I’m linking up with the amazing Mrs. McClain from Buzzing with Mrs. McClain for this month’s You Oughta Know Blog Hop! This hop is full of amazing tried and true ideas that fellow teachers/bloggers, feel that you just “Oughta Know!”
One of the resources that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE to use in my classroom is Class Dojo!!! Have you heard of it?!? If not let me tell you a little more about it.
I first discovered Class Dojo at a technology conference that I attended a couple of years ago. This particular year, I had a group of students that liked to keep me on my toes. After attending the conference I decided that the day I got back I was going to give Class Dojo a try and see how the students responded. They LOVED it!
What is Class Dojo?
It is a FREE behavior management tool that allows you to encourage your students through positivity. It is interactive and allows you to provide immediate feedback to students about their behavior (both positive & negative). The data that is collected can be very useful in parent conferences or meetings with administrators. Parents can also stay connected and if given access to their child’s account they are able to monitor behavior while their child is at school and know the type of a day he/she had before they even get home from school.
How it Works
To get started you can use an interactive whiteboard, computer connected to a projector, smartphone, tablet or even an iPod. As long as you have some type of device with an internet connection, you will be able to access Class Dojo. Each student in the class is given an avatar. As the teacher, you set up your account to show positive behaviors that you want your students to demonstrate and possibly negative behaviors that you are trying to have your students eliminate from their daily habits. Any time you see students demonstrating the desired behaviors, you can award them a Dojo Point. If a student is not demonstrating the desired behavior, you have the ability to remove a point from them by selecting the undesired behaviors that you have set up. Everything is done in real time so all feedback is immediate and helps to keep students engaged. Reports can be generated at the end of each day to see how individual students did as well as your entire class.
Cool Features
* Messaging to parents- Another feature that has been added this summer, I have not had a chance to test it out
* Ability to take attendance to keep track of absences
* Class Dojo now has the ability to be used school wide meaning that your librarians, music, p.e., art, administrators can all have the ability to award your students points if you share your class with them. This is something that was rolled out just over the summer, so I have not had a chance to test it out yet.
Why I LOVE Class Dojo!
After implementing this tool with my group that kept me on my toes, I noticed SIGNIFICANT changes in the behaviors that were being demonstrated. My students, specifically the boys, really wanted to remain in the positive and help add to our overall class positive points count. I had several students tell me “Ms. Hamm, I’m going to have a great day today because I really want to earn enough Dojo points to get to the Wall of Fame!” Hearing them say this made my heart happy because they genuinely wanted to change their behavior for the better. This past school year, I was able to utilize Class Dojo for the entire year and it proved to be the BEST behavior management program that I have been able to use in my classroom. Just to give you an idea of just how powerful this tool is, last year on the last day of school we took a look at our overall positive and negative points for the entire school year. I was absolutely shocked at what the data showed me. My students had received 6,517 Positive points and ONLY 154 Negative points for the ENTIRE year!! The class the year before that, you know the ones that kept me on my toes, had racked up more negative points in 2 months than last year’s class did in the entire year.
Other Things I Do with Class Dojo
* Each year I establish some sort of Wall of Fame that allows me to recognize those students who achieve our goal of getting 10 or more Dojo points in a week. They get a special star or shape that relates to our classroom theme, write their name on it and it gets added to the wall right behind my desk. Not only do they get their name on the wall, but they also get to pick a reward, such as lunch with the teacher, computer time, reading to the class, etc. I make it a point within the first few weeks of school to get every student to 10 points so that their name is added to the wall. From that point on they all try really hard to get their name added many more times! Trust me they keep track of how many times they are up there and they notice the ones who get their name up there a lot!
* When students reach 10 points, they receive their code to have home access and they get to then change their avatar. They love when we project the class the next day and everyone can see that they changed their monster.
* Use Class Dojo in conjunction with a class economy system. (I do this when we are learning about economics in the later part of the year). For a specific number of Dojo Points, students earn that value in classroom cash. They can then purchase rewards such as a new pencil, sitting in the teacher’s chair, lunch with the teacher, etc.
Have I been able to convince you of just how amazing Class Dojo is?!? I am one of the Class Dojo mentors, so I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. I hope that you give this tool a try this year and let me know what you think!
Now be sure to head on over to the other bloggers in the hop to see what things that they feel you “Oughta Know…”
Until Next Time…
Have Fun Creating a Positive Learning Environment!
Hugs,
