The countdown is on…

I don’t know about you, but I have seventeen days until I have to return to school to start my in-service training.  In some ways I’m really excited – it’s going to be an AMAZING year. In some ways, I wish I could hold on to summer just a little longer!

To continue my summer of “ways to turn your classroom into an Iditarod themed masterpiece,” I wanted to share my new classroom job board!

I had a version of this board last year with jobs that were Dog Yard Chores, but this year, I am tweaking it to make it more specific to the Iditarod Race and I’ve turned it into Trail Chores.  I have chosen 8 classroom jobs for this year.  With 16 kids, that means each student will have a job every other week. When they don’t have a job, they will be “Out on the Trail.”  Here are the jobs that I chose to use, the Iditarod job description, and my classroom job description.

Lead Dog – the dog that runs in the front of the team – line leader

Wheel Dog – the dog that runs closest to the sled in the team – line ender

Swing Dog – the dog that runs right behind the lead dogs in the team  – substitute (covers jobs as needed)

Go Fetch – okay, not technically an Iditarod job, but it’s really fun to call out “GO FETCH!” and have a kid jump up and do your bidding!  – this is my messenger/ errand runner

Handler – the handler helps the musher with training and race prep – in the classroom this is my right hand man – passes out materials, collects materials, etc.  (I think it’s going to be fun to just call out “Handle it!”)

Race Judge – the race judges are responsible for the enforcement of race rules and procedures – in the classroom this person is going to run the Homework Iditaopoly Game for me

Stats – the stats volunteers are responsible for updating the race data to the web – in the classroom they are responsible for updating the classroom for the next day (changing the calendar, erasing the board, updating the schedule)

Air Force – the Iditarod Air Force is responsible for (among other things) delivering supplies to to the various checkpoints – in the classroom this person will deliver the library books back to the library

Here are some other jobs I thought of if you need more ideas:  Comms – they get the information from the trail to the race headquarters – could do classroom newsletter or other communications jobs; Vet – could take students to the nurse when needed; Teacher on the Trail – could take classroom attendance; Sweeper – could do a room sweep at the end of the day to check for cleanliness.

I wanted the name tags for the job board to mimic the armbands that some race volunteers wear.  Here is a pdf that you can add your own students’ name to –

Iditarod Name Cards blank

Hopefully my students will take their jobs as seriously as the amazing Iditarod Race volunteers do!