Do you DOJO?? How I got rid of the clip chart and created a well managed classroom without it!

Hello Blogger friends!! It's been too long! With the end of the year, summer school, and then taking time off over the summer to enjoy...well...summer, I figured it was time to get back into it!! Thought what better way to start off the school year than to talk about how I use Class DOJO in the classroom!

First, I download the app on my phone, and create an account through the website. It's crazy user friendly and setting up a class is very easy. I make sure to create plenty of positive points so students have plenty of outlets to earn points. I also create negative points as well, but I hate looking at them as negative...I try to think of them as an opportunity to learn from mistakes. If ever they receive a negative DOJO point, I always try to spin it around to be portrayed as, "I hope you use this as a learning opportunity" or "mistakes happen, I hope you can learn from this one." I really did not like the clip chart and humiliating students into moving their clips down to orange or red. The walk to the clip chart was like they were walking off a pirate ship plank. They always sunk their heads down low, and it would break my heart. Now, when I have to discipline, I will give the "negative" DOJO, and it almost seems like students change their demeanor from- walk the plank, to- I understand what I did, and I will change my behavior to earn that point back in some other way today. It's crazy how it works, I get so many head nods and "yes, Ms. Wilfert," after a negative DOJO comes their way. Its as if, they......GET IT!

Enough about negatives, because Class DOJO suggests that you give 6 positives to 1 negative. I definitely give my students plenty of opportunities to earn points. I give them points for participating, helping others, cleaning the classroom, cleaning the environment, showing respect to a guest teacher, turning in their homework on time and completed, for rocking a test, and for knocking my socks off (refer to the previous blog post).

The students travel along the DOJO points path. Last year I have taped the points circles to a filing cabinet and hot glued the student avatars to magnets, and the students were able to move along the path that way. See here...

This year, they are traveling along the points path in a pocket chart...

You can get all of the DOJO resources including the labels and avatars in my EDITABLE Class DOJO Starter kit- just click HERE

Here's how it works...I usually "do DOJO's" as the kids call them, every other afternoon...or let's be real- when I have time for once at the end of any given day...I really try to stay up with it, otherwise the kids get irritated with me :)

Here are the rewards they achieve when they hit 10, 20, 30, etc. points...

10- Sticker or Tattoo...Either a giant "super star" sticker (size of your palm) from Lakeshore, Amazon, or most teaching supplies stores. I believe Dollar Tree had them for awhile too. Tattoos are small monster tattoos from Oriental Trading Company..find them HERE

20- Pencil

30- Gumball (gumballs from the Dollar Tree)

40- Sweet Treat (one Hershey Kiss or one Starburst)

50- Treasure Chest...visit to my treasure chest. I get all sorts of treasure chest goodies from Oriental Trading Co. 

60- Pixie for Sixty (one pixie stick- these can be bought at the Dollar Tree)

70- Sweetest Monster Club (small piece of candy, you know...the bite sized options of Snickers, Milky Way's, etc.)

80- DOJO Coupon Book...they pick a coupon from my DOJO coupon book that I have available in my starter kit that I talked about above.

90- DOJO Candy Club- they pick a large piece of candy, such as a ring pop, blow pop, airhead, pop rocks, etc.

100- No Homework Pass! I also take their picture while they hold a "I reached 100 DOJO points" poster, print it out, and present them with a certificate to go with the picture. ALL of this is available in my EDITABLE Starter kit. 

Feel free to edit the rewards when purchased! Here is a picture of all of my DOJO goodies, all in one spot in my classroom, ready to go. The green monster is a basket I found at Dollar Tree around Halloween time...that is the basket where I put the small bite sized candy. I call it, "The Sweetest Monster Club."

Students and parents can't stop raving about the DOJO. Parents love the easy accessibility on checking their child's behavior, and students love logging in at home and adjusting their avatar to look as cool as they want it. That is always fun, because all the other students love seeing the jazzed up avatars that students make. Honestly, students love the DOJO, parents love the DOJO, admin loves the DOJO, I LOVE the DOJO!! What are you waiting for?!

Coolest part of Class DOJO- you can post pictures to the "Class Story," and it almost looks like a kid friendly version of Instagram. Parents can scroll through and like and comment all of your pictures you post. It's super fun!!

Please feel free to comment below or ask any questions you might have and I will be happy to answer!!

How do YOU use YOUR DOJO's?!

Hello and happy Spring Break! At least for me anyways! I can honestly say that my spring break has been filled with going to bed by 9pm, working out of course, laying out at my parents pool where I feel 17 again, oh, and Vegas in 2 DAYS! Yes teachers are allowed to go to Las Vegas and enjoy themselves once in awhile. Let's hope that I make it out alive! :)

On another note, with Classroom DOJO so up and coming, I am curious how other teachers use DOJO's in their classrooms. It goes without saying, that Class DOJO has been a life saver this year and I am so sick of the clip chart system, or colored cards. This is a new day and age and students don't respond to the clip chart anymore! Out with the old, and in with the DOJO! Anywho, not sure if any other teacher feels like I do, but I hate giving out negative DOJO's...and my students know this. They have even written stories about me- "Ms. Wilfert loves giving out DOJO's, but she HATES taking them away!" It's a fact, I love showering my students with positive reinforcement, and I hate taking their points away. Of course, you will have the students that don't do their homework (minus 3 DOJO's) or the students that use undafe classroom behavior (minus 4 DOJO's) or the students that are off task (minus 1 DOJO) with which you almost HAVE to take the DOJO's away to let them know that they weren't making the best choices at that point in time. BUT, again, like my students said, "Ms. Wilfert LOVES giving out DOJO's!" So I wanted to share with you today, a fun and effective tool that I use daily to help reinforce positive behavior without taking DOJO's away.

