It can be extremely difficult to keep your class on task as a teacher. This is why there has been countless behavioral management plans created to help combat this issue but there is one that stands out in particular and it's called ClassDojo. This tool provides an amazing and effective discipline plan that is actually fun for the students in the classroom. It's a positive reward management plan that uses a points system. To help you familiarize yourself with ClassDojo here is a video that gives you a brief overview of it before I go in more depth about it.
You can find ClassDojo by searching it into your web browser. Once there, it is very easy to sign up for an account. Sign up as an educator and you will receive a free account to use. You can then add your school, class and all of your students. Now that you have all of your students added you can click on each student to look at their personal profile. When you do this you can give them points if they do something well like helping others, participating, teamwork, etc. You can also add negative behaviors if you want, like not listening, misbehaving, yelling, etc. in order to promote students not participating in these acts. If they do they will lose points that they have earned.
You can also create rewards that students can earn by receiving enough points. These rewards should be mostly intangible rewards instead of tangible ones in order to increase intrinsic motivation. Some student rewards may include eating lunch with the teacher, taking off their shoes, changing seats for the day, extra reading time, etc. You can also have class rewards that are earned by students earning enough points collectively as a group. Some of these rewards may include pajama day, movie day, game day, etc.
ClassDojo also has many effective tools to help the classroom work more cohesively. While on ClassDojo there is a toolkit option that opens up many features that you can use in your classroom. There is a "Timer" option that can help with classroom transitions and keeping track of time in general. There is a "Group Maker" option which takes out the stress of making quick groups for an activity. There is a "Noise Meter" that you can turn on to make sure that the voice level is kept low and doesn't get too high. You can also click on the "Directions"or "Think, Pair, Share" option in order to have a message displayed on the board. This helps students remember what is expected of them. Lastly, there is a "Music" option that is great to help keep students engaged because many students love listening to something while they work. Of course this will depend on the class you have and how they work best.
One of the best things about ClassDojo is how collaborative it is. There is a tab on ClassDojo called "Stories" where the teacher can add photos, videos, or messages throughout the day. This allows anyone that is connected to the class on ClassDojo to be able to see it. This can include students, parents, and other teachers. By going to settings on ClassDojo you have the option to add students, parents, and co-teachers so as many people as possible can be connected to your class. This allows everyone to work as a team and to ensure that parents know what is happening in the classroom. There is also a ClassDojo app that parents can download in order to keep up with their child's progress in the classroom. There is also a messaging feature that teachers and parents can use to send messages back and forth between each other.
ClassDojo also allows students themselves to take ownership of how they are doing in class. They can take pictures of what they are working on with their own device or the classroom device and post it on their individual personal story on ClassDojo. This gives parents instant feedback on what their child is doing at all times which is very helpful especially for parents that worry about their child constantly.
You should definitely give ClassDojo a chance in your classroom because of how effective it is. It provides you a great behavioral management plan that helps keep students on the right track while at the same time making sure students enjoy themselves. The point system keeps students engaged because they know by staying on ask and doing the right thing they will be recognized for their hard work. The features that this program has will help you as the teacher keep the class focused while at the same time making sure there is a collaborative environment between yourself and the parents of the students that you teach. Definitely give this program a try because you won't be disappointed!
References
ClassDojo Logo [Online Image] Retrieved from https://www.classdojo.com/
ClassDojo Rewards [Online Image] Retrieved from http://englishclasswithmsziba.weebly.com/grade-4b-and-4c-archive/class-dojo
ClassDojo Story Feature [Online Image] Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/ed-tech-startup-classdojo-is-going-viral-2016-7
ClassDojo Video [Online Video] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzzb5cmNoc0
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