I heard about ClassDojo.com a few years ago while I was still a classroom teacher. When I first saw this program I was excited, but I didn’t take the plunge of using it because it was in the middle of the school year. I didn’t want to reinvent the classroom management system that I already had in place. Just last week, I walked into Mrs. Edelblut’s class first thing in the morning and she was introducing it to the class. I was excited to see ClassDojo.com in action. Her class was immediately drawn to “The Dojo” and responded very positively. The kids enjoyed visually seeing themselves being praised for following directions, working well in groups, and collecting points. Mrs. Edelblut started her class off with using their own pictures, but when they earn a certain amount of points, they earn their “secret code” that allows them to change their avatar. She can also take away points for not following directions, being off task, etc. One of the most beneficial pieces that I noticed is that it has Printable Behavior Reports based on points earned and taken away. A teacher doesn’t have to try and keep track of all the information because the application does it all. Here are a few more features you can use with this program:
- Take Attendance
- Countdown Timer
- Random Student Selector
- Easy Reward System
My favorite feature that ClassDojo has: you can download the Free ClassDojo App to your iOS or Android device and sync your app with your signed in online account. This makes it much easier for the teacher to award points throughout the day instead of having to do it at the computer. Mrs. Edelblut said she likes the interface of the app better than using the app on her computer. She has also shared her account with a teacher who pulls students from her classroom, and that teacher uses the App and her account on their iOS device. Doing this allows the students to continue to earn points while away from the classroom.
ClassDojo.com could be a great classroom management system for a whole class or just a few individual students. It all depends on how you want to use it. If you would like help getting this classroom management system set up in your class for this year or next, just let me know! Want to read more on ClassDojo or get some other ideas on how to use it? Click Here to check out this blog post.
