Navigating Class Dojo
Welcome to the Class Dojo family! I am so happy you decided to learn more about this wonderful app! Exploring a new app can be overwhelming. My goal is to help you find what you need. This post is broken up into a few parts. We will explore the teacher interface, including how to set up your new classroom. We will explore how to customize your Class Dojo account to suit your needs. We will also explore the Student Interface as well as the Parent Interface.
*Please note that my screenshots and videos are a combination of iPhone, iPad, and laptop. If you run into any issues finding what you need on your devices, please let me know!*
The Teacher Interface
When you navigate to Class Dojo, you will need to login. Be sure you are logging in as a teacher.
If this is your first time using Class Dojo, you will need to start off by making your first class.
You will be prompted to name your class, choose your grade, and choose how you want parents to see points. You can choose to show only positive points with parents (great for PBIS schools), show both positive and negative points, or show no points at all.
You will be able to change any of your preferences later on if needed. Your next step is adding your students. Be sure to type in the student’s full name. This is important for connecting parents.
Once you have added all of your students, you will see your class list. You can also change how you want your students sorted (first name, last name, points). I prefer to have my students sorted by last name.
One of my favorite things to do is customize my students’ avatars. By default, each student is assigned a monster. You can change your students’ monsters into an avatar of choice! Class Dojo has a wide variety of avatars to choose from and better yet- you can upload your own!
No matter what device you are using, you will be able to change avatars by going to “Edit Student.” Click on the students’ monster, and you will be able to go from there. You will find avatars for major holidays as well as sports themed, super hero themed, seasonal themed, and much more. With October beginning tomorrow, I will change my students’ monsters into Halloween avatars. In my examples below, I am changing student monsters using an iPhone.
Students can also customize their monster in their own accounts. When we discuss the Student Interface, you will see an example of this.
We will go more in depth with other parts of the teacher interface in other posts for this series. For now, let’s move on to student interface and parent interface.
The Student Interface
As a teacher, you will decide how you want your students to log in to Class Dojo. In my own personal classroom, we use a combination of “Sign in with Google” and QR codes. A third option is a text code. If your students will primarily be using chromebooks, choose “Sign In with Google.” If students will primarily be using iPads or another kind of tablet, choose “QR Code.” More often than not my students use their chromebooks, so I typically leave it on “Sign In with Google.”
Once students are logged in, they will be able to see their points, portfolio assignments, and any class story posts. Students will also be able to customize their Class Dojo monster. When we discuss the parent interface, we will talk more about how to unlock more monster customization. Please note that the custom avatars will override the monsters. Student monsters will be visible again when the avatars are removed. In the example below, I show you how to restore student monsters.
The Parent Interface
Finally, let’s talk about the Parent Interface. You can invite parents to join your Class Dojo class in a number of ways. One way is to print out letters that provide a code to join. Another way is to invite through cell phone number. Finally we can invite through email. Let’s take a look at each of the ways.
Invite Letter
Email Invite
Smart Phone Invite
Parents also have the choice of using Class Dojo at home. This feature is called Class Dojo Beyond. It costs $7.99 per month and allowed parents to give and take away points at home. This is a great tool for parents to have to reinforce responsibility at home. Parents can start with a 7 day free trial. Using Beyond also opens up more customization for your students’ accounts.
2 Responses
I got an email about downloading Halloween monters but when I try to change it there are no Halloween theme ones on my class list. Please help.
Hi Kathy!
First I am so sorry that I missed this message. It is supposed to alert me when there is a comment. I am going to reach out to the Class Dojo team and see why the monsters were not uploaded for you.