debbie kay designs: February 2017

How do you handle classroom jobs in your classroom?

I used to have a job for every student in my classroom. But, I always forgot who did what and got tired of referencing my job chart to find out. When we were out of the classroom, I never could remember who was in charge of what. No more!

Now, I have 2 teacher’s assistants per day and they literally do ALL of the jobs that day. This method has really worked for me and has simplified managing student jobs. Everyone gets a turn at doing everything and I don’t have to keep track of which students have held certain jobs or not. Plus, I don’t have to dedicate as much wall space in my room for this simple little chart versus the entire bulletin board my former job chart took up.

Each day I have a boy and girl assistant. They are my line leaders, take lunch money to the café, return library books, pass out papers, EVERYTHING! They love being “in charge” for the day and I love not having the hassle of assigning jobs and keeping track of who is supposed to be doing things.

I put my Teacher's Assistants chart on TPT if you are ready to ditch your old system and simplify like I did! There are 4 different borders to choose from:

Included in this packet are number cards and choice of 6 different color charts. Please check out the preview to see color choices. Each chart has a black & white border.

**Please note that the magnetic border shown in the photographs is obviously not included. However, I wanted to show you how I hang mine in my own classroom.

Simply print out the chart and number cards, laminate, and hang. I punched holes in the top of my number cards and hang them from a magnetic hook. You'll want to assign each student a number. You may be like me and use student numbers for other things such as student mailboxes or desks. You're all set!

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Leave me a comment below!

Thanks for stopping by!

Still need a Valentine idea for your class this year? Here is what I am doing for my kiddos.

I'm sure you've seen these around. I got the idea from Pinterest a couple of years back. In the past I've simply put them in a cellophane bag; however this year, I wanted to do something different. So, I whipped up these cards. The crayon heart attaches to them with a few dots of hot glue.

Here are the instructions to make these:
1. Gather all the broken and old crayons from your class. For me, this is simple because at the beginning of each new year I swap out my students old crayons for a brand new box, then I set the old broken crayons aside for this Valentines Day project.

2. Peel off the paper. This is the tedious part. Grab a beverage and something good on T.V. and peel away. Some wrappers come off easily and some don't. I have found that what works best for me is to use a small utility knife and cut a slit down the length of each crayon. The wrapper will peel right off.

3. Put crayons into a silicone mold. These are pretty easy to find this time of year with the seasonal baking supplies.

4. Heat oven to 200 - 250 degrees. Place silicone mold onto a cookie sheet and place in oven. Heat until melted, about 15 min.

5. Be careful taking out of oven. Try not to mix up the colors. You want to be able to see each individual color. (Unless, of course, a more solid color is the effect you're going for.) Let cool. Hint: Once the was has solidified enough for me to move it, I place the mold in the freezer to cool it quicker.

6. Carefully pop out the heart-shaped crayons and attached to a card front using a few drops of hot glue or strong double-sided tape.