Class Dojo in the Classroom

Hi, it's Amanda and Aylin from Learning to the Core. We are excited to be back blogging at Who's Who and Who's New!  We both enjoyed our winter break and having extra time with family and friends.  Over winter break, we also had the time to reflect on what is working in our classrooms and what we want to change in our rooms as we start back in January.  

One thing I will continue using in my classroom is Class Dojo.  If you are NEW to ClassDojo please click HERE first to see how to learn the ins and outs of this management system.  

If you have heard about it and are thinking about taking the plunge, let me tell you why I believe this system has been incredibly successful in my classroom.

Students are highly motivated by both their avatars as well as by the points they receive.  Student get to hear a positive "ding" each time a point is given.  In my classroom, we set goals to help students stay motivated.  Kids love seeing their point bubbles raise!  

Teachers are easily able to track student data.  This is especially helpful at parent teacher conferences.   This past year when talking about behaviors of students (good or bad) I was able to pull up Class Dojo at the conference to show parents exactly when their child was struggling throughout the school day.  We were also able to notice trends and look at the data as a team to come up with a plan.  Class Dojo tracks all the data for you which is extremely helpful!  With Class Dojo, I  never have to spend my time creating a data graph for children instead I simply log-in, click on the child's name and it's all there for me!

The parent involvement with Class Dojo is phenomenal.  Parent involvement is something that, as a school, we struggle with. However, I was able to get to 26 out of my 28 parents connected...pretty impressive if you ask me!  In the past, I used to send home notes with students who ended their day on "yellow" or "red" sometimes I would wonder if the parent saw the note because it didn't come back signed like I had asked for it to be.  With Class Dojo I can see exactly when the parent last logged in and I can even leave them a note or message them directly through Class Dojo!  Getting parents involved is quick and easy plus there no more wondering if parents saw the strengths and struggles of their child's day!

26 out of my 28 Parents Signed up for Class Dojo and received weekly emails directly to their mobile device every Friday! They also logged in throughout the week to check in on student behavior. 

This child had 2 parents connected to Class Dojo.  One of the parents last logged in on July 7th even though our last day was June 4th!  Glad to know they are still checking! :)

Much like many other elementary schools our children go to specials each day of the week.  At our school, students go to gym, music, science, art, library, etc.  That is a lot of classrooms and a lot of different teachers!  I was able to share my Class Dojo information with other teachers so that the they too could use Class Dojo on their mobile devices. This created consistency amongst the teachers and also let me know if a child was misbehaving while not in my classroom.  Trust me...your students will be super surprised when they find out you knew that they were running with scissors in art.... and will be so mortified that you found out BEFORE even talking to the teacher that they won't try that again!  I also leave my information for substitute teachers.  When I am out of the building I can still get updates on how my children are doing throughout the school day by logging into Class Dojo! Warning: this can be a great thing but can also leave you wanting to check in on your students all day long! :) 

Class Dojo makes it incredibly easy for each teacher to customize their Class Dojo experience.  Every classroom is different and Class Dojo understands. With a few simple clicks you can customize Class Dojo to meet your student and classroom needs.  

You can decide if how you want your Class Dojo screen to appear for kids.

You can choose the "positive" and "needs work" behaviors for your classroom.  

Are you convinced?  It is definitely worth the try...trust me! 

What is something that is working in your classroom?  And what is something you want to change as we head back to school tomorrow?  

Happy Sunday!

Amanda and Aylin