS to happen. It will only make him better. I struggle with the continual yelling at him to start and finish each task. I am not a very good house keeper at all, but training my family to be in charge of some tasks to take off my plate my allow me to do others with less frequency.
As a TK teacher my students have responsibility and know what to do each day. They have jobs and I change those jobs daily because when you're little, waiting a week or more before you get a 'job' is a really long time to wait. They learn expectations at the beginning of the year and then we review those expectations when it is necessary. Students know what the consequences are if the rules are not followed. At home, it is me being a perfectionist, thus, it's hard for me to delegate. My husband is wonderful and helps any and every way he can - it's just hard for me to let go of things and let him do chores or jobs. I'm getting better with age, yet, I still find myself doing things over when he's not aware.
ReplyDeleteA self running classroom is about setting routines. One example of this in my room is our calendar time. For the first two weeks of school I run this, but after that the leader of the day runs calendar. All students know what is expected of them during this time. People could come in to talk to me and it would continue, because the kids know how to do it.
ReplyDeleteAs for a self running school, I suppose an administrator would give staff more responsibilities as well.
I'm not a teacher or administrator - but I do lead a team of six in an educational non-profit. I REALLY struggle with Superhero Syndrome. I want things done my way and it's hard for me to ask for help when I know others won't do it to "my standard". I've been in my organization for 19 years... and when I stop to think about it, some of the tasks I'm still doing, I started doing when I first started. There is no reason others on my team couldn't take over those tasks. I need to create a list of things that I can delegate, and then implement a process to ensure they are being accomplished.
ReplyDeleteAt home, I have a 4 and 6 year old... we just got a new fridge and it's allowed us to change many processes. For example, we got a Britta with a pourable spout rather than a pitcher so that the girls can get their own water. (We also moved their glasses out of the top cupboard to a lower shelf.) This has motivated my husband and I to brainstorm additional ways they can be self-sufficient - recognizing this is good for both them and us! It's all about being intentional and sometimes making small changes to accommodate new processes.
For me, in both my personal and professional life, the key to running more self-sufficient is to be more mindful of my organization and planning. I need to look ahead and foresee when I may need others to help, when there are jobs that others can easily do, and to clearly state my expectations. This is very difficult for me as I like to just do everything myself.
ReplyDeleteHow can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteIt definitely resonated with me when the author talked about not allowing kids to help with certain things that I have been concerned about it being done right. Giving students more responsibility with tasks like mail, checking their own work, and switching out supplies for the week. I really like the idea of having designated groups of students for things like technology issues or helping new students. For me that would take classroom jobs to a next level.
In my personal life, I could put let responsibility on myself for things like dishes, cooking, and deep cleaning and give my husband more opportunities to help with those tasks. I like doing certain tasks on the same day each week and could add in more of that to have more of a routine that I don't have to think about as much. This could include things like laundry, meal prepping, and deep cleaning.
Responsibilities give my students in the classroom are helping with milk break, ipads (making sure they’re plugged in at the end of the day), hallway leader, and mailbox helper (students are in charge of sorting daily work that goes home). These are all things that help keep our classroom running and the students look forward to these jobs each week. In my personal life, I do my best to keep my family on a schedule. Our weekdays all look very similar. We also have recently moved to a new home and downsized our things immensely before moving in. This was the best thing we did to create a self-running home. Less stuff means less to keep up with! My kids and husband also help keep our house running smoothly.
ReplyDeleteHow can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home? I have jobs that students do every day. I also have the enlist the assistance of paraprofessionals. For example, there are certain hours of the days that I have paraprofessionals in my room I will have them stop at the printer on their way down to my room (I don't have prep this year until the afternoon) if I printed something. I will have them bring papers to other teachers when they leave my room if I can't leave for a while or get to it.
ReplyDeleteAt home-I have my son be responsible for more of his items and things he needs to do. He is getting older and I am letting go of that feeling that I am responsible for everything. He will need to learn how to do all of this soon, so he might as well start now.
My students each have a job that they complete every day. They help me with so many things including taking lunch count, ensuring iPads are charged and ready, grab papers from the printer, etc. I've learned to delegate tasks at school so I don't have to feel like I have to do absolutely everything. It has taken me a long time to learn this. At home I have figured out that a task completed by someone else is better than me trying to do absolutely everything even if it isn't done exactly how I would do it. I have also realized that having a perfectly clean home is not worth the stress it causes to keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteI have students help in the classroom, but I would love to have them help even more. I teach first grade, so I have a “Calendar helper”. This student is in in charge of completing the calendar that is on our bulletin board in the classroom. This person is also my helper throughout the day. They will go and get the snack from the snack fridge, bring our library book bin to the library, pass out folder at the end of the day, etc. I also have a tidy-tub helper. This student passes out tidy tubs when we are cutting papers. They are also in charge of the calendar helper’s job if they are gone.
