ClassDojo has worked wonders for me in terms of keeping track of student behaviors. Parents created accounts to be updated on student activity, students have never been more excited to use a behavior-management system, and I have felt more aware of student behaviors in the classroom. Originally, I had my classroom aligned by periods of the day and by behavioral expectations. This allowed me to use data from ClassDojo to complete the behavior section of report cards. However, many teachers agree that the behavioral section of report cards is the easiest to get through because we are so in-tune with student behavior.
During the second semester of the school-year, I began to use ClassDojo to record more than just student behaviors. I began to monitor students during Reader’s Workshop once a week. I added behaviors into my “Reader’s Workshop” class that included reading, writing, distracted, and talking. This allowed me to see more than just their emotional behaviors; it allowed me to monitor their participation in a much closer way. I began to use the same system for Writer’s Workshop and for math time. The behaviors differed slightly, but it was a great way to monitor students’ progress during these activities.
Checking in with students during these activities was quick and and easy. I could check in without disrupting students simply by observing their behaviors. I was able to keep a running record of their work habits during these activities. This record was something that I could use when writing report cards because it was data-driven and spanned an entire semester of learning. Using ClassDojo for report cards was extremely helpful for me, my students, and for informing parents of what is going on in the classroom in a various number of realms.