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Zero-point feedback is here!

ClassDojo

2016-05-05

We’re excited to announce a big addition to how teachers can give feedback (aka Dojo points!) to students. Teachers can now share feedback with no point value attached, or “zero-point feedback” !🙂 Learn how to get started here.

Like so many other features before it, this one started with thousands of teachers asking for the zero-point option. ClassDojo already had the ability to weight points from +1 to +5 and -1 to -5, so why not 0? It was a fair question!

ClassDojo aims to help teachers create amazing classroom communities with students and parents, and it all starts with a positive classroom culture. So when considering the zero-point option, we needed to ask why and how it would it help create that all-too-important positive culture.

As we saw how teachers used ClassDojo this year, we took note of something: feedback points are just a simple way to communicate. With just a tap, teachers can reinforce school values, classroom expectations, and encourage any skill.

This simplified communication, though, says much more to students than just “+1” or “-1.” Every +1 or -1 comes with an implied message

For example, you might give a Dojo point for “participation,” but what a student hears is more significant:

Participation points mean so much more
And a +1 for “Bravery” could mean:

Bravery points mean so much more
But there are times when giving a point says more than you want, and might even be counterproductive to the community you’re building. For example, teachers often use “needs work points” to say, “Oops, you’re a little off course right now.” But since that message came with a “-1” point value, students might hear, “I’m disappointed in you, and you’re now less valued in our classroom.” Piling on to that, their parents often think, “Uh-oh, I need to step in right away.”

Adding the zero-point option made perfect sense. Teachers need a simple way to let students know they are off-course without making them feel less valued, and keeping parents in the loop without making mountains out of molehills!

I can do better next time

Thank you to everyone who requested this addition and invited us into your classrooms to learn why it’s so important. You’ve helped us better understand why we needed to create zero-point feedback. We hope you love the update today!

Cheers,

The ClassDojo Team signature

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