This fun and easy tool is simply called, "Knock Ms. Wilfert's Socks Off!" I have a small pocket chart hanging below my Smart Board (only because space is limited, and it is a very reachable and accessible place for students. I have a pocket for each student and all of their names are listed. Here is a picture...

Every day, we start with a clean pocket chart. My classroom assistant knows to clean it out at the end of each day... (I love this age where they LOVE having important roles in the classroom, which means one less thing that I have to do!)

If the students do something that goes above and beyond what is expected of them, then I tell them very simply, "I love how you are _______, will you knock my socks off?" OR "I love how you _____________, that is totally something that knocks my socks off!" And then they know that once they hear those 4 magical words, they go to the pocket chart and put a shape in their pocket. Why a shape you ask? Mostly because it was what I had on hand when I thought of the idea, and they fit perfectly in the pockets, so I guess- why waste my time making something else if these cute little shapes work so perfectly?!

Here is what the pocket chart starts to look like throughout the day...

Now, if a student is doing something undesirable, I can simply say "Is that something that would knock my socks off?" And from there, the student immediately knows to quit, and therefore I don't have to be a DOJO drill sergeant and take TONS of DOJO's away for minor things. Lets face it- kids will be kids, you just need to know how to level with them. Also, if a student knocked my socks off throughout the day, they never want to lose their shape, so they usually are on their best behavior. Now...why do they not want to lose their shape, you ask? Well...at the very end of the day, I reward each student who went ABOVE AND BEYOND by knocking my socks off, with 2 DOJO Points...

I do this at the end of the day, whole group, on the big screen, and students LOVE to see their points go up! Now, it doesn't stop there! After I reward the students that earned it with their points, I then have a random drawing with just those students that knocked my socks off! You simply press the "Random" button on the screen, and the DOJO will randomly select a student. If that student has a shape in their pocket, they win! If the DOJO selects a student with no shape, then we hit 'Random" again, until it lands on someone with a shape. 

Once a student who has a shape has been selected, they win a prize! I usually buy Double Bubble Bubble Gum, Starburst, or Hershey Kisses. Just something quick, small, and easy. Honestly, I don't think it's about the candy, really, I think they love the excitement of the drawing more than anything. 

And there you have it! I only give out negative DOJO's when absolutely necessary, and I use this fabulous tool throughout the day to help promote POSITIVE behavior! Out with the negative, in with the positive. How do YOU use DOJO's in YOUR classroom? Please feel free to share below!

Thanks for reading!

Need to use the bathroom? It'll cost ya!

So here is the inevitable- students will need to use the restroom. If you manage your bathroom usage poorly, your students will walk all over you and completely abuse it. Now, if you don't allow them to use the restroom at all- then you will have some tremendous messes to clean up. You must meet half way in the middle. So here is what I do and it really makes me a happy teacher..

1. We discuss how we need to be responsible and use the restroom before school, at recess, at lunch, and after school. 

2. I allow my students ONE free bathroom pass a day. I have a list of their names in a sheet protector hanging by the classroom door, with a dry erase marker velcro'd to the wall next to the list.

3. If they need to use the restroom after that point, then they lose 2 DOJO points....now, I use my own discretion. If they seem like they are bursting at the seams, then of course they go and we kind of don't mention anything from there on...but if they are clearly trying to get out of class, then ahsta la vista (sp?) 2 DOJO points. Now...have any of my students gone to the restroom for a second time and purposely lost 2 DOJO points? No...those points are like treasure to them, so they will not let them go.

Now, I said earlier that I give them ONE free bathroom pass a day...well, I lied. It's not necessarily free... in order to use the restroom, they must pull an index card from my "Bathroom Tickets" basket, and complete the question on the card as a "ticket" to use the restroom. Not only are they reinforcing concepts I have taught them, but I can also use those bathroom tickets as informal assessments. I had no idea that a student I had struggled with rhyming, until I saw her bathroom ticket which asked her to write a word that rhymed with "shark." She wrote "cake." So at that point, I had a mini meeting with her the next morning and we talked about rhyming words. She struggled with simple rhyming words and was oblivious when it came to word families. UMMM...what?! So, I have now set a targeted goal to meet with her once a week to quickly review word families and rhyming words. Now that we have learned addition with regrouping, A LOT of my bathroom tickets are reinforcing that skill. I absolutely LOVE checking the bathroom tickets at the end of the day and seeing correct answers to concepts that were just taught, Love, love, LOVE it! And I thought about hopping on the computer and making some super cute bathroom tickets, but honestly- index cards and a Sharpie worked just fine...I could make the tickets day to day to review concepts that were brand new or from the first week...hope this helps!

