It wasn't necessarily such a bad thing that I haven't blogged in a while. Even though I haven't put words to computer screen lately, I have still been using technology with my kids. More so than ever. Even though my school has some updated technology, we still seem to be lagging behind, especially in hardware, and that has made my job a little more difficult. I've had some of those problems solved, such as receiving a new computer for my SmartBoard and some ways around needing district money to do some projects online (since they have none, and neither do I:)
Another good thing about being silent in the blogosphere, is that I've learned some lessons by actually using the technology with the kids that I may not have thought of if I had just posted it as a "cool idea".
So what is the best thing I've used so far this year? It has to be ClassDojo. This is a great way to keep track of student behavior and until they are done with Beta testing, it is FREE for teachers who sign up now!
The basic idea of ClassDojo is this. You put your kids' names into the site, and it assigns little monster avatars for each student. Then, you can give the kids either positive or negative points for behaviors that you see in the classroom. Here's an example of what my class board looks like:
The things I really like about ClassDojo:
1. My kids love it. They ask to have their "Monsters" put up on the board.
2. It has created some level of self control for several of my kids with serious behavior issues. I find them making better choices when they notice that their point total has slipped into the negative. In my room, that means no Friday reward time.
3. I can print out a PDF of the kids behavior for the month. I can also email that PDF to parents very easily, so they can see where their child has excelled or struggled when it comes to behavior. I try to do this at the end of every month.
4. If you have a smart phone, it works as a remote! I can be working at my desk, observe a behavior, touch the button on my phone, and it appears on the screen. I can also use it on
5. Even if you don't have a SmartBoard or other way of projecting it, just keeping it up on your computer can help you keep track of behavior and report it to parents.
6. You can choose to add your own behaviors to the list, or delete some of the default ones, therefore making it really easy to make it appropriate to your classroom.
Check it out! It may help you keep your sanity during the month of December--Lol!
