Law #1 Believe In a Culture of Child Labor

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Child labor, not sweat shops

By no means am I advocating for sweat shops or for you abusing your students with physical labor. The culture of child labor I am referring to having students do more work than the actual teacher. Having classroom roles is just one form of child labor that I do believe in. When I say I believe in child labor, I do not teach and reteach. Instead, I teach, have my students work collaboratively to teach each other, and then have my “wizards,” reteach. Once I teach a lesson the first time, my number one job is to facilitate that process of collaboration.

How to create a culture of child labor in your classroom

#1 – Get Volunteers for Classroom Roles

Being a secondary level teacher, I have some qualms with some things. Looking back at the structures at the elementary level, I wonder why we cut them at the secondary level. One of those things would be having classroom jobs. I recall the days when every student gets a chance to be the board eraser, line leader, paper passer, paper collector, door holder, teacher’s helper, and even take the class pet home for the weekend. The possibilities were endless at those grade levels.

Then we get to the secondary level. For some reason we put all of the burden of responsibility back on the teacher. What’s crazy, is the amount of students that we see every day has been multiplied anywhere between 6-8 times that of the elementary load. Most teach anywhere between 6-8 periods a day. On top of that are also responsible for all other nuances be they big or small. This can undoubtedly be taxing.

I have used classroom roles in a few ways to create a culture of child labor. Some years I assign roles, and the students change jobs every week or two. Truthfully, I would mostly remember to change them when a student complains. The complaint is usually because they have been waiting for their chance at a certain role. Some of the roles I use in my class that help take load off of me are:

• Door opener,
• Paper Passers
• Paper Collectors
• Secretary (answers my classroom phone)
• Materials Manager (ensures class materials are properly accounted for and stored)
• Board Eraser (erases my white board and cleans it for me)
• Tech Specialist (assist students with tech issues)

Having these roles increases classroom buy-in. At the same time also allows me to conserve some extra energy. We rarely pay attention to how draining the little mundane tasks can truly be.

#2 – Build a Culture of Collaboration the First Week of School

OK hold your horses, before you completely write me off because you are reading this blog somewhere in the middle of the school year. You are still able to accomplish this culture of child labor that you seek . Even if you didn’t start building the culture from the beginning. It is much easier to start the school year off with it because all students want you to like them and they’re on their very best behavior. They are super sponges, and are willing to do almost anything that you ask them to do. Implementing this later in the year is still possible, but you may be met with more resistance. Mostly because they have become accustomed to your class being one way, and most humans don’t like change.

The first weeks of school, including the first week of school, I have my students do different activities . These specifically require collaboration. I explain to them what I expect to see and hear. Holding firmly to my expectations, I don’t accept anything less. Laying the foundation for the culture does require me to walk around. I go from group to group, and actually coach them through the process of talking to human beings without an electronic device doing it for them.

Another part of building this culture, is teaching them ways to ask questions to get help. Partnered with this, is teaching what is an appropriate way to give help, how to ask for others input, how to guide your group to the right process, and how to work through differing opinions. For more tips on how help your students collaborate effectively, check out my post on, “Yes, I Expect You to Talk to Human without a Device.”

Rome was not built in one day, and neither will collaboration. However, the sooner you start, the more practice your students will have with it. Anytime you expect collaboration to take place, you must tell your students what you expect. You will need to be a broken record, reiterating what you want to see and hear. As well as, examples of what is and what is not appropriate. Prepare yourself mentally, as you may have to coerce them into interacting with one another…EVERYTIME, for a long time.

The more you have your students collaborate, the easier it is to get them to fall in line. Definitely try to be consistent with it, and have students collaborate a minimum of 2x a week. It does not have to be for the entire class period, but consistency is key to maintaining a collaborative culture. Consistency will show your students that they might as well get on board, because this isn’t going anywhere.

#3 – Get You Some Wizards

There are certain days, when my students are practicing. On these days, my rule of thumb is, once I have at least two students who have gotten that question correct, I am no longer dealing with it. No longer I am answering questions about that problem, and I am no longer checking their final answers. I do not leave them high and dry. The expectation is they need to go to the wizards to get their needs met. I am still available for other problems that still do not have 2 wizards yet. Usually, I project a Google Sheet that has all the problem numbers, with two spots next to each number. I fill in the Wizards names next to the problem they earned.

Warning: Posting the wizards list has a side effect that brings out the competitor in your students. Some side effects include: 100% class engagement, loud academic conversation, shrieks of excitement, strategic sabotage to slow down other students, and students working faster than you have ever seen them work before.

You will see them highly engaged, trying to get their name on the board the most. Students that don’t normally ask questions are trying, because they want people to come to them for a problem, so they can feel, “smart.” My motto is, “Whatever works.”

A culture of child labor ensures I do not go to the board and explain. If there is even one student in the class that has the answer correct. I know many of you are thinking about those introverted students that absolutely hate having to interact with other humans. It is possible to foster this culture for all your students. It may take some extra patience and building up, but it can happen. For implementation strategies, see my post, Collaborate or Else.

Standing at the board solving the same 10 problems for 6, 55-minute blocks of time is a big no-no for me. As a matter of fact, I only give my students notes on a topic one time. During that period, I give them 200% effort. Some things I make sure to include are: multiple examples, gradual release, generic steps for solving those types of problems, graphic organizers, vocabulary, color-coding, and vocabulary.

I do this because I know moving forward, they will be working harder than me. I want to give them everything they need. Just to note, building in gradual release into the lesson provides me with a few moments to myself each class. Even though direct instruction makes the period more teacher-centered, find ways to put the work back on the students.

#4 – Let Your Students Come to the Board

Some teachers that have the control freak gene may find this one a little bit difficult. However, I promise you that this one is very rewarding. Say for instance, you have given your students a bell ringer. You have circulated to find that you have a couple of students who got the correct work and answer.

Allow one of those students to come to the board, or shall I say, require one of those students to come to the board who got it correct. Simply have them take what they put on their paper, on the board. Then take 30 seconds and explain to the class how they got their answer. Don’t worry, if that student happens to say something incorrect. You should thank them for their bravery and then piggy back off what they said.

This saves you from having to rework the same problem over and over again that day. This strategy can also be handy when playing review games. If a group gets the answer and work correct, someone from their group comes and puts their work up on the board and explains.

You may have some more introverted students that struggle with the concept of being in the front of the class. You may need to give them some additional emotional support guidance, with a sprinkle of encouragement. These will likely be needed in order to get them to be the one to come to the board. Again, the more you do this the more it becomes the culture and the more the students will buy in.

All in all, teacher burnout is real and anything that you can do to buy yourself a few minutes of sanity every class period, will add up at the end of the day. Your students actually want to be helpful to you, so allow them to have classroom roles . Your students also like to feel smart, so allow them to help other students in the class. These methods do require you to relinquish some bits of control but if you coach your students on your expectations then this can prove to be a very productive model for you.

Conclusion

Part of conserving your energy is allowing your much more youthful students to burn some of their extra energy. Creating a culture of child labor puts the burden of physical exertion on students. Simultaneously, you use mental energy and facilitate. Once the culture has been set in your classroom, your students will look forward to those opportunities to help you, and to help their peers. Long term you will feel less exhausted, and be able to show up better for anyone you encounter throughout your day.

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