ReplyDeleteI would like to have a student be a computer tech. This student would be able to help other classmates with small computer issues, like typing in a password wrong, turning up their computer volume, etc. The computer tech could make sure all the classroom computers are plug in correctly and charging.
At home my kids are pretty young, however my two-year-old likes to hand be dishes from the dishwasher when I’m putting them away. I like that she likes to help me. I would like to create a chore cart for myself. I think a chore chart would help me stay on top of cleaning during the work week, so I won’t have all the household chores during the night. It would also give my husband and I a mutual understanding of what needs to be done each day.
Something I could do in my library is give the students an opportunity to keep our library more organized and in shape. Generally, this falls on myself and my associate. In general it is just “easier” to keep the library clean and organized ourselves because students aren’t good at it. However, some students probably would be really good at it and enjoy it. We should give them the opportunity to help. Also, if we took 5-10 minutes to teach them how to pull books forward on the shelves and put them on the shelves properly, we would probably save ourselves lots of time in the future.
ReplyDeleteIn my home, some things I do to create a more “self-running” home with two small children is putting everything in bins. This way even my two year old can help clean up - there is no special organization for toys as they all just go in bins. Same with clothes - I do not fold their small clothes, they just go in their bins.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteTo create a self-running classroom I have my students have different jobs weekly. They help with lunch count, handing out papers, getting library books, putting papers in mail boxes, etc. My students love to do these jobs and be helpful around the classroom.
Some things we do at home to make it more self- running we have jobs to. They change daily or weekly for example someone will make dinner and the other will clean up and do dishes, or someone does laundry one week while the other is responsible for cleaning up the living room or bathrooms.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? As a special education teacher, I have smaller groups of students within my classroom. It is already their responsibilities to keep track of their materials, however I often find myself picking up their things and putting them back where they belong. To make my classroom self-run, I could assign a student I. have at the end of the day as the Lost and Found monitor, who collects all of the materials out of place, and simply puts them in a container. This will also increase responsibility with students as well. I could also have students be in charge of feeding the fish, straightening the books on the bookshelf, wiping down tables, and pushing chairs in. These are all things that take up time in my day that can be designated as a job for a student.
ReplyDeleteIn your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home? In order to create a more self-running home, I could split chores with my significant other, and trust him to clean things. I am a perfectionist as a cleaner, and am very picky with how clean my house is. If I am able to shift my mindset to that no one will notice if its not spotless except me, and accept that the cleaning is "just fine" I will be able to delegate more tasks and take some of the cleaning off of my plate.
Self running classroom- At the beginning of every school year it's my goal to create a self running classroom. By keeping to a schedule, setting up routines, having clear expectations and operating on routines each day I can help my students to almost always know what's coming next. I joke with them towards the end of each year that even though they still need me, if a sub comes in they can truly depend on my class to help make sure the day goes smoothly and answer any questions they have.
ReplyDeleteSelf running home- This one I'm still figuring out! Our older children each have chores they are responsible for and we keep to a pretty routine schedule most days. Still, running a house of 6 is not for the faint of heart and some days I struggle. My 'at home' window is so small some days and I can be pretty type A, that when my house is a mess I become a mess too. I have a hard time sitting until everything is done (and we all know we're never really DONE) so that becomes a challenge. I'm working on it :)
Classroom: I have classroom jobs, but not enough. I would like to create more jobs and even have each student have a job every week. I think having them pair up for jobs would help the job get done and done completely. I also liked the idea of having students organize papers by number so they are in order for grading. This is a job I could easily create and it would save me time grading. I can then have them write down who was missing theirs too.
ReplyDeleteHome: I am very guilty of being the "super hero" at home. I do a large majority of household tasks because of perfectionism. I am aware of it and have tried to let things go. I want to work with my husband to specifically delegate tasks as ours. I enjoy cooking and he does the dishes, but those are the only delegated tasks. I would like to continue doing the grocery shopping so maybe I can delegate him cleaning the bathrooms and floors monthly.
Something that I do in my classroom are classroom jobs. Each week a group of my students are assigned jobs like; clean up crew, snack helper, trash, etc. This gives my students responsibilities that they have to be in control of and follow.
