Thursday, July 23, 2015

Guest Blogger

Today's post is brought to you by a good friend and colleague, Danesa Menge. Danesa and I are the lead tech mentors in our school district and were the first two teachers to pilot 1:1 Chromebooks.  I asked Danesa to choose one of her favorite tech tools that she has had success with in her classroom and write a quick blog post to share it with me. So without further ado, here is Danesa's post about ClassDojo.
It's the time of year...

The Back-to-School commercials and sales are here. Parents are taking their children to the mall for new clothes and supplies, while teachers prepare their room, syllabi, and lessons.

What better time to rethink your classroom methods and tools? This goes for teachers and edusoftware companies, likeClassDojo.

I love ClassDojo! ClassDojo is a way to encourage students, engage parents, and save time! Students of all ages love it! Trust me, my seventh grade students love it! The love the "ping", the rewards, and the instant feedback they receive. Okay, and they can customize their monster avatars too! Parents love it for the same reasons!

But ClassDojo has something new on the horizon. New and AWESOME. They have new features coming out! First up.....




Groups!
Yes, you heard correctly, CLASSDOJO GROUPS!

Teachers have always built their classrooms around collaboration, so why not encourage and around our students in ClassDojo in the same way?


Now you can!


Today you can organize students into groups into tables or into project groups. You'll still be able to reward points, but not you can encourage the whole group for any skill and keep a running total for all points given. Plus, parents can see the group points too!


The ideas are FLOODING in! I have students arranged in groups in class. Now they can create their own group flag and identity that I can give points to throughout each quarter. Then I can give group points for #GeniusHour as they work toward their project goals.


How about using groups when working on global collaboration? Writing projects? Digital Storytelling? Endless possibilities!


Look for the new and improved ClassDojo TODAY!
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 23, 2015 at 2:26 PM

    Good to know! Have used them before without groups. This changes a lot!

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    Replies
    1. Ms. HensleyJuly 28, 2015 at 9:06 AM

      I'm glad you were able to learn something - I always learn from Danesa; glad to be able to share!

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  2. UnknownJuly 24, 2015 at 6:52 AM

    I love class dojo! It worked so well with my first graders! They loved getting to see and hear the alerts for positive things. I have checked out the new and improved one as well. I love that they have groups because with what I teach now, I do each class as a group.

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    Replies
    1. Ms. HensleyJuly 28, 2015 at 9:07 AM

      I can imagine that first graders would love this! I teach middle school and hadn't really thought much about the positive reinforcement for little guys - that's great!

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