Substitutes and ClassDojo

10 April 2015 / 5 comments

I am so excited to be writing for our new collaborative blog, Classroom Tested Resources! My name is Amy, and I usually blog over at Teaching Trio with Kristen and Cassie or on my personal blog,Tech Crazy Teacher.  

I love the idea of 30 teachers putting their heads together and coming up fabulous solutions for fellow teachers!



I know a lot of teachers use ClassDojo, and I am one of them.  I use this site every single day! Seriously! If you haven't started using ClassDojo yet, the end of school is a great time to try new things. Check out the linked posts below to get the basics.

Today I am going to address the use of ClassDojo with a substitute.  This is a topic that came up for discussion on the ClassDojo Facebook group.  It was so interesting to hear everyone's ideas! I thought I would share a few.

Subs Use Your Personal Account
Some teachers allow substitutes to use their personal account and password to give points to students. This is a fairly easy plan because nothing has to be prepared except a note on how to sign in to ClassDojo.  Students usually know how to navigate the Dojo system and can help the substitute when needed.

This is what I used to do.  I ran into a pretty big problem with this system while I was sick for 4 days. A parent contacted me while I was absent wanting to know why her daughter lost so many behavior points.  I had no explanation since my class had different substitutes each day, and I hadn't been in to school.  She ended up calling my principal... who then called me.  Needless to say this was so not what I had in mind!  I started looking for other alternatives.

Leaving a Roster
During the Facebook discussion, many teachers stated that they leave a roster with student names or student names and avatars. The substitutes tally positive or negative points by the students' names and then leaves the note for the classroom teacher. The teacher adds the points upon returning to school. Many teachers said that they list the positive and negative behaviors on the roster so the substitutes know what behaviors to award.

I like this plan.  It is simple and easy to  implement.  I also like that the substitute is not taking away points under your name. {ClassDojo allows parents to check on their student's behaviors with an app. It shows the parents what behavior has been seen and the teacher that awarded (or subtracted) the point.} The teacher can decide how best to handle any situations upon return to class.

Creating a Separate Substitute Account
This is the answer I was looking for! Some brilliant teacher in the Facebook group suggest creating a separate ClassDojo account for a substitute to use. My mind had a serious light bulb moment!  Since I have so many email addresses, I used a different email to create the substitute Dojo account.  I named the substitute "Ms. Substitute" and connected "her" to my class.  Now if I am absent, the substitute can give or subtract points BUT the parents know that it isn't me! The teacher name that shows on the Dojo report is Ms. Substitute.  You just have to remember to leave instructions for your substitute on how to log in to this new account.

Connecting other teachers to your regular class is simple.  Just click on the arrow on the home screen by your class name. Then select "share".

Type in the email address for the substitute teacher account. Click the share button.  You will have to go back to the substitute's ClassDojo account to accept the share.


Super easy!

Here is the blog post I promised on ClassDojo basics.


How do you handle substitutes and classroom behavior?


5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Hi Juliet! Jenna here from ClassDojo! Thanks for writing this thoughtful and creative post — what a fantastic way to keep teachers in the loop of what's going on in the classroom when they are out for the day. Really appreciate you taking the time to write this, and I'm sure many teachers out there do, too! If we can ever be of any support to you, please don't hesitate to let us know :) Cheers!

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    1. Thanks Jenna! Love my ClassDojo! Wouldn't want to teach without it!

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  3. Juliet, for security reasons subs cannot sign into my laptop which connects to my Elmo. The same applies to my teacher ipad. My question is this, what does your sub use to award points?

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  4. Hello Juliet! I am a first year teacher, but I am familiar with Dojo and will be using it. Do you have an example of how the roster would be organized? I was thinking about this option since some of our substitutes are not very comfortable with technology...

    Thanks!
    Ashley

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