ReplyDeleteAt home, I also think chores are important to have in place. Every task should be evenly distributed throughout the family members so that it isn't only falling onto one person. Kids should have simple chores they can complete and be responsible for as well!
I teach in a resource room, so it is hard to give students regular tasks that help the room run better, especially since few of them are with me for more than 20 minutes. However, in order to make my classroom run more smoothly, I do teach them how and where things go so that they can find the work they need to do and put things away when they are finished. Two weeks into school, the students have a very good idea of how to keep themselves busy in my room. They seem to enjoy that amount of independence.
ReplyDeleteIn my home I had to learn to delegate tasks. I was not always so good about doing that. Now that my children are grown with their own jobs and most of them moved out to their own homes, things do fall back into my lap, but the positive is that the sheer amount of what needs to be accomplished has decreased dramatically. My husband has stepped up in a lot of ways that is very helpful. There are still things that I feel would go better if I made a schedule of sorts to make sure they got done. That is something I would like to set up for myself, if only for structure in my day when I am not at school.
I am a first grade teacher. At the beginning of the school year I do not let the students do too many things to help. It is very important to learn procedure and routine, rather than help. I do have helpers each day and they help get the milk for noon meal and they get to tap for neat names and be the line leader and that is pretty important at the beginning of the year. As the goes on, I do let them help hand out papers, gather the papers out of their drawers, hang up projects in the hallway, and keep pencils sharpened. We are at the end of the school year here in a few weeks and it is so nice to enjoy seeing how much they have grown over the school year. I often think we climb this really steep mountain and now in the last weeks, we walk downhill and I can enjoy listening to them read, and so independent in all things. I love this time of year.
ReplyDeleteAt home? It was tough when the kids were little and I went back to teaching. My husband worked in town and ran the farm so there was not much help from him. I do remember I always had the kids make their own lunches the night before. We had piano lessons to get done, farm chores they were responsible for, and help with cooking and meals. There were times the process worked well but there were times things did not go so well. We had pizza once a week and I always tried to have a meal figured out for the next day so that was overwhelming. It all worked somehow. Now, my hubby is retired and he is helping. It is just the two of us, but he helps me with a few household things. I am thankful for that.
It is tough, now our kids are living the work/parent juggle. We try to help them as much as we can. God's grace is what gets you through.
How can you create a more self-running classroom...
ReplyDeleteOne thing would be listing expectations and duties where students can see them each day. Then practice them with them until they understand those responsibilities. Build them relationships, then build those routines and practice them. Never assume anything, teach teach teach. Give each student a job, and have them follow through with their jobs each day and hold them accountable. 4th graders can handle it!
At home, just know who needs to do what, being an "almost empty nester" it runs pretty smoothly now. As I do my part and my wife does hers.
We have two helpers in our room each week that have various responsibilities. I ask other students to help with tasks as well. Students love to help and it builds responsibility. Students need to know procedures and expectations for things to run smoothly in a classroom. I have gotten much better at delegating tasks at home now that we have teenagers. Each one of my children has certain daily chores that they do. This has made a big difference the past few years!
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ReplyDeleteI teach first grade, and there are so many ways to make my classroom more of a self-running classroom and give my students responsibility. Starting with strong, clear expectations and routines right away in the school year and continuing to practice them all year (even in May). Making sure I am building relationships with my students and making sure students are building relationships with their peers. Giving students jobs in the classroom that are specific and age appropriate such as picking up lunch cards, passing out mail, leading morning meeting, taking lunch count, etc. I think this teaches responsibility and leads to a better "flowing" classroom.
At home, this school year I have had to find someways to lighten the load on myself and my husband. We do grocery deliveries during the school year, pack lunches the night before, use a robot vacuum for pet hair, and take turns with everyday chores. The nights that I go workout after school my husband makes dinner and vise versa.
Doing student-guided whiteboard discussions has been a great tool for my classroom in putting more of the responsibility on the students to find the necessary information and present it to each other while then allowing me to facilitate the learning and add points as needed. We have also begun to use the method of presenting in groups of 4-5 instead of to the entire class. On the other side of things I actually think that we have tilted too far in the direction of student-paced this year in some of our Social Studies classes. We have begun using Formative and it has probably begun to take too much of the discussion format away as it is very easy for students to do it self-paced and get what they need, but there is a balance we have to find to ensure that we still have to interact with the material we are learning and put it into thoughts and useful ideas as a whole-class with me leading them as the teacher.
