#1iPadClassroom: #ClassDojo for Classroom Management

Let's face it, not every district has the ability or capabilities to go 1:1 or BYOD right now. How can you harness the power of technology, while staying true to your budget? If you are strapped for cash and only have access to one iPad in your classroom, then this series is for you. Our previous #1iPadClassroom posts include:

• Assessing Students with Plickers (clicker alternative)
• Use #Educreations to Turn Your iPad into an Interactive SmartBoard

Keeping kids on task can sometimes be a difficult thing to do.How can an iPad help with classroom management? Class Dojo could be a helpful addition to your classroom management tools. Here's a few ideas on how to incorporate this awesome App into your #1iPadClassroom:

1. Document Positive and Negative Behaviors

Part of being a teacher is handling discipline issues. None of us really enjoy dealing with them (maybe unless you are aspiring to be a future assistant principal), but it just comes with the territory. Class Dojo is a unique way of keeping track of the individual performance and behavior of students in your class. You can instantly record data on your phone, laptop, computer, or iPad. If you have multiple periods, it gives you the opportunity to create multiple classes.

This is a great way of helping students manage their behavior, while effortlessly keeping track of documentation for parents, teachers, administrators, and your records. Check out this brief tutorial I created several months ago:



 2. Randomly Call on Students

Every classroom contains students who love to participate and those who are a little shy. It's nice to hear from all of your students. I've tried different techniques in the past to avoid having my students feel like I am "picking" on them, but there has always been so much work on my part to do so. I've made popsicle sticks, used random name generators, etc.

Since I already use Class Dojo, I can easily use the random name generator. This feature lets you randomly select students and you can even award participation points. This is a perfect tool for randomly calling on students to answer a question or participate in class.

3. Communicate with Parents
As students participate in your course, you can award positive and negative points. You can even share reports with parents by downloading the report and even emailing it! I think that the best part of this is that you can give your students real-time feedback.

Class Dojo just announced a new feature called ClassDojo Messaging, which enables teachers and parents to easily communicate two different ways:

• Teachers can send parents private, “Direct Messages," updating them on their child's progress!
• Teachers can send an entire group of parents a “Broadcast” message to communicate class events!