When Classroom Culture Conflicts With EdTech (Christina Quattrocchi)
The following guest post appeared in EdSurge, February 9, 2014
Teachers have a multitude of tools to choose from. Not every tool can exactly match every teachers’ pedagogical approach. However, for some when it doesn’t quite match up it can be the difference between trying it out or walking away.
Elementary teachers Erin Klein and Karen Lirenman share their thoughts aboutClassDojo, a free tool for classroom management used by … million[s of] teachers. The tool allows teachers to give students points to reinforce positive behaviors, assign negative points for undesirable behaviors and allows teachers to track behavior data over time, sharing with parents and administrators through reports.
Here’s how these two teachers address the conflicts that arise between a tool and the culture of learning in their classrooms.
Karen Lirenman: Can’t See Eye To Eye
Before I begin I need to be perfectly honest that I have never tried ClassDojo with my grade one students. Normally I wouldn’t critique something without trying it first, however, philosophically ClassDojo just doesn’t sit right with me. I strongly believe children should be in charge of their behaviour through being