Friday, November 16, 2012

Classroom Management Tool

This week while I was visiting my usual schools I came across two teachers using a fantastic new tool.  The teachers are Andy Hedin and Debbie LaChapelle both are 4th grade teachers at Lupin Hill.  The tool was ClassDoJo a class management tool!  ClassDojo is an online tool that helps improve behavior in the classroom. It also creates and generates data on behavior that can be shared with parents and administrators.  When you visit the ClassDoJo site you will be prompted to sign up as a teacher, student or parent, it's free!  Once your logged in, the site will take you through a demo tutorial to show you how to set up your class.  There is even a demo class that you can use to learn with.  The teacher's that I saw using this tool loved it!  They had it projected on their screen during class time so students could see the entire class.



As you can see each student's name appears with it's own avatar, chosen by you.  When a student is on task you can reward them and a green circle will appear with a number inside the number is the number if positive rewards they have received. Check out Bradley Pitt he's been caught being good!  The same is true when a student is off task a red circle will appear with a number inside indicating the number of reminders the students has needed.  The coolest thing was that a sound goes off (different for on task and off task) that the kids can hear. "They immediately check the screen to make sure it wasn't them and get back to work when they hear it." Another awesome feature is that is can be run remotely using your smart phone or iPad.  This way you can be any where in the classroom and still be able to give out rewards and reminders when needed.  I have attached a video tutorial below to tell you more about this great tool.  Give it a try, remember it's FREE!



 

 



 

 

 

 

 

5 comments:

  1. I'd heard about this on NPR but it doesn't appear very useful for High School. . . anything more appropriate for our grade levels???

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  2. I will look for some high school tools. FYI this is a beta version on the site there is a place to comment about features and ask for new features. This might be an interesting way to get your hs students involved. I have already seen one of my suggests become a reality. Perhaps your students could use it and offer ways of improving the site while making it better suited for older students. Just a thought.

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  3. While I think my HS students would've probably liked this a bunch, even if they would've pretended otherwise there are a couple other options. The one that seems most appropriate for the MS/HS level can be found at www.classbadges.com, the other one is www.classrealm.com.

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  4. I've been looking for a cm tool for the computer lab and will give this a try. I was using an app called Too Noisy which had an alarm and while the students were intrigued and it was effective with the younger group, other classes would try to set it off. This looks like a good fit if I link it to the lab computer number. Thanks

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  5. I've been using ClassDodo for about 3 weeks and it has been a real help. My 4th graders have really taken to it. I came across this site/app while searching for a tech based behavior management tool for one particular student.
    I like that parents can use a code (printed and given by the teacher) to check on their child's progress. I now have a couple parents using the Dojo points for rewards and consequences at home.
    This is like a modern day color chart, but the incidences are logged with the specific positive or negative behavior, time, date, and you can go and add comments to any indecent.

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