As music teachers, we have lots of things to keep track of during the day. Multiple classes later and we’ve forgotten to do some of the basic things like input attendance for those of us who have to do that, or prep things that take forever to set up. Here are some jobs that students can do so we can focus on other things.

• Assistant Teacher (“Ask me first”) – this student is the person kids go to for clarification before asking the teacher.
• Electrician – turns on/off the lights
• Duster
• Sweeper – if you are using anything that gets everywhere, like confetti (which I realize that you probably would not use in a music room under normal circumstances, but that is where my brain went), or eraser dustings, or even those little bunnies that sometimes conglomerate, this is a great job to have. It also helps keep the room in tip top shape if your custodians are overwhelmed.
• Attendance Taker – for those of us that have to do that, a great way to do this is have the kids use a number based on the class roster. You can use a magnetic board with magnets with numbers, a pocket chart or anything else that can hang by the door. The attendance taker moves any numbers that are missing for the day to “absent” box and you can also use this as a method of keeping track of which students are in the bathroom or out of the room with a “out of room” box.
• Windows (blinds/window – open close)
• Paper monitor – passes out/collects
• Instrument tech – passes out/collects small instruments like egg shakers and rhythm sticks or any instrument that is easy to carry.
• DJ – turns on the music
• Line leader
• Caboose
• Door monitor – listens for knocks/doorbells/etc
• Messenger – any ‘out of the classroom’ messages that need to go out
• Pencil tech – Passes out, sorts what needs to be sharpened
• Phone tech – answers the phone!
• Moving crew (furniture)
• Secret partner – this one is a great job for kids that are helpful. It helps students who may need an extra hand without making them feel called out.

How to Assign

• Draw popsicle sticks
• Random number generator using class list
• iDoceo’s random picker
• Assign but keep track so students don’t have repeated jobs, and everyone gets a shot.

I hope that this gives you some ideas of student jobs for the music classroom!