Educational Apps in our Classroom
There are a lot of great apps that I have experimented with in my own classroom. The majority of them are geared towards younger children and would be best for an elementary classroom setting. There is one specific app that I always recommend to other EC-6 educators and that is ClassDojo.
ClassDojo is one of the best tools for classroom management. I first began using this app during my years as a Childcare Provider and I knew that I was going to end up using it once I began teaching first grade. Each educator is able to customize it by entering your class name, adding the behaviors that you expect from your student, creating groups if your students sit in table groups, and add or remove points if needed.
Another great feature of ClassDojo is being able to share all of this information with the parents and guardians of your students. It is so important to keep their family in the loop. This is one of the best ways to do that, because they get to go into the app and view their child’s behavior points and get an idea of how their day went. What could really motivate students is turning these points into play dollars for students to spend on small items or a school pass to bring a stuffed animal to school. It’s a simple, yet effective. There is also a class story where only the teacher (or any other staff member that you allow access to) is able to upload pictures of your students during different activities or even post some announcements through there. Should parents and guardians ever have questions or concerns, they are able to privately message you and/or comment on the post.
ClassDojo is all around beneficial for teachers, students, and parents. It provides an open door for parents, holds students accountable, and tracks students’ academic and behavior goals for the teacher.
