Meaningful Classroom Jobs in a Special Education Classroom

Now that we are a few weeks into school and things are starting to come together, I want to share a few functional classroom jobs that have been added to our classroom this year!

I have always had classroom jobs but this year I have added a few new ones to the list since I am now working with students from Kindergarten to Fifth grade all day versus preschool students half of a day.  (To see previous posts regarding my preschool jobs click these links: Arrival Jobs, Snack Jobs)

As Dr. Becky Bailey shares through Conscious Discipline, it is important that students have jobs that contribute to something bigger than themselves and this is even more important when working with  special needs students.  Often times students with disabilities are the receivers of help rather than the givers.  By giving students with special needs meaningful jobs they can contribute and begin to realize that they matter!

Let's take a look at a few jobs in our classroom that do just that!

Menu Helper- Students look at the monthly lunch menu and copy what is for lunch on the chalkboard.

NOTE: If a student has the skill of writing and copying but cannot write the entire menu for the day.  We will have them simply copy the main dish or a few items from a white board list.

Students that don't have the skill of writing, simply find the icons for what is for lunch in our alphabetized lunch icon binder and velcro them on a lunch tray that is mounted to our wall with removable mounting tape.

Quote Helper- Students put up the quote of the day on our window facing the hallway.  Higher students google search for a quote or look through quote books to find one they like and then write it on a white board and clip it on the clipboard in the hall.

Students who do not have the skill of searching the internet or a book for information, simply pick a laminated quote out of our quote of the day tub and clip it to the clipboard.

Box Top Counter- Students check our class mailbox for any boxtops and pop tabs that other classrooms have delivered to us.

Then they get the supplies they need off our errand shelf to sort, cut out and count boxtops into sets of 50 so they can be submitted to Box Tops for Education for money!!

For this activity some students match up 50 boxtops on a box top template for one to one correspondence practice, others practice counting 1 to 50 using a number chart and other student who are practicing money match each box tops to dime icons and then total the amount of money the class made.

After counting box tops into sets of 50 the students bag them and deliver them back to the classrooms that 'mailed' them to us, which provides an opportunity for students with special needs to show the contributions they make to our school!

Until next time strive to find meaningful jobs for ALL students!  And remember everyone has something to contribute to our classrooms, our schools and society as a whole:)

Best wishes,  Lindy