I totally LOVE Class Dojo but as a new teacher, it took me some time to figure out a reward system to use with it. I had to find the perfect combination of something I liked and could keep up with and something my students responded well to. So after quite a bit of trial and error, I found systems that rewarded the whole class, individual students, and teams. I hope you can take some of these ideas and create your own Class Dojo reward system that works best for your classroom.
If you haven’t used Class Dojo before you can it out here. It is an awesome classroom management tool for an elementary classroom.
Whole-Class Reward
As a whole class, I gave them a goal at the beginning of each week to meet by the end of the week. If they met the goal they were rewarded with being able to do Friday Fun Centers. The gist of these centers was that they were things they didn’t get to do too often but still educational. Some centers might be writing sight words with the fun ink on the SmartBoard, being able to buddy read with the stuffed animals in the room, or picking any game they wanted on the kindle. If they weren’t able to meet the goal then we would just do our regular centers for that day. This allowed the students to work towards a goal together.
Individual Reward
As individuals, they were also working towards making it to Friday Fun Centers as well but in a different way. If they had 100% positive dojo’s for the week they were able to go to ALL of the centers. For each dojo point they lost during that week though, they would lose a center as well. (I would really only take a point away after multiple warnings, or for a serious behavior like hitting). So if they lost two dojo points that week they would have to sit out of two centers and write a letter about what they were going to work on the next week. This might sound harsh to some but after a few weeks they really don’t want to lose any points and if they do, that time causes them to reflect on how to improve. Which I believe holds them more accountable for their actions.
The combination of the whole group and individual rewards for Friday Fun Centers really helped keep students motivated each week. Also having a consistent reward helped them to know the expectations and consequences.
Team Rewards
Lastly as teams they were earning rewards daily. Each of the tables in my classroom was a team. Teams would work to earn points throughout the day. At the end of the day, the team with the most points got to pack up first. Once they were all packed up I had pencil boxes filled with the Target Dollar Spot legos that they could play with until everyone was packed up. It really ended up being only about 5 minutes each day but they loved it! It was a simple reward to have them work together and hold each other accountable within their teams. Plus it kept some of the management of dismissal a little easier.
I choose to reset the team points at the end of each day. Then the whole class and student points I would reset at the end of the week. This is what worked in my classroom and I hope parts or all of it can help in your classroom as well.
If you are looking for more teaching tips check out more blog posts here!
Keep creating your own sunshine,
Ally
