Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Go Back                 Case Posted on September 26, 2012 1:10 pm Add to Favorites Matthew Sollers Reps: 63 Messy Classroom I have successfully included students experiencing phenomena and engaging in inquiry in my classes. My students are engaged and seem to enjoy my class. Unfortunately, even when I remember to have students clean up at the end of each period, I still seem to have to clean up the lab area for at least a half hour at the end of each day. Any help?                 Submit a Possible Solution Please read response(s) below (if any) before posting your solution.                 Solution 1 Posted October 2, 2012 2:50 pm amaJud Reps: 114 If I were you I would have the lessons more organized. If the students only have access to the materials they need then clean up will be less hectic. I also think if you put the materials in baskets for each group it will be easier for you to manage who is and isn't cleaning up their mess. Having baskets with the materials in them will also help speed up your cleaning time because all you have to clean is the 5 baskets of materials. Votes: +13 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Jenna Herberson Reps: 200 I think keeping the lessons more reigned in will definitely help.   Posted on: February 24, 2018 6:20 am Add a Comment                 Solution 2 Posted October 2, 2012 2:47 pm guPeRu Reps: 135 I believe that it would be useful to assign students jobs in the the beginning of the week. For instance, you can assign a desk cleaner, floor monitor, materials gatherer, and lab technician. For clarification, a lab technician can properly shut down the technology that is used. Jobs can be modified to help your needs. They can also be rotated. In addition, if you have groups, each member can be assign a role. I would provide students with 15 minutes at the end of the class to clean up their classroom. If needed, an incentive/privilege can be given to students who complete their assigned roles correctly. Votes: +4 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 3 Posted October 2, 2012 2:47 pm guPeRu Reps: 135 I believe that it would be useful to assign students jobs in the the beginning of the week. For instance, you can assign a desk cleaner, floor monitor, materials gatherer, and lab technician. For clarification, a lab technician can properly shut down the technology that is used. Jobs can be modified to help your needs. They can also be rotated. In addition, if you have groups, each member can be assign a role. I would provide students with 15 minutes at the end of the class to clean up their classroom. If needed, an incentive/privilege can be given to students who complete their assigned roles correctly. Votes: +4 / -2 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 4 Posted October 2, 2012 2:48 pm Ashlyn Eddinger Reps: 121 It is great that students are engaged and enjoying your class. However, maintaining a clean class is important. I would approach this situation by stopping the activity at least ten minutes before class ends. This will allow you to wrap up the activity, as well as have students putting their materials away in the correct spots. Students should also be responsible for wiping of their tables to provide a clean surface for the next class. At the end of the day, have students make sure that their enviornment is clean prior to leaving class. This should alleviate some of the stress of cleaning after school. Votes: +3 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 5 Posted October 4, 2012 5:10 pm vusyHa Reps: 112 I would assign one student sherrif and have them check off each task once other students had done it and the "sherrif" had checked. If the sherrif let everyone go adn something wasn't done the sherrif would have to pick up the slack. Sherrifs would want to go home like everyone else and be sure to keep students up to snuff on their duties. Votes: +3 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 6 Posted October 6, 2012 12:22 pm NeDema Reps: 113 Before the students leave for the next class, the lab should already be cleaned up. You should stop the lesson in time to get the class cleaned up. You could assign a clean up crew after each lab who are in charge of making sure the lab is clean before the class is over. If they do their job they could be rewarded extra points. Votes: +3 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Edward Gibbs Reps: 100 I like this solution. I would use this solution in my classroom.   Posted on: October 19, 2014 7:46 pm Add a Comment                 Solution 7 Posted October 2, 2012 6:00 pm tebyXu Reps: 114 I would make cleaning up part of the student's grade. I would also use a reword system to encourage cleaning habits. If the problem continued I would assign students to cleaning duty. Votes: +3 / -3 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 8 Posted October 16, 2012 8:36 am ynudaq Reps: 121 I would give students jobs each week that include helping you out with the extra work. Students love having a title, so rotating jobs each week will be a fun way for them to participate in helping you clean your classroom. Votes: +2 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution ezaDyR Reps: 100 Great! I would create and display a job chart for my classroom. The jobs will also rotate, but it alleviates classroom problems also.   