ReplyDeleteI run math interventions, so a self running classroom is not really in my realm. There are things that I do with my intervention groups that support shared jobs. The students all know what needs to be done and materials they need when they come into my room. They also do their own graphs on growth for record keeping.
ReplyDeleteAt home, we meal plan and prep on the the weekends for the whole week. It really helps in the morning for getting ready that I have a breakfast and lunch menu posted on the fridge so when the kids get up they know what needs to be gotten out, packed, and ate. Everyone does there own laundry. It is absolutely not done how I'd like it to be, but it is clean and put away. I've had to let that go! We also share meals, dishes, and house cleaning chores.
I teach 3rd grade and the students love to help as much as possible. At times it can be very overbearing for me because they all want to help all the time. I do pick a student teacher that helps with everything throughout the week. I did have a few of my high students grade a grammar test, but that was a bit difficult for them. I do allow them to straighten up my library and run errands for me. At home my children each have a few chores specific to them (pick up dog poop, vacuum stairs, clean their own bathrooms and bedrooms). They are also responsible for doing their own laundry.
ReplyDeleteAs and administrator you can build a more self-running school by not micromanaging your staff. They know what needs to be taught what standards need to be covered let them decide for themselves how the lessons are taught. Encourage them to use lessons that are engaging, let them know that it is ok to make mistakes. That when they teach a lesson reflect on how it went tweak it for the next time and move on. When decisions are being made include them, when possible, in the process. They will then have skin in the game and work towards a positive outcome.
ReplyDeleteAt home split up the duties. It is not just up to the husband and wife to run the house. The kids live there as well it is ok for them to have chores and duties they need to be responsible for getting done. If not all the work gets done don't worry about it. After all time spent with your family in a meaningful way is more important.
As a teacher, I think delegating more jobs to students like working together on spelling, plugging in computers, and helping more with technology because they probably know more than me. At home, I try to have help but everyone is busy. We all have our parts to keep things running. As an administer, you just need to have more jobs and do some micromanaging of things to the staff.
ReplyDeleteI can create a self-running classroom by allowing students to correct their own papers sometimes, or putting someone in charge of handing back corrected papers to students during class. Also, I can assign students to set up for games and put equipment away in PE.
ReplyDeleteIt is only my husband and myself at home now, since kids are grown and out of the house. But, to make a more self-running household, I could let my husband fill dishwasher, and have him make meals a couple times each week. When I have my whole family over, I could designate people to bring more of the food, plates, drinks, etc.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteI've been interested in the concept of choice boards in my middle school classroom. I experimented with them for just a short class period before a Spring Break. I used created a class in "Magic School AI" for students to "talk" with a historical person, I had a 10 minute youtube documentary on the Civil War we were planning to begin studying after spring break, I had.a historical trivia youtube video for kids to complete against their partner with, and I had blooket links to the various games with review questions from 13 Colonies to the Civil War. Kids had 25 minutes and could choose any of the options. All the options took me about 30 minutes to create. I can definitely see trying something like the choice boards and adding some kind of formative or summative assessment to the choice board activities. At home, my little girls are gaining more responsibility and are able to clean their own rooms and make their beds. It's really helpful when it just becomes "clean-up" time. I take the living room and laundry, and they take their rooms. Little by little, releasing that control does help my students and my own kids become more independent and more productive without my controlling every part of school and home life.
A highlight of my teaching year was always 7th grade lit circles because the students were in charge of their learning. The frontloading was a little hectic, but the students enjoyed it and learned not only about literature and reading skills, but also captured many life skills. We started the lit circles with a “Starbook” table tasting experience with a huge variety of historical fiction books. Students were given time to read about the book and select a top 5 list of what interested them the most. Treats and a beverage were also served during this time. 🙂 When finished, they gave me their paper with their top books of interest and from there, I placed them in groups according to the interest of their book choices; however they were not aware that they would be in groups according to their interests, but I made every effort to give them one of their top book selections. From there, the students were assigned their book and given a packet to complete with weekly roles such as “vocabulary inspector”, “literary leader”, etc. They were required to work together, stay together in their book (math calculation to determine how many pages they needed to read a day) and discuss the pages read each week (teacher observed). My administrator observed this and truly liked and appreciated the collaborative work the groups were doing. We also talked about how this prepares them for the “real world” by working together with colleagues, demonstrating responsibility by meeting deadlines(even if they are gone a day). There are so many life skills students develop through this experience, and it truly is a self-running experience. I monitored their groups as they came into the classroom and began working and throughout the class time.
