September 4, 2015 - Mrs. Dismuke's Second Grade

No matter what grade I have taught, I have always placed upmost importance in developing a school family. As part of any "family" there are various roles - the bottom line being that everyone contributes to make it all work. That's why I have always made classroom jobs an integral part of our classroom. 

Frequently when introducing new activities, my littles and I talk about their job and my job. I cannot do my job if they aren't doing theirs. They cannot do their job of becoming the best learners they can be if I'm not doing my job. We need each other. We make each other better. We make life even more rich by doing it with each other.

I shared the various jobs the first week of school, but when I announced on Monday that we were beginning our own jobs the excitement was unreal. Immediately students were calling dibs on the job of their choice, knowing that they would eventually rotate through them all. For me, it makes the classroom run much more smoothly, taking the "little things" off my plate. For them, it gives them the buy-in to take their part in the school family.

For them, they love assuming the role of an electrician, SmartBoard manager, door holder, calendar helper, horticulturist, office manager, meteorologist, photographer, Twitter manager, veterinarian, personal assistant, lunch helper, among many others. They never see it as a chore, joyfully doing all of these things, perhaps never genuinely knowing how much they really are helping.

For me, I never have to turn off the lights, hold a door, check the weather, water the plant, feed Alvin the fish, answer a telephone call, pick up red folders, keep up with our Go Bag, worry about the lunches making it down, or sharpening pencils. 

For us, we might have only spent ten days together, but this group of 22 individuals has quickly become a family.

Mrs. Christina Dismuke