Class DoJo

I just looked it up and "DoJo" refers to a martial arts training place. What that has to do with this website--ClassDoJo.com, I'm not sure. I gather the reference is to teaching in a disciplined environment, which is the goal of ClassDoJo. DoJo is a classroom management tool which is free, easy to use, might work well with your current style, or might transform your class (as seems to have been the case in a number of the testimonials given at the DoJo site).

 

Speaking of testimonials, here is what Matt Gillis, the music teacher CES/CHS has to say about Class DoJo:

As a teacher who grades based on participation, I find Class Dojo a very handy tool to make quick assessments. Since it's customizable, I can change behavior assessments to something more appropriate for my class. I just leave the page open and make note of what I see without losing valuable teaching time.

 We all want to monitor student behavior, the trouble is documentation. I know who misbehaves and who is an exemplary student, however, actually tracking and documenting student behavior can be so much of a bother that it tends to be overlooked. Class DoJo can simplify this task. I've seen many a teacher use the chalk board to put slashes by student names to note positive or negative behaviors. DoJo is an online program designed to advance that practice into the technological age. Each student has an avatar (you know, a little symbol) with their name on it. If these are projected on a SMART Board, one simply has to click on the student’s avatar and a window pops up with a list of positive and negative behaviors, i.e. "talking out of turn", which can be clicked on and recorded. The settings can be adjusted so that the avatars display 1) only the student's name, 2) the name and the total of both the positive and negative points, or 3) a cumulative total of the positive and negative points added together.

 

At the end of the class period the teacher simply closes the class and the site keeps track of all of the points accumulated for each student that day. DoJo can be set to automatically send out emails to parents each week with a graphically appealing report on each individual student.

 

Whoever designed this program really put some thought into making it as simple as possible to use. For example you don't have to wait for a verification email once you sign up for an account. You don't have to enter each parent's email address (the parents go to Class DoJo and enter the code you give them, then their email address is automatically registered). You don't have to send out emails to the parent, the program does it automatically. You don't have to spend a lot of time learning the program, I simply experimented with it for a few minutes, but you can view a two minute tutorial to learn it as well.

 

There are some features of this program that the students might actually like. Students can go to the site, type in a code, and view graphical report on their behavior - it helps them to specifically see what their strengths are and where they can improve.   When they sign up, students can design their own avatar. One middle school teacher described how one class wanted to see the class report on one of her other classes, when she showed it to them she had an epiphany. She challenged her classes to have a DoJo war with her other classes, classes earned rewards for being the best class in specific areas. Her students seem to have responded with enthusiasm and they were somewhat excited about tracking their own improvement.

 

One reviewer seems to be appalled by the idea of using the projector to display student totals. However, he still recommends the program. He recommends it just because it does such a good job of streamlining the tracking of student behavior for the teacher's records. To read his review click here.

 

Before closing, let me note that there are both Apple and Android apps for DoJo which allow you to track behavior from your mobile device.  Finally, to get a better idea of how DoJo looks, her is the video which can beused to introduce it to students