ReplyDeleteSelf-running classroom: In order to create a self-running classroom, the students need to be given more responsibility. There are several ways that I try to incorporate this. Students were responsible for their own space and organization. They picked up their space before leaving the classroom every day and also wiped down their areas. They were responsible for filling independently filling out their planners when the walked into the room. Students help to correct their own work when appropriate, helped to come up with projects or ideas to help assess the end of a unit or novel, and helped hand back physical copies of work. All of this was clearly explained and modeled the first few weeks of school and monitored while learning.
ReplyDeleteSelf-running home: While I would like everyone to believe my home is a well-oiled machine, it is more of a work in progress. One change I have made over the past few years is to meal prep one day out of the weekend. This provides either lunches or quick suppers throughout the week when energy is lacking. I also try to schedule time daily to do a few chores so that I am not always leaving everything for the weekend.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteself-running classroom: When I was teaching Kindergarten, I had several jobs that the students would take turns doing daily such as teacher's helper, calendar helper, lunch count, table check, line leaders, clean up crew, etc. The students learned each job and the responsibility that went with it in order to help our classroom run smoothly. Learning Centers were another way that students helped out and learned responsibility. Mondays were the day to discuss the centers and then with the monitoring of classroom helpers/paras, the students would work independently in small groups throughout the week to complete the centers. As the students completed each center, I could quickly check their work and they would clean up and get ready for recess. Students knew the expectations and routine to help this learning time run smoothly.
self-running home: My children are older now so can help out with laundry, meals, household chores, and running errands. When they were younger they had responsibilities helping out, so now that they are older, they continue to help out which makes things run more smoothly especially with our busy schedules.
When I was teaching middle school social studies, I was in the process of working on putting a few strategies in place to create a self-running classroom. On days my students completed notes or other worksheets, either on their own or in groups, I would have them self-correct their papers. I had also started letting students write the date for the next day on the board at the end of the day (which admittedly doesn't take up much time, but it's one less thing I had to do after school or early the next morning). When students came into my room, they were responsible for grabbing their social studies folders (which stayed in my room in organized bins), and they returned them at the end of class. Reflecting back, I could have also had students help with passing back work, making sure all laptops in the laptop cart were plugged in before leaving every day, and keeping the textbooks organized.
ReplyDeleteAt home, my husband and I have already been working on creating a self-running home. Our oldest son is 4, so we have him help with putting his toys away and have recently been having him put his own laundry away. My husband and I split the housework fairly evenly, so I never feel like I have to manage it all by myself. An area I could definitely improve on is having him help with meal planning and making the grocery order. He has offered to help, but I tend to have Superhero Syndrome in this area because I am so used to doing the work and I don't want him to forget something. I am glad to have a name for this characteristic I see in myself and start working on changing it!
In my resource room, I use the last few minutes of each class to have kids clean up their area, put things back in the correct places, straighten desks, etc. I'm going to have the middle school kids next Fall be responsible for writing the assignment for their classes on our white board schedule. Each day, I will have a different student responsible for this task. Instead of me looking up missing work, each student will be responsible to use their laptop to do this. Each student can then talk to me 1:1 as to the status of the list, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe last kids of the day, wipe off the desks, plug in computers. That has worked well and only takes a couple minutes.
Personal life: It's just me at home and I need to make huge improvements. I like the idea of making a meal and storing in individual containers for the week. I need to make a schedule of tasks to do throughout the week so my house has some sense of order. I have let go of certain tasks that I dislike ie: mowing the yard, weed eating. A family member was thrilled to take over so I'd quit wrecking his mower :-) Now, I'm going to hire someone to clean my house periodically after reading these chapters.
One way I could have the students take more responsibility for the classroom work is to put them in charge of making sure the tables are back in the appropriate places. I could also task them to figure out a way for us to keep track of that. (I tried the tape on the floor, but the cleaning service thought the kids were doing it and took it all off. :-)
ReplyDeleteI could do better getting more student help with all of my other duties at school. I was able to let go enough that a co-worker took over one of my duties and enlisted students to help. I am still available when issues crop up, but the day-to-day is handled for me.
My children already do part of their own laundry and help take care of the dishes after dinner. They also collect all the garbage every week and have been taking it to the curb as well. As they have gotten older, they are also starting to prepare the occasional meal. When it comes to tasks outside of the house, I tend to tackle those all alone. I could certainly enlist their help more with those tasks. My wife and I split meal prep. I tend to do more of it when I can, but she takes over when I will be home late.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteAs a lower elementary music teacher, this gets a bit tricky. I do not have much paperwork to organize or deal with, but I do have a lot of instruments and movement materials. I sometimes let students help pass out or pick up instruments, but it takes a bit to learn new routines first and proper caring for instruments. I could teach that earlier in the school year so that students could help pick up and pass out instruments and movement materials sooner and help.
