If you follow my posts, then you know I LOVE Class Dojo. It ahhh-mazing in my opinion. I combine Class Dojo with a classroom economy.
In my classroom everyone has a job. I firmly believe this has made my kids more responsible and accountable. Everyone in my class feels included every day because they know that they have a duty that helps the class run more smoothly. At the beginning of the year we discuss my job as a teacher and what would happen if I did my job correctly or incorrectly. We brainstormed character traits of a hard worker on an anchor chart.
After that was all said and done my kids completed a JOB APPLICATION (woahhh…real world stuff).
The kids choose their top three choices and then write WHY they want their choice. I love the contract part on the back page. We discuss how you are making a commitment to helping our community, so if you do not get the job you were hoping, there is always next six weeks to re-apply.
You print the pages front and back and just slice through the middle to save paper. I do love the trees, but I’m selfish and most do this for the sake of my copy paper stack 😉
If you would like to use this FREEBIE in you classroom. Click {HERE} to download.
I love to keep these applications on file when students slack off (it happens). We discuss the qualities they listed on their application and then brainstorm why they have strayed from their duties.
Like a real job they know they can get FIRED. Yes, I am that mean and have done it before. Just like a real job, if you don’t have great work ethic you get fired.
We compare this to school. If you don’t try in school, how can you expect to get good grades?
**My jobs switch every six weeks, however the last 12 weeks I kept mine the same for the sake of my sanity at the end of the year. The kids were all doing great at their job and I just didn’t want to ruin a good thing.**
You can change your jobs however you feel best meets the needs of your classroom.
Everyone has a job, so how do I reward them?
With THIS:
Classroom Money for a Classroom Economy:
At first I paid my kids EVERY week for their job. Uhm….I’m only one person and that got to be WAY too the consuming. To make it easier on myself, hired two “Bankers” and THEY paid the kids every TWO weeks.
This was great for may reasons:
**Less to worry about
**I no longer was in charge, but the responsibility rested on my bankers
**Kids had to learn how to SAVE money.
They knew they were only getting paid every two weeks, so if they spent all their money on coupons one week, but they lost their scissors and needed to buy a new one the following week (will explain later in this post) then they were in DEBT. Do you just see the economics lessons OVERFLOWING throughout the year?!
Let’s dig into the fun stuff first…
Kids could cash their money in to the bankers to purchase coupons. These coupons are rewards that they earn and they vary based on the price.
Here is my (totally embarrassed to show you) coupons wall.
It is A WRECK but as I move classrooms this will DEFINITELY be revamped
Notice that the picture on the side say “tickets”. At the beginning of the year I tried using tickets. I paid my kids $25 a week ($5 per day) and can you IMAGE counting 25 tickets per 20 kids?
A big encouragement for the kids was box tops. I told them that they would get a ticket per box top they bring in. I had a kid bring in 400.
That was the day I started writing checks and that weekend I printed out money.
It is just so much easier to see the dollar amount and it was real world money handling.
I teach my kids responsibility. If they lose their coupons or money, I am not replacing it. I explained to them the way of life. What if I lost my wallet with my card in it? Would our principal come to my room and give me all the money that I lost and replace my cards for me? No…so that is why they must be responsible.
Here’s a close up of the coupons I created and use:
Be sure to pin these images so you can reference them later! 🙂
If you would like to use these for your classroom, click {HERE}.
The third grade and second grade team at my school uses these coupons. They love it! 🙂
Be sure to pin these images so you can reference them later! 🙂
BIG MOTIVATOR:
For my students that seem to MISPLACE EVERYTHING and not turn in their work on time.
They can continue to do that, not a big deal for me—-just means they are not allowed to buy coupons until all of their work is turned in.
WOAH….dangling that coupon like a piece of candy. It totally works. They WANT to be able to sit at the teacher’s desk and write in pen for the day. When they see their peers getting all this good stuff but they aren’t. You’d be surprised at how quickly they turn around.
Once of my coupons I’d like to explain is Super Supplies because it is a BIG hit!
I have three boxes FULL of fun goodies.
If they purchase the coupon, they can use everything in this box for the entire day.
At the beginning this was $40, but EVERYONE was buying it and it was depleting my supplies. So guess what, we had a mini lesson over SUPPLY AND DEMAND. Demand went up so what do you think happened? I raised the price! They were SO MAD, but they understood why and it was hilarious to see their faces when I changed prices on them.
Okay okay okay…how does Class Dojo fit in all of this?
If you don’t know what Class Dojo is, Click HERE to see a past post that I wrote about it in detail.