Posted on: October 19, 2014 4:47 pm Add a Comment                 Solution 9 Posted October 16, 2012 11:20 am BeLyGe Reps: 110 At the end of the day or subject, one way to make sure students will clean up is to make it a race or competetion. The group or station that is the first to clean up the best will recieve a point for that day. The group with the most clean up points at the end of the month will recieve a special prize. This will engage the students to want to clean because of the reward and it will also help you out in the long run. Votes: +2 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 10 Posted February 22, 2013 3:36 pm ypedeD Reps: 102 At the end of every day, I have my students pick up two pieces of trash off the floor as their "ticket" out of the room. They know the drill now and it seems to work well. My room is never messy at the end of the day! Votes: +2 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Edward Gibbs Reps: 100 I used to have to do this and it gets the class clean. I would use this in my classroom.   Posted on: October 19, 2014 7:47 pm Add a Comment                 Solution 11 Posted October 2, 2012 3:16 pm uremev Reps: 109 As the end of the approaches the teacher should remind the students how much h time is left and the students should be using this time to clean their designated areas. The cleaning up process can be something the teacher incorporates into the grade as part of completing the assignment. Votes: +2 / -1 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 12 Posted April 18, 2013 6:49 pm ZeNyJe Reps: 102 I would suggest designating a job for each student and setting time aside at the end of the lesson for clean up. The clean up jobs should be worth points so that the students will actually do them. The teacher should not dismiss the students until the room is cleaned appropriately. Each day or each week the jobs can alternate or be picked randomly. Votes: +1 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 13 Posted October 3, 2012 3:01 pm Kym Toner Reps: 103 Assign a number to each student within a group before the experiment starts and designate what the responsibilities for each number are during the experiment. At the end of the experiment, write or say 'person #1 - clean the beakers, person #2, throw away trash from your station, etc.' so everyone has a designated role when cleaning up. Votes: +1 / -1 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 14 Posted October 14, 2012 8:07 pm JemyWe Reps: 132 I would not let the students leave until their area is spotless. There is no need for you to always clean up aftr them, they need to be responsible for their areas. If they do not have a clean enough area, they will stay until you have inspected their work. The more you practice this, the more your students will catch on and keep their areas as clean as possible. Votes: +1 / -1 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 15 Posted February 21, 2015 4:30 am eLutuP Reps: 102 Peers can be very helpful. I have seen many different classrooms and I try to draw from all experiences. See what other teachers do and if you like them, apply them to your own classroom. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution eQyVuj Reps: 200 I would try to enforce the importance of cleaning up after yourself. Allow a few minutes before class ends to make sure everything is cleaned up.   Posted on: March 1, 2015 1:20 am Add a Comment                 Solution 16 Posted October 13, 2016 8:05 pm Jillian Rintrona Reps: 103 that s great the students are engaged. maybe plan in the class period to start cleaning up at a certain time so the students can clean up after themselves. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 17 Posted February 21, 2017 1:55 am usudaX Reps: 226 I was a long-term substitute for about 6 months in a first grade classroom that had little to no order before the teacher left. I walked into a complete mess. The students seldom cleaned up after themselves at the end of the day. I got sick and tired of doing this each day, so I started playing a game. I planned out different rewards: no homework pass, treasure box, extra recess, eat lunch with the teacher and a friend, etc. At the end of the day, I would pick something in the classroom that was not in the right place, or a piece of garbage on the floor and not tell the students what it was. I would tell the students, "I see something that doesn't belong. If you find my magic item and put it in its place, you will win a prize." I would then set the timer for 5 minutes. The class loved playing this and my room would be absolutely spotless! Whoever put the item or piece of garbage in the right place won the prize. By the end of the 2nd month, we barely ever had to play the game because the students were so used to cleaning up regularly. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 18 Posted October 2, 2017 3:10 pm aWyVys Reps: 202 I would discuss with students my expectations of a clean classroom and make it a goal for the students to improve their cleaning and even provide an incentive we would do a super fun lab if they are able to successfully clean the area without me cleaning up of an entire month. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Solution 19 Posted February 24, 2020 4:28 am agejeM Reps: 102 I would suggest a few possible solutions, such as cleaning the room as the work on the activity, or instituting specific and direct clean up instructions- like put x, y, and z away before leaving the room. Votes: +0 / -0 This Solution Is Useful   This Solution Is Not Useful   Comments posted for this solution Add a Comment                 Submit a Possible Solution Please read response(s) below (if any) before posting your solution.