I have two new jobs added to the jobs list:
1. the Reader Leader. This is the kid who leads the class in the choral reading of texts. She reads slowly and loudly and literally brings the class along with her. Extra credit for that.
2. the Memorizer of the Cards. This kid knows what everyone in the class wrote doen on their Circling with Balls cards. Then, whenever I ask,  unexpectedly in any given moment in class, what So and So does, he answers quickly that So and So does whatever. Then I ask where So and So does whatever and he answers where. Then I go back to the other CI. This is also an extra credit job. In fact they all are extra credit jobs.
For the full list:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/07/31/classroom-jobs/
The Problem with CI
Jeffrey Sachs was asked what the difference between people in Norway and in the U.S. was. He responded that people in Norway are happy and
7 thoughts on “Two New Jobs”
Ben Slavic is a genious. Tell your friends. 🙂
Thanks Ben. I just got done with my first ever reading classes a la Slavic (sacred reading and all), and I believe SO much in how all this is working for me and my students! I will be putting a reader leader on the job next time…
New jobs for my kids this year that I haven’t done in the past:
Pero bleater (pero – but) – Just like the bleater in french
Hoy (today) – kid shouts “OY!” a la AC/DC’s rendition of the song, TNT where the Australian band members shout, “TNT, oy! oy! oy! TNT, oy! … etc) I linked it to ‘today’ by telling the class that the band didn’t know they were singing, TNT today! today! today! Corny, but it works.
Alarm clock/English Abuse – kid who can make the most annoying sound in class sounds off at the time I told her/him ( I always forget to stop the CI in time for a quiz) or at the slightest sign that I may be going in to an English rant. S/he sounds off and I thank her/him profusely and segue right back into Spanish. The message to the rest of the students is CLEAR. We’re hear to listen to Spanish, not to listen to the teacher talk about Spanish in English
…s/he sounds off and I thank her/him profusely and segue right back into Spanish….
This just makes me laugh. I’m gonna add it to the job list. I’m not sure it would work in all classrooms. You’d need the right kid. What kind of sound does the kid make?
one kid in one class makes a blaring WAH WAH WAH like a security alarm. Another kid in another class chirps like a cricket. A perfect reminder to me that them hearing me speak English is boring. Then, a girl in another class faintly mews like a cat. It’s so subtle that it cracks me up every time. My admin LOVES how this is so fun and inclusive. She totally gets why it’s a good idea. This week she was in the room when I was asking for an alarm time – telling the kid at what time I needed him to sound off. The kid demurred. Said he didn’t want the job anymore. I swiftly asked for volunteers. Nobody. Really? Really. Nobody. My admin said SHE would do it. I said, OK. I told her in the TL to sound off at 2:21 pm on the dot. She went away and came back in at 2:15. Sat quietly until 2:21 and then, right in the middle of one of my sentences, she sounded off. The kids loved it! I thanked her and segued into the quiz.
Administrators who can play, who believe it’s not all doom and gloom and judging and academic and about memorization and who is the smartest. Wow, is all I can say to that administrator. Maybe she will be a superintendent some day. Then you’ll have the district support you need to convince the others in the district that comprehension methods are here to stay, and the confusion will go away like a bad dream.
Oy! happens immediately after hearing the word ‘Hoy’, of course.
EPIC!!! I am totally going to add OY! I also have a timekeeper for the same reason. Was letting this person use the sound effects on an ipod, but that got too distracting, so back to the vocal sound effects!
I ended up morphing the “quiz writer” job into “periodista” (aka note taker). I end up getting the same info, maybe not pre-formatted into a quiz, but for some reason the “quiz writer” title seemed to create a stress level for that job.
I am trying to rotate the jobs weekly. I may change this down the line and offer extra credit, but I wanted everyone to try the different jobs. The 5th grade teacher at our school includes “job assigner” as one of the jobs, and this person gets to do the hiring. I haven’t tried this yet, but maybe? Anyway, last week when I was asking for volunteers, I chose the first kid who did the “not it” nose gesture to be the “mais” bleater. He is the one who only wants to be the timekeeper, and maybe he will evolve into it, but I made him “mais” even though it was the lamest “meh” in the universe. It was actually really funny and the kids (including him) loved it.