Saturday 25 April 2015

ClassDojo

QUESTION
What is ClassDojo?

GUESS
Well... A dojo is a Japanese word, meaning a room where one learns martial arts. Is it a martial arts class? That would be fun!

Oh, perhaps it's a place where we pit classes against each other! Nah, that sounds ridiculous.

TEST
Well, the link has led me to a site that looks nothing like a martial arts learning centre. Nor does it quite look like a place for classes to battle it out... Let's ask Dina.

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What a good idea! I can most certainly tell you :) In a nutshell, ClassDojo (CD) is a classroom/behaviour management tool. And oh my goodness, it is amazeballs. Does anyone say that anymore?? I know that's the first time I've used it...

I have been using CD since I've started teaching. It's been great for motivating and keeping my students on track. I am able to go back through their history and look at comments I've made about their day at school, and points I've given.

Huh?? Comments? Points? Slow down!

Sorry. I'm not going to go through every single step, or every thing you can do, as that would take me more than a post to complete! But I will show you a quick snapshot of some things you can do.

My homescreen on ClassDojo.
 Above is a screen shot of what my homescreen looks like this year. I have got 19 classes (I teach Science across the school), and within each class, is the name of every single child that walks through my door. That's a lot of kids!

Students can earn points in any way you choose. I have set my "behaviours" as skills I'd like them to use in Science. It is totally up to you what you choose your "behaviours" to be. Then it is a matter of giving the students their points.


Our Science skills.
You have the option of adding comments with each point you award, as a way for you to record in more detail what the student did. There is also an option for writing a general comment at the end of the day/week/whenever you want.

Parents are able to sign up to see their child's account, which will show their points and comments. Students can also sign up and change their monsters (like avatars) from home.

Fun stuff! Oh, and it also has an app! Available on both iOS and Android, woohoo!

So yes, in a nutshell, that's what CD is. And I love it. I cannot imagine teaching without this tool, and the incredible amount of positive feedback from colleagues, parents, and students is a testament to how amazeballs (sorry, that'll be the last time!) it is. Once you begin, you can totally be creative with how you use it. There will certainly be many more posts about ClassDojo in the future, so be sure to keep an eye out for them!

Thursday 16 April 2015

Hi, everyone! Again...

Here I am, at another blog. I've had a few over the years, but could never stick to it. Perhaps this time will be different. Only time will tell.

This new blog has been inspired by the scientific method, in case you haven't worked that out yet. Long story short, this year, I'm teaching Science. I don't imagine all my posts will follow this structure, but I will endeavour to try make most of them do so.

So, my first question is: Why am I bothering to start a new blog?

And my guess is: Well, actually, I already know, and that's because this year, I have become a ClassDojo Ambassador, woohoo! What's ClassDojo, I hear you ask? Weeeell... Look out for my next post! Hehe.

As a result of this title being added to my name, I have been inspired to finish off my e-portfolio (started a year or two ago), and part of that involved creating a link to a blog - because I wanted to. Except my problem was that I didn't have a blog anymore... Soooo, made a blog! And here it is.

Hopefully I'll be able to connect with you guys more as time goes on. You can also find me on Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest (every teacher needs a Pinterest account!). I suppose this is now the test: whether I can keep this up or not. Pretty sure I'll be able to this time!