At home: my kids and husband do a pretty good job of helping out when I ask them. My kids have weekly chores and are good about doing extra chores if I have more responsibilities or scheduled events. I need to probably let go of how clothes are folded, organized, and put away so that they can also help with laundry. As this season of life gets busier with kids' activities, I may need to hire someone to clean the house periodically if we can swing it.
Creating a more self-running classroom starts by giving students real responsibility. Small things like having one of my students in my protime switch the "weekly schedule" from A to B or vice versa or taking attendance. When they help lead routines, manage materials, or guide discussions, they feel trusted and take more ownership of their learning. At home, things run more smoothly when everyone shares the load and knows what needs to be done. I need to let go of being the only one who does it right and let others do things like fold the laundry and put it away, or loading the dishwasher. Whether in the classroom, at school, or at home, giving others responsibility helps create a more balanced environment for everyone.
ReplyDeleteHow can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteIn your classroom, you can use choice boards so that students can choose the way they learn information. You can give them choice is how to show their learning. You can create flipped classroom videos and students can watch when they are ready for it. You can give students the opportunity to be the teacher. This gives them the chance to both learn something on their own and teach it to other students - deepening their own learning.
There are four adults living in my home. We have an understanding that the chores need to be divided among us. Everyone takes care of their own laundry. We all contribute to preparing meals. We pay attention to who is carrying a large stress load and we pick up slack for them. Balance doesn't always mean the load is equal. It is just what keeps things level at that time.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteWithin my classroom, I spend a lot of time going over expectations and discussing how we're a family and we all need to work together to make sure our classroom is running properly. Some things I do within my classroom to give students responsibility is student jobs, following the expectations of cleaning up their area and putting all their materials away in their assigned spaces, running errands for me when needed, giving them choice over assignments and places to sit. When students feel a sense of responsibility they will be more likely to help others within the classroom.
In my personal life, we work together as a family to make sure that our household is running efficiently. Some small chores that my seven year olds and three year old do are putting away their laundry, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning up their bedrooms/play room, feeding our dog, and helping with watering our plants. My husband and I both rotate nightly chores such as cleaning up after dinner and then doing the bathtime routine. We each help out when needed so that our household runs efficiently and smoothly.
In my ELL classroom, I give my students small responsibilities like helping pass out materials, leading simple group activities, or supporting classmates with vocabulary. This helps build their independence and lets me focus on guiding their learning more effectively. When students take ownership, the classroom feels more organized and everyone benefits.
ReplyDeleteAt home, since my daughter is young, creating a self-running home looks a bit different. I try to build routines that make life smoother like having set nap times, a consistent bedtime routine, and organized spaces where she can safely explore on her own. Even though she’s little, these routines help me balance being a mom and a teacher, and prepare her to take on more responsibility as she grows.
Both at work and at home, I’m learning to trust the process and let go of trying to control everything. It’s all about creating a supportive environment where everyone can thrive in their own time.
To create a more self-running classroom, I assign students clear roles and responsibilities that help the class run smoothly without requiring me to micromanage every step. For example, I assign class jobs like managing supplies or leading group discussions. I also encourage students explaining concepts to each other which builds their confidence and reduces my workload.
ReplyDeleteAt home, I’m working on the same idea. My wife and I are starting to give our 14-month-old little routines and simple choices (like picking between two snacks) to help her feel involved and gradually build independence. We’re also trying to streamline chores and create habits—like putting toys away right after playing—that help the household run smoother without constant reminders.
In the classroom, I try to establish clear expectations and routines so that students understand what supplies are needed each day, where to locate resources, and how to submit their work. Students are also responsible for monitoring their grades across classes. They frequently collaborate in pairs or small groups, and I encourage them to work together to find solutions. While I don't delegate specific roles to students, I do assign peers to help each other as needed and ask for assistance with tasks like distributing and collecting materials, updating the calendar, and addressing tech. issues. Even in high school, students love being able to help!
ReplyDeleteAt home, my husband and I share responsibilities pretty equally, depending on our schedules. Our kids are responsible for keeping their rooms clean and will help with other chores if asked. They recently have been interested in learning how to cook, which has been great because they are making more of their own meals and snacks.
