I posted a few days ago about the troubles I have had with my class this year. It seems no matter what I do, rewards or consequences, nothing works! You know it's bad when I asked my students to raise their hands if they have made it to every behavior reward party this year and a student asks, "What's that?" Funny, but sooo not funny! Someone named Kriss commented that they have started using a site called Class Dojo. I had never heard of it, so I decided to look into it a bit. Please keep in mind I am writing about this completely blind. I have not used this in the classroom yet, but I am planning to after break. Basically, you set up your class (or in my case, classes). Yes, I do get a little break in the afternoon when I get a new crop of students for reading class! After setting up your classes, you decide what positive and/or negative behaviors you want to track. The beautiful thing is that it can be displayed on the SmartBoard and you can work it from your iPad or Smart Phone. If a student is participating or helping out a classmate, or just doing what they are supposed to be doing, you can reward them points. If a student is being disrespectful or out of their seat, or not doing what they are supposed to be doing, you can take away points. I think I might start out focusing on the positive. But with this particular group of students, I might need to eventually do both. In my grade level, we use a checklist behavior management system, which I posted about here last year. The great thing about it is that it is portable and can move with my students to other classes. The downfall is that when students get checkmarks, it is not a visual reminder of their behavior (like the card system). Displaying Class Dojo on the SmartBoard would serve as a visual reminder to students.
Picture this: I'm sitting in small group during Daily 5 time. I have my iPad next to me. I notice two students reading the entire Daily 5 choice time. I can quickly award them points. A student I'm in group with has an interesting insight, I can award her a point. Another student decides to get up and start walking around the room. I take away a point from him. He sees on the SmartBoard that he has just lost a point. It quickly corrects his behavior and my group is not interrupted because I am doing everything from my iPad. Can you picture it? I can! I just hope it works the way I'm visualizing!
I am interested to see if anyone else has used or is currently using Class Dojo in their classrooms? If so, what do you like or dislike about it and what advice can you give?
I am interested to see how this goes! Keep us posted :)
ReplyDeleteI love Class Dojo. It is a wonderful tool to use because it provides such an easy way to reward those specific students who are always doing well. As well as target those specific negative behaviors you are seeing in other kids. It is a wonderful piece to have at parent conferences too because it shows the parents in a visual way how their child is doing in the class.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered it and started using it in my class on Thursday. My kids LOVE it b/c they got to choose their avatar and see what behavior points they were getting immediately. There's also a thing where you can email parent reports daily. All you have to do is enter emails (only one per child), and once they're in, you just click the button every day (or once a week is what I'm thinking). We're on break this week, but I think it's going well so far. My only problem was that I couldn't get it to work from my smartphone (the site never loaded), but it could've just been a temporary problem. I have a droid.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel - Kalen from ClassDojo here. Thanks so much for mentioning us on your blog - we really appreciate the support! We're anxious to hear how it goes in your class...be sure to keep in touch :)
ReplyDelete@Mrs. J - Thanks so much for the kind words! Love how you're using ClassDojo at parent conferences. Might even be a cool guest blog post for our teacher highlights blog! Let me know if you're interested - kalen@classdojo.com
@Melissa - Thanks to you as well! I just emailed you a solution to the smartphone issue - check it out and let me know if it fixes it for you.
If anyone who comes across this post has any questions for us at ClassDojo or need help getting set up, please don't hesitate to reach out - hello@classdojo.com :)
I've been using Class Dojo since January, and my kids (and I) absolutely love it! I keep my SmartBoard up so the kids can always see how they are doing. I found that the kids were really distracted when the names would pop up on the screen, so I edited it so that only the positive and negative sounds occur (without names). Good luck!
ReplyDeleteQuench Your First
I have been using this since January as well and I can tell you that it works. I project it onto my screen from my ELMO, and I use it all day long. I give points for my math problem of the day (Super Scholar points), homework and classwork, and super independent work. I don't have a phone or i-pad yet, but I have a different student each day sit at my desk during reading workshop and award points while I meet with groups. My kids have gone from talkers and time-wasters to quiet independent workers! I also let students change their avatar when they earn 30 points in the month. They ALL want to pick their own avatar. What a simple reward! This program is worth your time! I turned 3 other teachers in my building into Dojo users!
ReplyDeleteI also found out about Class Dojo from the blogging world and I LOVE it! I do have one kiddo who basically ends in the negative points every single day. My kids will do just about anything to earn a point. I noticed an increase in kind behavior towards each other as well. I can't wait to hear how you like it!
ReplyDeleteBonnie
Living A Wonderful Life
Wow! This looks really cool! I'm having trouble getting it to work on my Droid tablet, but the website itself is great!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea for centers and it would really work well during my homeroom time. Will definitely set up this week and try out. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI set up class dojo last night and used it this morning with my two classes. They loved it! They loved that they could earn points for good behavior and that it could take away from the bad behavior points. I also loved that I could use my iphone as a remote. I used my phone when we went to library and continued to add and take away points. They were so eager to get back to class to see their points. It is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI use class dojo & posted about it when I first started! I love it. I wish I had a smart phone that I could use with it! =)
ReplyDeleteMeg
Third Grade in the First State
I went today looked at this site, set up my class, looked around, etc. For those of you using, how long do you let points accumulate before resetting? I have been giving a daily behavior "grade" up to this point - I use the clip chart. If they are a certain level or above, they can be entered in a prize drawing. Are you letting points accumulate longer, resetting each day but recording it somewhere, or something else entirely? I would like a record to look back on when I give their conduct grade each quarter.
ReplyDeleteI started yesterday and the kids are super excited about it. Knock on wood, it seems to be working! I am letting their points accumulate throughout the week. I told them once they reach 15 points, they can choose their own avatar, and once they get to 25 points, they get a "golden ticket" This is a building-wide behavior incentive. I will probably link more rewards to it once I use it some more.
ReplyDelete