ClassDojo in the Classroom
Last year I used classdojo, and am definitely planning on using it again.I cannot recommend it enough. If you haven't heard of it I will tell you all about the pros of classdojo in the elementary classroom. It even had the 10 year veteran teachers shouting for joy.
Pros:
- supports classroom management-it can be used from ANY device
- gets parents connected an involved in day to day activities
- its essentially a classroom Facebook where teachers, parents and students can post photos, videos, and text
- you can group the students to take and give points
- parents can message you quickly there instead of having to send an email or call the school
- students immediately respond to the behavior sounds for positive or negative behavior (you don't have to call students out or take time for them to move a clip!)
- there are growth mindset videos that the students ADORE (and they even come with discussion questions)
- others teachers can connect with your class and take and give behavior points! (ohmygosh!)
-so much more coming, it is just growing with more and more ideas and benefits
Here are some instances of classdojo in action:
(here I can choose my own class, or the class of another teacher if I want to give a student I see in the hall a point for great behavior!)
(after I am done with the school year I can archive the class, from here I can also share my class or connect my parents)
(I love that when I am adding students I can just import a class list instead of having to type each name in one by one)
(one of my FAVORITE pieces of this site is that I get to choose and create the skills that the students are recognized for- I can also choose to have the skills have different values, so I may think that teamwork deserves two points, or I want to reward a growth mindset, whatever it is, I choose.)
(parents can be invited electronically or with a parent flyer, whatever works best for them!)
(from the main page you will see all the different things you can use in class dojo)
(when you choose "Big Ideas" it directs you to a growth mindset series they have and you can share it with the parents!)
(I use the random button all the time to keep the students on their feet and making sure they all have an answer ready to go, because you never know who random will choose!)
(it also has a time to keep my pacing on track and students keeping track of their time)
(I almost forgot the best part, that everything I post to classdojo can be sent to the parents, we share our activities, remind them of events coming up, and I can choose which parents see what)
(Additionally, you can send them private messages! No need to give out your number, or wait for an email, they can reply from their computer or phone)
Money System
Now I was the only teacher this year to use class points for a money system, so know it's not necessary, but it really upped my students' motivation to earn points in class.
Every Friday we would devote 15 minutes for time for students to spend their money on prizes or even things that other students had made. We had a full shop.
But the best part is how amazing my students were with money by the end of the year. Each morning they would come up to my desk and tell me how to make their point value with coins and I would pay them with beads.
Ex: If they earned 16 points the day before they would come to me and ask for one dime, one nickel, and one penny. -Eventually we even started making change, where they would ask for 20 cents and then they would pay me back 4 cents!
Here is a printable for coins if you are interested in doing a money system in your class with the points.
I had each coin correspond to a specific bead color (purple is a penny, blue is a nickel, etc.) and then the students kept their beads in a wallet (plastic baggie).
(I bought my beads from Michael's)
I could go on all day with the one stop shop that classdojo. I almost never need to leave the page, I can get it all down with classdojo, from communicating with parents, classroom management, the money skills it can build, growth mindset videos, it has it all!
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