Class Dojo

[RideTheLightning]

My child is in year 1 and our school has just introduced this. Any parents/teachers with any experience of it?

From what I've read, I am instantly weary of it and am already concerned at the negative impact it is having on my son. He is anxious about the system and can't understand why his hard work is going unnoticed. It seems to have zapped his confidence and he is questioning whether he is 'a good boy' or indeed 'good enough' when he sees other getting points.

We are raising him to be self motivated, and to work hard for himself, not for an external reward. I'm worried that this system will undermine this.

Initial feedback from other parents is mixed. Those parents who (in their opinion) have children with behavioural issues are positive - saying it is good that they can 'keep an eye' on their child etc and think that it will motivate their child to do better. They are thrilled that their child has already won treats/certificates when last term they were in front of the headmistress etc/always having warnings. Others with children who are generally well behaved are optimistic or (like me) are seeing negative repercussions this early on and are concerned.

Any experience yourselves? Will things get better? Is this system a good thing for your school/child? I'd love to hear some positives so that I can either stop worrying or so that I can raise my concerns with the school in a reasoned, sensible manner.

Thanks very much.

[rainbowstardrops]

With regards to the more challenging children being given lots of dojos while the ones who always do the right thing don't, we also have a marble jar.

This is a whole class reward and the children all vote for their preferred treat.

We tend to praise the more challenging ones with marbles for them and their peers if they manage to sit still/have a gentle play time etc as they're not disrupting the rest of the class but helping them.

They obviously still get dojos but these are saved for much more personal achievements. This could simply be a chatter-box staying quiet through the register.

I'm not sure I'm making sense but I know what I'm on about!

I honestly don't know of any problems with our dojo system.

[SisterViktorine]

I (exclusively) teach pupils with HFA and challenging behaviour. I would not use this type of points system for them. As far as I am concerned instances of challenging behaviour are learning points for us all, and as with anything else, each pupil is developing their emotional literacy and self control at a different rate. I would not dream of giving them 'red' points for their behaviour.

Likewise I would not make positive points competitive. I would hate a pupil to do well, but feel that they had not done well enough because they had less points than the next little body.

I do however, have a system I love called Tapestry. It is an online sharing system so I can send parents photos of highlights, achievements and learning almost in real time. It might even be just that, if a pupil comes in wobbly, I send the parent a photo at 9.30 to show they are settled and engaged in learning- which they can access instantly. I think it's amazing for communication. I can see when the parents log in and I like to see the 4pm check-ins because I imagine they are using Tapestry to support a discussion about the day.

[user789653241]

I think at my ds's school, points were given for things like:
on the task/ perticipating/good listening/ team work/ sitting nicely etc. Nothing competitive at all.
Only red my ds got was for "talking out of turn" or something. Which is good reminder for him not to do it again.
It wasn't bad at all.

[SisterViktorine]

If you are off task because you have unmet needs it is not fair to get a 'negative' mark for it.

[Hulababy]

We use it in some of our classes - its up to individual teachers. Its used in a pretty positive manner and at present the children appear to like the system. We reset the scores at the start of each week.

We do not add photographs, nor have we invited parents. Its just used in class.

[Hulababy]

We only add positive points btw. We have some neutral ones (doesn't affect the score, and doesn't flash the name up on screen) but no negative points given. Neutral ones are things like no PE kit and is used as a way of monitoring that behind the scenes - the child can't see those ones.

And we have edited the list of positive ones to include a whole range of things such as sitting quietly, being ready quickly, good effort in work, helping at xyz, joining in, etc. and we have set them all as equal points.

We have occasionally given while class positives but, as said before, no negative ones - for whole class or individuals.

[Muddlingalongalone]

Dd's school used it last year in reception & she loved it. Definitely more rewards available for the well behaved child who contributed positively, but the one more challenging child behaviourally was also motivated by it according to his dad.
Yr 1 so far, it's been useful for info from teachers, interesting to see pictures of what they've been upto & the messenger facility will save me writing endless notes to teacher because I use the school wraparound care, but not sure new teacher is used to it yet, days with nothing, then a flood of 5 in one day, then whole class -2 for not tidying up marbles quickly enough when only 3 kids were playing with them.
Am off to try & find privacy policy though after post above.

[jamdonut]

We gave up using Dojo points because , in the end, it was just such a faff, and the 'always' children never seem to come out on top, only the children whose behaviour is challenging!
Glad to see the back off it, tbh.

[BizzyFizzy]

I used it in my last school for about 2 days. The boys were competitive about who could get the most minuses.

[MidniteScribbler]

I use it in my class, but don't use the negative points, just the positive ones. I reset it at the end of the day, or sometimes even at the end of a class. I use it mostly when I want them focused, as they love getting it. Like any form of classroom reward, I generally target those that I think need the reward and make sure they've got the points needed for the prize, and make sure everyone gets a chance at "winning". My students love it, and all it takes is for me to say 'I'm putting Dojo on the board' to have them racing to their desks and start working quietly.

[Geegee4]

My DD is in year 1- they've just started using class dojo. She is very well behaved, compliant etc And doesn't understand why one child gets a point for sitting nicely, while she is always sitting nicely and doesn't get a dojo. She told me last night, 'I don't know how to be anymore gooder '

[TeacherBob]

The system is fine, the people with negative posts I would think it isn't being implemented properly.

But it is absolutely no different to house points, reward points, behaviour charts, diamonds, stickers on a card, happy/sad faces or whatever other behaviour system is being used, it just happens to be on computer instead of on a display on the wall.
Does exactly the same thing in pretty much exactly the same way.

I don't use it as a teacher atm, but only because I have a similar paper based copy that works and there is no need to change it.
(and ironically, i rarely use them. I expect the children to behave in my room and try their hardest because it is the right thing to do, its an expectation that I always have, its high and it works)

[user789653241]

Geegee4, I would mention what your dd said to the teacher if it was me.

When one of ds's teacher used this, she gave points to everyone, even well behaved kids got points for things they do it anyway. It worked well.
But sounds like in your dd's case, it seemed to demoralise children rather than encouraging, which is totally wrong!