I'll start with family because I stayed home with our little ones, only subbing occasionally, as we had discussed beforehand. Because our jobs and backgrounds were so diverse, yet similar in many ways. I was a teacher, so I wanted to prepare our children early, (preschool at home). They all had jobs early on, starting at 2+ years old: make your bed, set the table, pick up toys, use kind words, clear table, wash/dry dishes, piano lessons, reading, math, spelling tests, etc.
ReplyDeleteThen when I started teaching contract jobs in schools I used the same philosophy: if the students can do it, why me? I did not have any time between classes leaving and coming so everything had to be ready. Again, much organization. I finally convinced the principal to give me 5 minutes between classes/grades. That worked out better, but I still had the students help end and prepare for the next class. It gave me a bit of silence to renew before starting again. I have just read that this is a much-needed time for teachers. It sure helped me.
Now subbing, I can be more relaxed during my break times and appreciate them more instead of constantly trying to fill in the time. Good ideas to break away from constantly having to look busy.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteI think this starts by letting go of the "super hero" idea that all teachers have, and their need for perfectionism. I need to start making a choice that things don't have to be "my way" or no way. I liked how the author said we waste a lot of time at the beginning of the day, during transitions, lunch, etc. where I could have students take on some of the classroom responsibilities. I teach 2nd grade and some easy things they could manage could be room clean-up, pencil can sharpening, putting papers in mailboxes, straightening up the book center/library, switiching the calendar for the next day...I usually do all of that as part of my daily tasks.
In my personal life, I just need to ask for help, and then relax when it is done, even if its not perfect. I also appeciated how the author talked about everyone has their own tasks that they "own", so there's no asking or reminding...you just know that its your job as part of the household. NOw I just need to get everyone in my house on board with this!!
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteI feel to create the self-running classroom ;having a established routine helps. Students knowing what is expected for class and lessons that they are prepared. Also giving students responsibilities then they also feel ownership. I also reinforce they we are getting you prepared for next year when they have more expectations.
In my personal life I have a very supportive spouse . He supports me and I support him. He helps me with things inside the home on occasion and I will help with some of the yard work. If it does not get done there is tomorrow.
In the classroom, I could give some jobs to my students. At the end of the period, the students could be responsible for cleaning up the classroom. I could also have students be responsible for getting out the materials and picking up the papers when kids are done.
ReplyDeleteAt home it's a little bit harder for me because I don't have anyone to delegate to. I think setting limits to how much I do at home on a particular day or setting a weekly schedule for what I do on each day would be helpful.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? (If you are an administrator, how you can create more of a self-running school by giving staff more responsibility?) In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteIn the classroom I assign jobs to ALL students. I take the time needed at the start of the year to teach them expectations and processes and explain that the jobs rotate weekly. I usually assign 2 students to each job. I noticed last year that one or two of my jobs is not as helpful as other tasks would be so I will be changing up some of them for the upcoming year.
In my home, my husband and I share the workload and we do not put pressure on one another if something does not get done. We understand we work hard and we can move tasks to other days to maintain our own sanity and happiness.
I can create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility with their missing work. In the past, I have kept it in a folder and called the students up to come and get it and make sure that they were working on it. Something I can do to give them more responsibility with it, is to have it in a folder that they have access to and then write their name on the board to let them know they have missing work to take care of. If they don’t get it taken care of, they will miss out on activities as part of our ICU program. I can create more of a self-running home by giving more responsibility to my husband. My husband is self-employed, so he typically has more flexibility with his day, and he enjoys running errands. I will start to have him take more responsibility for running errands, taking our son to daycare in the morning, and making or picking up supper more often.
ReplyDeleteHow I created a self-running classroom now is by having the students hang up their own backpacks, put away lunch boxes, bring folders into the classroom & put them in their mailbox along with water bottle. They also must find their lunch card and put it in the appropriate sorted basket (hot, cold, lunch from home, or 11:00 dismissal) This holds them accountable & saves us both time. I don't have to sort cards before lunch & they also don't have to think about what they are having before lunch (already knowing the options and what they chose) & what order to line up in for lunch. I also have someone who brings morning snack and another who bring afternoon snack. Those are my helpers for the day. lead in prayer, pledge of allegiance, calendar, hold doors, turn on/off lights and are line leaders. They also are the ones who pass out supplies to tables. I do believe I can have them do more though. I always have my EA pack up their folders and put their papers in there and then put in their backpacks. This takes a lot of time out of the day that she could be doing other things. It is one of those norms where it is just what the preschool EAs do but why cant I have them put their own stuff in their folders and backpacks rather than have my EA spend so much time doing this in a day. This would hold the kids accountable for doing it themselves and knowing what is in there and that it needs to be emptied. They are so capable of this and that way I could use my EA for other things needed. It would take them a short amount of time to call by tables to collect their mailbox items ... pack them up and put in bag. It would be a good organizations skill for them as well. I also need to stop wasting so much time passing out papers and instead teach the kids how to put them on each persons spot and have them do it to free up time. My kids are great about helping wiping tables at the end of the day, stack one chair on another, then I put them on the tables. I should also let my kids take down the calendar stuff to prep for the next day and also move the daily schedule cards around. That would free up so much of my time.