It is a simply amazing program and I can’t boast about it enough. I talk about it to almost everyone. You would think I’m a partner in their company (I wish I was but I’m not 😉 )
When kids earn “points” for doing positive actions, their points accumulate on the the dashboard.
Here is my home screen with all the student’s names and their points.
My students are not allowed to cash in their points for dollars UNLESS they have over 10 points.
This helps me because in the beginning I literally had kids coming up to me EVERY TIME they got a point to retrieve their dollar.
This is why I allow them to cash in their Dojo points for dollars just ONCE a week as long as its over $10. To eliminate everyone coming up at once, they can do this before school, immediately after they put up their backpack, or when they finish ALL their work.
When the bubbles reset, they go back to zero so now they must work for that 10 points or more to be able to obtain money.
This is great for me because the kids are working for their own individual goals. They technically don’t know who has more points than who because they are cashing them out at different times throughout the week. I now don’t have students upset because someone has more points than the other or one acting prideful because they are on on their individual goals! **WIN WIN**
***Parent Involvement***
Three of my kids did not have internet so every week I printed out a report from them. If it came back signed they received $5.
For my kids WITH internet, Class Dojo has an AMAZING messaging feature which I’m just slightly obsessed with (in a healthy way don’t worry). If a parent commented on their child’s report at least ONCE, that child received $5 to spend at our store.
This is great in the middle of the year if a parent forgets to check their e-mail, I can rest assured that they will because their child will be begging them to check their report so they can get that $5.
At the beginning of the year I just allowed the kid who received the MOST dojo points to be rewarded, but this change seems to work best for me.
I also like to reward kids based on their percentages. I have mini-conferences with my kids so we can discuss their behavior by looking at their data. Oh yeah, Class Dojo generates DATA for you! Read my past blog post for details.
Every few weeks if they are constant 90% or higher OR they show improvement— they receive money from the bank. This is great to not only reward those that are always behaving, but it rewards those that are TRYING to change. I’m all for second chances and this is my favorite way to do it!
I am sorry this post is so long! I hope you have enjoyed what works for my classroom and I look forward to reading how you manage classroom behavior! 🙂
What works for you?
Be sure to pin these images so you can reference them later! 🙂
If you want to jumpstart your classroom economy check out my bundle that has everything you need to get started!
Click
[HERE}
![Reflect & Refresh [Part1]](https://i0.wp.com/peppyzestyteacherista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Slide1-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
Kelly
July 12, 2014 at 5:30 pmI love class dojo! I was using dojo with Whole Brain Teaching using the super improvers wall. I am not sure that will work for this coming up Kider group so I LOVE this idea! I really do want to encourage my parents to check more! GREAT IDEAS!
When you are using it for negative reasons to take away dojo points what do you do? Is it posted for the whole group to see?
Thanks!
Kelly
Kelly
July 12, 2014 at 5:31 pmmy e-mail; brannankj@gmail.com
Sweet Tooth Teaching
July 12, 2014 at 6:23 pmLOVE this post! I use tickets in my classroom along with a clip chart and it is very effective. However, I really like your whole "job" system. It definitely teaches them responsibility. Also, the coupons are more convenient and inexpensive than constantly filling up my treasure box. I have been looking into the dojo points. I've heard about them but have never seen them in action. (I am going to your dojo post now to read up on it) Thank you for this post. I am excited about implementing something similar in my classroom. One question; I am a bit confused as to how you pay them.. every single student gets 25$ a week? Or does this change depending on behavior?
Sweet Tooth Teaching
July 12, 2014 at 6:24 pmemail: ytria002@fiu.edu
Ashante
July 13, 2014 at 4:53 amI absolutely love the ideas in the this post. I've been with the same class going on three years now (have taught them since 1st and now we're starting 4th together). I was looking for ways to change things up a bit and challenge them some more since so many students are already used to the system and sometimes you need to shake things up a bit. After reading this I'm definitely inspired to try the classroom economy since it is something that I've never done before but always wanted to try. I also loved how you connected Class Dojo into which is a big part of my classroom . Thank you so much for sharing your ideas. I'm definitely a new huge fan of your blog now!!
Ashante
July 13, 2014 at 5:03 amSorry for the double post but I just realized that I had a question: How do you keep track of money that they have earned during the week?
Anonymous
July 13, 2014 at 5:11 amI used dojo in secnmd grade and it was great. Especiallu during a field trip I pulled the djo app and clipped them down from the bus. I am moving from second to fifth this year. I love this idea and am going to try and use it. Im nervois about my managemnt in an upper elem grade.
