Classroom Management

Now that my students are starting to settle into the class I've noticed they like to chit chat a lot on the rug. This is one of the behaviors I want to really work on this year, as well as, staying seated during independent work time. I find managing 24 students behaviors to be exhausting and not to mention sometimes they truly just don't care. This year I've been using ClassDojo and WOW what a difference. I am able to reward multiple students at the same time and it's up on our Promethean Board all day. We check it after every period is concluded and we go over any behaviors we need to work on as a class. There is a visual graph to show the class what areas they excel in and where they need to improve. I've had most of my students log onto the website and create their own avatar. They can also check in to see what their classmates have done to their avatar. I had a parent ask me today about her son's behavior because she got an email alert from ClassDojo saying he did not follow directions. WHOA! I almost didn't know what to say. My co-teacher is totally in love with Dojo. We talk about earning Dojo points all day. At the end of each week the student with the most amount of points earns a reward. We let them shop in our prize box or take a DVD for the weekend. Slowly they are starting to fall into a routine. I think this year is going to be a good one after all. If you haven't checked out ClassDojo I highly suggest you do. It's really a helpful tool to have.