End of the Day Jobs | The Ultimate Classroom Clean Up Routine
I have written in the past about sitting down in the afternoon to create a to-do list for the next day, and in those posts, I have eluded to the idea that your kids could be doing their “end of day jobs” during that time, while you’re thinking ahead to the next day. I promised to come back and explain that further at another time. I’m finally getting around to it!
Most teachers carve out time for packing up at the end of the day, but I always found this time rushed, not-purposeful. On top of that, this is a breeding time for behavior issues and bigger messes. As kids are pulling things out of their desks and cubbies to pack up, other things get spilled, not put away correctly…and the room looks like a bomb went off.
I got so sick of looking at a cluttered cubby area, and desks with junk spilling out of them, that I started to get pretty strict about the end-of-day routine. I also had several tiny tasks that I wanted to see done in the room more often, but I didn’t necessarily want to be responsible for them (making sure laptops were plugged in each night, dusting computers, wiping doorknobs with a Clorox wipe…the list goes on).
So, here’s what I came up with. I’ve tweaked this routine with different schedules and different groups of kids, but for the most part, I have stuck to this same routine each afternoon.
Here are 4 steps for a simple end-of-day routine that leaves your room cleaner than it was when the day began!
Pack Up
You likely already have a solid pack-up routine that you follow. The End of Day Jobs routine is meant to complement, not compete, with the systems you already have in place.
Send students to pack up however you normally do it. Dismiss by table groups, gender, birth month…whatever! Give them a few minutes to fully pack up to your expectations before beginning their jobs.
Begin Your Job
As soon as a student is done with the full pack-up routine, they can immediately begin doing their jobs. A few of the jobs require that all students are packed up first (cleaning out the cubby room being a big one), so I ask those students to wait at their desks until the music starts (see the next step).
I play a song to signal the start and end time of our jobs.
I like to play a 3-4 minute long song (usually something DIsney-themed, or a Kidz Bop version of a pop song) to give the kids a signal as to when they should be done packing up, starting their jobs, and wrapping things up.
They key to this system working is to keep it tight! Opening the afternoon wide up for kids to run around and socialize, and start their jobs whenever they feel ready, will only lead to chaos. You will hate this system if you don’t keep it structured.
So, I wait a couple of minutes after I have dismissed everyone to pack up. Then, I start the song. The song is the cue to all students that pack up time is over, and cleaning time has begun. They have until the end of the song to finish their job and get back to their desks. The length of one song is more than enough time, 99.9% of the time. If one child is consistently struggling to get packed up and do their job in that length of time, you can re-arrange the assignments by pairing them with a partner to speed things up!
Quiet, structured activity until dismissal
I love a Storyline Online video to kill the last few minutes until dismissal begins. I also have months where I am reading a novel to the kids and we settle in and I read a chapter or two! If you assign homework, giving the kids this time to silently get a jump-start on homework is also a popular option, and will keep the kiddos engaged and seated! Whatever you choose to do, you can enjoy this time with your class while you bask in the glow of a clean and sanitized room!
And that’s the routine! It’s quick, easy, and not difficult to teach. But, it really does result in a significantly cleaner classroom, and it takes so much off of your plate!
What am I doing while the kids are cleaning?
This is my favorite part of the routine, and really why I started it. You are getting ready for tomorrow. The kids are sharing the burden of sharpening pencils, sanitizing tables, etc. You won’t have to do that after they leave. So, use this time to lay out your copies for your first lesson tomorrow, make a checklist of things you need to get done during planning, jot some notes in your data folder for a data team meeting, print a master copy or two that you need to run for an upcoming lesson…whatever ‘teacher-only’ tasks you have left on your plate at the end of the day, do them!
Now, I’m not promising that you’ll never have to stay after the kids to run copies or do anything else. But, 4 out of 5 days each week, I walked out the door with my students. My room was clean, my desk was prepped with tomorrow’s lesson materials, and I was ready to go! It’s a beautiful thing
