I need help, and I've got sixty opportunities

Well, in class of 30 children, that is, I've sixty helping hands. Originally I thought it was somehow unethical to "use" my students to do "my work". But over time I've come to realize that there is a lot that needs to be done, and which don't cross privacy lines. For example, many children love to help. They like to feel needed, which in turn, makes their self esteem go up. Combine that with minor items around the classroom (sweeping, straightening books, keeping doors closed or open, lights on or off) is a win-win situation for teacher and student. The trick is managing their energy so that their focus is still on learning, and not being eager to help. There is still that mythology around the ten year old mind that the teacher who likes you, will pass you.

First, establish your basic system. For me, this is the hardest. Being in a non-self contained classroom, I don't have the luxury of keeping my children with me for most of the day. I have them for forty minutes and so I can only deal with immediate things. I've resolved this by assigning jobs to 'chairs', not students. For example, the chair nearest the phone answers the phone (this may not be appropriate in your school... please check with your administration). The two chairs nearest the front and center aisle are my paper collectors. The chair nearest the lights handles the lights, etc. The second nearest is the "back up" in case of an absence. Therefore when the class shifts from sixth grade math to seventh grade math, I am not reassigning jobs. I know, and the students know, who does what. Of course, this now makes seating charts and a regular system of changing seats more important, but more on that at another time.

Paper passing, and paper collecting are favorites of teachers, but I encourage to 'kick it up a notch' by a) assigning each of your students a number and b) having a student sort papers by number after being collected. You may assume that requesting alphabetizing by your student is enough, but trust me, for most children, even though they may be in sixth grade, sorting by number is FAR easier than determining between Zymowski and Zymewkowich. This tiny effort greatly speeds up my inputting of my grades.

If you can have a mailbox system for returning papers, all the best to you. A student who is in charge of filing will enjoy this job more if your boxes are numbered according to student number, and the sorted papers (which you've already inputted) are paper clipped and in order for sorting.
Another minor job students like to do is marking a big yellow highlighter X on papers. I do this when I am done inputting papers, so I know I've seen them and they are ready to be returned.

A regular basket for office mail is essential, as we know. Establish someone near the basket to ensure that it's empty ALL the time. I've gotten in trouble before for not rushing up required payments to the office fast enough or I've waited a day before noticing a note that was urgent to the office in the basket. If you're feeling risky, you can inform your office chair that they can leave ANYTIME, if they request permission from you first. This freedom of leaving (after informing you) is exciting and considered a treat. They must inform you! They cannot leave the classroom without the teacher in charge being aware of their whereabouts. This is a safety issue.

Other random jobs which may not be suited to any particular place in the classroom are:
a) Chair monitor (reminds students to push in their chairs). Their "reward" could be they are the first to leave the class at the end.
b) Room Sweeper
c) Agenda/Homework : they ensure the board's homework is accurate and that everyone has seen the homework. Careful: they are not the "homework god". The wrong person could make this task seem like they are supposed to demand compliance from their classmates. It's simply to ensure everyone sees the homework schedule.

Items not to assign to students (in case you weren't sure) is anything to do with confidential or private material, grading or computer work (you aren't in control of what they can do on your computer). There may be other things: you must exercise thought and caution. As the saying goes, if you are not sure, don't do it.

The times for these jobs to happen are usually near the beginning or at the end of class, say the last ten minutes. Some students work through a morning warm up exercise very quickly and need the extra thing as "something to do". I think it's important to make it clear these are choices, and not requirements. If your selected students don't feel well or don't feel inclined to do a good job, or prefer to do their homework, that's quite okay. Ask someone else, and don't make it a big deal. After all, it's still technically all your work, and they are helping you out.