Class Dojo

What is Class Dojo?

Class Dojo is an educational communication app that brings the school and home together and enforces positive behavior. Teachers can give students "Dojo Points" based on their classroom behavior which is intended to increase appropriate behavior. Many people think the main purpose of Class Dojo is to just manage behavior.  However, since the app launched in 2011 Class Dojo has also been a communication tool for teachers to share with families what is being learned in the classroom through photos and videos. Their mission is to connect teachers and families so that students get the support they need outside of the classroom to be successful. The app is free to download on any iOS or Android device or it can be used on the computer.

How to use Class Dojo in the Classroom
To start using Class Dojo a teacher would need to set up their classroom page. Signing up is simple and easy you just have to give your school email and your name.  Once you do that you can access your homepage which looks similar to a Facebook feed.  On this page, you can post comments and pictures to keep parents updated about what is happening daily in the classroom.  Class Dojo does not allow anyone to access your classroom page.  You have to be invited to join the class. The teacher should click the button that says "connect parents" and manually enter a phone number or email to send an invitation to join the page to each parent. Once parents can see the class page they can see any reminders you post, class updates, or receive public or private messages.  As the teacher, you also have to manually enter in the names of all your students to create their avatar.  The avatar is where you take or give points for behavior.  Class Dojo automatically gives you behaviors you can add or take away points for like helping others or not having homework.  However, you can also add your own behaviors you would like to award points for if it is not already listed. Class Dojo is an effective tool for keeping track of student behavior data.  This will help when you need data to support behavior strategies or IEP documents.  Lastly, Class Dojo can be used to track attendance.  Teachers can take attendance themselves or have students touch their avatar on a Smart Board when entering the class as part of the morning routine.

Advantages of Class Dojo
Many teachers agree that Class Dojo makes communicating with parents easy.  By sharing activities students did in class that day parents feel like they are part of their child's education.  Also, by being able to send parents quick reminders about forms or field trip money due will be able to create a community feel. Teachers also agree that signing up for class Dojo and setting up their page is quick. Any teacher with any level of technology background can work Class Dojo.

Disadvantages of Class Dojo
A disadvantage to using Class Dojo could be if you were a teacher in a Title 1 school if you knew parents did not have access to technological devices or frequent internet connect to be able to check the website.  If most of the parents in the class do not have consistent access to your Class Dojo page it might be the wrong tool for you to use.  Some teachers feel another disadvantage of Class Dojo is the behavior shame it gives students.  If you display the avatars on a Smart Board students can see who has how many points and when you take points away from a student.  This is essentially publically calling out that student for their behavior and can be psychologically damaging. Another disadvantage teachers see with Class Dojo is it creating extrinsic motivation.  If students are only behaving to get "Dojo Point" they are extrinsically motivated.  If you take that motivation away because the student is now in an older grade that does not use Class Dojo the student might not behave appropriately because they were not taught to do so intrinsically.

Personal Experience with Class Dojo
I personally have never used Class Dojo.  However, during my time in college I have being in multiple elementary school classes that do use it.  I have witnessed students excitement when they are awarded "Dojo Points" and see first hand how it motivates students to behave appropriately.  Students enjoy getting to create their own avatar and watch it grow as they earn points. I have never seen any of the negative problems occur while observing classes.  With that being said, if I were to use Class Dojo in my future classroom I would be cautious of letting students know who points were being taken from. I also would want to award less points as the year went on so students would have to display the appropriate behavior more to earn the same number of points.

References 
Buchanan, S. (2013, November 28). An apprehensive teacher's guide to... ClassDojo. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/28/teacher-guide-classdojo-behaviour-management

ClassDojo. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved from https://www.classdojo.com/about/
ClassDojo - Product Reviews. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/product-reviews/classdojo