ReplyDeleteI for sure need to create a better self-running home. I simply must understand that I can't do it alone, because that is what is causing me to burn out fast. Especially, now that I am back at work. I need to hand over more of the tasks they to not only my husband but also my kids. They have always helped out but now that I am not at home and the kids are getting bigger, I need to hand them more. I need to also let go of being a perfectionist with the tasks and be ok with them just being done versus how I would have done them. It is good for them to learn and have them responsibilities. What this would like is not only putting away their own clothes but also folding them. Bringing their basket to the washing machine. Clean up the yard from dogs before they play. I always tell them if they want lunch from home they must pack it themselves the night before or its school lunch. They do well with this. I need to have them make their beds everyday as I make my own. They should help with meal planning so they cant argue what it is also help with some of the prep. They are good about taking dishes to sink but I think one needs to help with loading dishwasher and the other unloading it. When we have errands they are great about unloading the car and bringing inside the house but maybe I have them help with putting the stuff away. They keep their rooms tidy and clean but maybe I assign other tasks to them. Ones they choose and want ... delegated spots for vacuuming, sweeping, tidy living room, tidy kitchen, bathroom cleaning, etc. I can demonstrate how to do these things but wont make them be perfect on doing them how I would do it. I wont nag on them to get them done. They will just know it is their responsibility.
What I really need to do is just delegate so much to make more time for myself and hold others accountable and also have them feel like they are a part of it. Let go of the control and perfectionism in it all.
In a classroom, you can have students that work on each area such as cleaning up after snack, line leaders, and helpers each week that are responsible for picking up paper to hand in etc. Also you can make each student responsible for hanging up coats, putting away papers, putting away backpacks and make it part of your day to learn how to put coats on, zip coats and tie shoes! And then let the kids who are shoe sherriffs (how my kids school does it) teach and help the other kids. Every single kid in my kids school can tie shoes before leaving Kindergarten. In the schools I work in, hardly any kids even in upper levels can tie shoes. I walk around all day and stop and tie kids shoes! At home, we are more self running by using grocery pick up or delivery. This saves me well over an hour per week. We also make sure the small things are done before going to bed such as dishes and picking up the house so we don't wake up to a mess. It takes 5 minutes maximum and we delegate it out to everyone in the house.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I do with my classes is a daily reading fluency activity called Six Minute Solution. This involves partner reading, error tracking and data sharing. We use dry erase markers, erasers and individual pages for each student, the distribution and collection of which can get very chaotic. With clear expectations, assigned people for each task and positive encouragement, this can be completed quickly, allowing students more class time for skill reinforcement, concept clarification or the favorite work time.
ReplyDeleteAt home, I am working to reduce the number of things that I have in my home spaces: kitchen, pantry, bedroom closet, bathroom, etc. I am also working to create systems in these spaces that are intuitive to me, adn easy to explain to my husband. SOme bills are now paid electronically, so I can take care of these in minutes; paper/check/postal mail bills are set up with all necessary stamps, labels, envelopes, etc are easily at hand to again be completed quickly and simply, keeping mail clutter buildup off of my countertops rather than handing out, creating mental chaos.
How can you create more of a self-running classroom by giving students more responsibility? In your personal life, how can you create more of a self-running home?
ReplyDeleteSelf-running classroom: I focus on routines and expectations in my early childhood classroom. I teach independence and responsibility so I don't have 18 four year olds needing constant assistance. Daily visual schedule also helps. I think in the next year I will be more intentional with the jobs on our job chart and choose jobs to help build a self-running classroom.
Home: My children are older which leads to a more self-running home. Developing a rotating meal plan would help answer the constant "what's for dinner" question.
I teach high schoolers, and I liked the idea of students applying for jobs that they were interested. In my classroom specifically, I could have students hand out binders, get the bell ringer going, or collect work. At home, I think I could have my children start putting away their own clothes - it might now be perfect, but who cares?
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