Funky in Fourth
July 13, 2014 at 2:11 pmWow. This post is FABULOUS! You have so many great ideas and I hope to use many of them in my classroom next year. A colleague told me about Class Dojo… She is obsessed as well. I am really going to have to look into it more {and stalk your blog a bit more}. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!!
Cassie
Funky in Fourth
Cassie Thomas
July 16, 2014 at 5:53 pmI love this post!!! I am trying to brainstorm how to implement it for next year!
I have a couple questions:
What are your jobs exactly? If someone gets fired, how do you replace that position?
Thanks!!
Cassie
Mrs. Thomas's Class
Cassie Thomas
July 16, 2014 at 5:54 pmOh, my email is miller.cmarie@gmail.com 🙂
The Cutesy Teacher
July 16, 2014 at 11:35 pmI'm SO glad I found your post on the Back to School Linky!! I started using Class Dojo in the middle of the year, but I'm revamping the way I do things for next year. I am in love with your economy system, and the wheels are now turning on how I'm going to do that next year. You usually hear about people using Class Dojo OR a clip chart OR a money system. I appreciate how you shared how you combine the different system. Thanks!!
Sara
July 17, 2014 at 9:50 pmWOW! I loved your post – thank you so much for linking up with Stephanie and myself for our B2S Weekly Linky! We're happy to have had you!
I absolutely love that you use a money system for rewards. Not only does this teach them economics and what not under the curriculum, but it also relates it to the real world – hardly anything in life is handed to you – if you work hard, you can achieve it (do your work, behave, etc. = get paid). I'm loving the Matey bucks, too! Super cute theme.
Hope to see you next week for a discussion on our assessment strategies!
Sara
Miss V's Busy Bees
ventrellasara@gmail.com
Kristin
July 19, 2014 at 5:04 pmI LOVE this post! Just pinned it and I have your coupons on my TPT wishlist. I'm definitely buying them once I figure out what I am doing for behavior this year. I used an economy system based on stickers along with a clip chart. I love the idea of Class Dojo, but I've never used it.
I would love some insight on how you keep up with who gets what amount of money, student "balances," etc. Do you allow them to use their coupons whenever they want?
Thanks!!
Kristin
My Carolina Classroom
mycarolinaclassroom@gmail.com
Breanna Davey
March 13, 2015 at 1:15 amOh my goodness! The angel choirs are singing in my ears — this was just the post I needed to see! I'm adding your kit to my TPT cart! I'd also love to know how do you keep track of who has done a good job with their classroom jobs (on Class Dojo somehow?) and how do the bakers know how much to pay each student? Lastly are different jobs worth different amounts? Thank you so much! Warmly,
Breanna
@breezy_in4th
holabre@hotmail.com
Mrs. Staheli
March 30, 2015 at 5:22 pmI've used class dojo and I love how you use the money and coupons along with class dojo and class jobs. I'd love to know what your class jobs are. thanks
Meagan
meagan.staheli@washk12.org
Jennifer
July 15, 2015 at 4:04 amThank you so much for pointing me toward this post! I am going to make the switch to Class Dojo! I'm brainstorming class jobs right now. Do you have a list somewhere of your classroom jobs? Thanks again for all of your help!
The Blessed Teacher
Krystal R
July 30, 2015 at 2:20 pmOmg thank you so much for your post. I've been trying to find a way to integrate Class Dojo and economy! This was so helpful!
Jenna Watley
September 5, 2015 at 1:32 amWhat is the container you use to store the coupons? Thanks for the great ideas! 🙂
Jenna.watley@gmail.com
Cheryl Coffey
October 9, 2015 at 2:02 pmHow much 'money' do they earn for dojo points?
Anonymous
June 21, 2016 at 4:20 amI’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really
nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to
come back later. All the best
Amber Calderon
July 7, 2016 at 9:31 pmYou are so kind!! Thank you so much for the uplifting words! 🙂
Kelsey Prince
July 23, 2016 at 3:56 pmLove this post! You explain everything so well and your personality shines through it all! I used tickets + dojo last year (to be honest, the tickets were a pain! And when they wanted to redeem them… counting out hundreds of tickets is exhausting!) I wanted to really make more of a connection between dojo and money but I wasn’t quite sure how! Then I stumbled upon your post! What do you do when a student receives a negative point? Thank you so much!
prince@ckacs.org
Amber Calderon
July 29, 2016 at 4:24 pmHey Kelsey!
Thank you so much for the kind words! The consequence depends on the severity of the negative dojo point! They also lose money when that happens!
Thanks for your question!
Documenting Missing Homework – Peppy Zesty Teacherista
August 23, 2016 at 3:01 am[…] in. After each month, I will look and see whose number is still in their slot and award then {dojo points} that will also turn into money for our {classroom […]