Class Dojo Point Perks!

When I found out I was going to be teaching 5th grade this year, I immediately knew I wanted to try out Class Dojo. I've read all about it on everyone's blogs and I love how it focuses on the good behavior, rather than just pointing out the bad.

I introduced it on the first day and my students were smitten! They loved how they were able to personalize their own monsters and they are obsessed with the sounds it makes when the gain (and lose!) points.

At first the system was going great, but suddenly some students amassed a ton of points and began asking for rewards. I was a bit stuck as to how to reward my students without going broke!

Then, I had a solution! We have 4 tech devices in our class, an ipad, laptop, desktop and a kindle. We also have five seating options:
2 zebra cushions (Staples) 2 Chevron pillows (Society6) and one bean bag chair (Walmart.)

At the beginning of the year I made a weekly schedule assigning these items to a student for one day. Then my numbers went from 21 to 26 and this became way to much to manage!

My solution was this: each Monday during morning meeting we gather to "trade in" our Dojo points.

25 points = line leader, chevron pillow or kindle for the week.
50 points = zebra chair, bean bag or tech for the week.
75 points = choose your own seat.
100 points = free homework pass!

I must say this is way easier for me to manage and a lot more rewarding for my students. Now they want to earn points because they know they will have a week long reward if they do! 

I do wish that Class Dojo let you subtract a large number of points at once, rather than having to reset students to zero and add points back one by one. I did email them about this and I am hoping it is a feature they might add in the future!

What do you use for classroom management? 

4 comments

  1. Great system, Melissa! I love your incentives, too! I wish I could manage class Dojo with 3 classes, but afraid it would be too hard. What do you think?

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth! You can actually have more than one class on your profile, so I think it would be manageable. You would just have to one class and start the next one in order to see the right names. It really does appeal to the kids. The only tricky part is if I'm using the projector/ipad for something else, that keeps me from displaying it all day. I say give it a try while it is still free! :)

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  2. Great to see you using Dojo in such a great way - I'm always on the lookout for great systems of rewards - I love yours - I never thought to reward with cushions! I have 2 cushions, 6 ottoman stools and 1 beanbag which the kids love, why didn't I think of doing something sooner!

    Side note - I started following you for the Year 1 materials - and continued even though I started teaching Year 4/5 - great to see another upper elementary (upper primary) teaching blog going! Keep up the great work!

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    1. Thanks Laura! I am having such a blast with fifth grade! They are really responding well to this technique, and I think it will last all year incentive wise! I need to get some ottomans, they seem like they would be really comfy! :)

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