The Smisking class hit the ground running with Class Dojo today! You should have received an email invitation to stay connected with your child’s account. Please let me know if you did not receive one. I hope this post will give helpful information on our newest behavior system.
Students were working hard throughout the day to earn points, and quickly turned around negative behavior when needing a reminder.
Ms. Nham, Mr. Smith, and I will mostly be sharing the tablet to give out points, so the one who gave or took away the points listed on the Dojo website may not be accurate (for example, today Mr. Smith was logged in – all points [except a few recorded through my computer] are listed under one name, but have been awarded to students by all three of us). A good thing to note if you have questions!
Students can receive points individually, by table groups, or along with the whole class. The specific categories for positive behavior include:
- Participating – offering thoughts and answering questions during class discussions, playing a role in learning activities, focusing on the tasks at hand…
- Using Time Wisely – staying on task, working efficiently, staying focused on what needs to be completed with a partner or independently, seeking help when needed…
- Working Hard – remaining persistent when facing obstacles, putting in 100% effort on assignments, looking for ways to improve work when finished…
- Teamwork – cooperating with others, solving problems together, communicating ideas, resolving conflict through compromise…
- Helping Others – giving helpful reminders, being a friend, answering questions…
- Caring for the Environment – treating nature with respect, working towards a Green Challenge goal, giving reminders of how to care for the environment…
- Listening – eyes and ears on the speaker
- Homework Turned In – complete and on time
- Leadership – setting a good example in any subject, procedure, or behavior
Some of these areas may overlap and can apply to more behaviors, but hopefully it helps clear up some of the ways students can earn points for these specific categories. We were able to give out a lot of positive Dojo Points today!
Students can also lose points in the following categories:
- Talking Out of Turn – not waiting to be called on, talking over others
- Being Unkind – unkind words or behavior towards others
- Off Task – not participating in activity
- No Homework – late, incomplete, or missing
- Unsafe – unsafe behavior inside or outside the classroom
- Not Listening – talking over others, distractions
As mentioned for the positive points, these areas can overlap and can include more behavior than what’s in my brief definitions.
We will also be keeping track of attendance on Class Dojo, but our important updates, photos, and scheduled events will be posted to our teacher pages or sent through email.
Just like our clip system, students can gain or lose points throughout the day. However, this is not the same as our clip system. When a student loses a point for Class Dojo, this does not necessarily mean clipping down. They may lose some points during the day, but still have an overall great day that needed some re-focusing at times. These negative points will serve primarily as reminders. Please know that we will email you in the case of concerning or repeated negative behavior, but that each day will have some ups and downs. Class Dojo helps highlight some of those changes throughout the day. It also helps us look back at the end of the day, week, or trimester and assess what areas consistently needed work and with which behaviors our students have excelled.
Both Class Dojo and the clip chart are a nice snapshot of the day, but will always have some missing pieces to the story and your child. That is why we will continue to communicate with you about behavior beyond these systems and also welcome any questions that may come up because of either.
I can already say from today that what it looks like in the classroom is students being more conscious of specific behavior and taking pride in their successes! We enjoyed celebrating with the class, table groups, and individual students as they earned points. Students are already planning how they will design their “monsters” once they’ve earned enough points to customize them…
Mrs. Buesking