Some of you may have heard of this tool before I have encountered it in the classroom. This tool is called ClassDojo and it is a tool that my mentor teacher and I used during my placement at my elementary school. You might be asking yourself what is Class Dojo, well it is a tech platform used for classroom management and communication. It can be used to reward students with a point system as well as be a direct line of communication to parents. When using a web tool in the classroom it needs to be easy to use and help with aiding and creating instruction. To me this Class dojo all of what an elementary teacher needs
During my time student teaching I used Class dojo to set timers for certain activities, set reminders, create assignment checklists and reward students for positive behavior. Students were able to submit certain photos and assignments and it was easy to access as the teacher. Students got to design and create and their character and they found that to be quite enjoyable. During activities Class dojo made it easy to use timers or display instructions for the activity. The features of this website is very simple and easy to use which is why I love it. Its functions are not too complex and does just what you need it to do. When rewarding students for positive behavior Class dojo notifies parents and at the end of the week there would some special reward or extra free time on friday for the students who had the highest Class dojo points. Students were very motivated by this point systems and it made classroom management much easier. It made it nice when the students liked the web tool that we were using instead of dreading use it. The fun tools Class dojo has made students excited and motivated to learn alongside the web tool which is a ll a teacher can really ask for.
My favorite feature of Class dojo has to be the way you can communicate with parents. Parents of students can have Class dojo on their phone and send you a message anytime during the day. It is set up in a very similar way to how iMessage works on your phone. It was helpful for parents to send quick texts to me if there was a schedule change, if there child had an appointment or if they have any questions for me. It just a much easier way to communicate rather than using email. Not all parents are very technology savvy and they want to stay up to date on what is going on in school for their child. Class dojo is a very user friendly platform and helps with connecting families that aren't great with it. When I become a teacher I hope to use this software as I think it is great aid to an elementary teacher. From the time that I have used Class dojo I have thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to other elementary teachers.
This reminds me quite a bit of I-Ready, which was an interactive learning tool that teachers and parents could use to gather information about how their students are performing in various subjects. Although, it sounds like the students actually had fun with Class Dojo unlike I-Ready where despite its games and activities were just as bad a forcing them to do homework. Though I do like that Class Dojo is accessible via the phone whereas with I-Ready you have to jump through two logins on a site that's as easy to navigate as the DMV's homepage.
ReplyDeleteMy students absolutely dreaded using iReady and using it felt more like a chore instead of a useful. iReady was mandated by the district so it was something had to do but it never felt like a very effective teaching strategy. That's why I liked Class Dojo much more.
DeleteThis honestly sounds like an amazing tool for elementary students. As a secondary teacher however, I am trying to determine its usefulness and applicability for other age groups. I could potentially see using it in a middle school setting from 6th or 7th graders. I'd love to hear what you think however as someone who has used the program. How do you think it could be used for older students and grade levels?
ReplyDeleteI would say 6th is the highest I would go for using it. Its functionality for elementary level is amazing but I don't think it really serves any purpose the older the students get.
DeleteI love this, especially for elementary school. It seems very engaging and fosters engagement through exciting point systems and challenges. It's crazy how a lesson can basically stay the same, but by way of some points it makes students more excited and gets a better outcome for you. I also like the communication with parents as you described. I find email to be outdated, and I'm not sure if parents would resonate with something like Slack as we do. You mentioned it was as simple as imessage, which everybody knows how to use. Did you find some parents to be overwhelming, or possibly out of line while using this communication method, or was everybody respectful and cooperative? Also, did your administration care if parents communicated with you directly for pulling a student out of class, instead of the office, for example?
ReplyDeleteMost parents loved using the tool and would often message several times a day which was a little stressful for me. Some parents would come with concerns and would not be the kindest about it but it never became an issue. Our front office was fine if parents messaged us as long as we relayed them important info if needed.
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