Classroom Reveal!

Hi There! With the holidays in full effect and getting back to it after the new year, time has been limited! I have set some personal new years resolutions and one of them is to make time for myself and to make time for something I love- Crossfit. I am trying to Crossfit 3x a week, and run with Frank at least once a week. I am trying to walk Frank everyday, create a TPT product at least 3 times a week, and try to blog once a week. Ummm....this has been a lot harder than I thought.

One thing I WAS able to do, was get a new camera for Christmas and take some photos of my classroom! So the ONE thing I CAN do today, is show you my second home...

And then my Classroom DOJO in full effect...

You can find my Editable Classroom DOJO Starter Kit in my Teachers Pay Teachers store HERE

So now that I have utilized my new camera to post pictures of my super fab classroom, here is something else I have been working hard on...my second love of CF! I felt like such a nerd and "that guy" asking my friend to film me doing double unders but honestly, it was actually kind of nice being able to check out my form!

Glad I could post for a hot minute...if you have any questions about my classroom set up or where I found or created my resources, please feel free to ask!

Birthday Synonyms and Antonyms!

Happy Monday!!

I have been so busy this entire month that I have just now gotten around to my second, count it, SECOND post! I am a procrastinator and should be on post 10 by now!! I haven't been up to absolutely nothing, though. I turned 30 on December 9th and have been getting spoiled by my family and friends. I got a night out with my brother and his wife (they got a night out with no babies) and then my best friend took me to a fancy pants spa so I could get my first facial, ever! Besides all of my birthday festivities, we have been up to some fun in my classroom! We had an awesome week learning about the Synonym Sisters and Antonym Brothers! I absolutely love teaching language standards because I love relating the rules to a little story that helps students retain the concept. So here is how I teach synonyms and antonyms...

The Synonym Sisters are older sister Susan and younger sister Sammy. Sammy likes to do everything that her older sister does, but older sister gets very tired of her younger sister always copying her. So since Sammy is super smart, she copies everything her sister says, but instead she changes the word to a different word with the same meaning. So if Susan says something tastes yummy, Sammy will say that it tastes delicious. Susan and Sammy say the same things! (I usually say this repetitively while touching my two pointer fingers together).

The Antonym Brothers are Anthony and Alex. They are twins that were born on the same say, same time, and they look exactly the same. However, they could not be more different. They never, ever agree on anything! If Anthony likes day, then Alex likes night. If Anthony likes morning, then Alex likes night. Even though they are identical, they could not be more opposite. Anthony and Alex practice antonyms that are opposites! (And this is where I say this repetitively and I shake my fingers away from one another).

In order to reinforce this concept I have created my very own Synonym Sister and Antonym Brother Mini Unit! Here is a sneak peak, and a few of my kiddos using the product in action!

You can check out this product at my TPT store by clicking HERE! They absolutely loved the story behind the skill and loved hearing about those silly sisters and brothers!

3 more days until winter break!! What???!! Happy Teaching Everyone!

Let me introduce myself...

Welcome to my blog! I would like to take a moment to introduce myself! My name is Stacy, and as of 2015, I am a fifth year teacher. I spent four years in Sun Valley, CA, and my fifth year is in my home town of Tucson, Arizona. I taught first grade for three years, third grade for one year, and now I am comfortable in second grade. Besides teaching, I have a huge passion for Crossfit! I grew up playing softball my entire life along with lifting weights and embracing a muscular body. No other workout has come close to making me feel as powerful as Crossfit has. I needed the team aspect that I was so familiar with and nothing- yoga, spin, hours at the gym, etc., could fulfill that need. I found my fit in CF and love, love, LOVE throwing heavy weights around, so I figured I would create this teaching blog with a hint of Crossfit...just to show that us teachers don't have to get old and moldy...we can be fit, strong, smart, and beautiful. Hopefully some of you can relate to my life and find what I have to say interesting or helpful!

Anyways, It has been a dream of mine to get my Teachers Pay Teachers store off of the ground, and eventually begin a blog. With time I will upgrade the template, but I was just so excited to get started that chevron would just have to do! But here I am!! I finally did it, and my gosh do I have a long way to go!!

I recently moved back to Tucson from San Francisco. I moved there with someone, and needless to say it didn't work out. Moving home was difficult considering San Francisco is beautiful and has so much to offer, but I am finally home with my family- parents, brother, sister in law, and my two beautiful nephews. However, moving back was not going to be sufficient enough for me...I needed to set some personal goals to know that I can overcome difficult times and come out on top. Here are the goals I set for myself...

1. Start a teaching blog (check!)
2. Get off my butt and create all of the resources I have written down that are just sitting on post-it's (on my way!)
3. Compete in a local Crossfit competition...just to show myself that I did it...(working on it....)

Short list, but for some reason it has taken a tremendous amount of time to get at it!

With that being said, I hope you enjoy hearing what I have to say and I am open to hearing anything that you have to say as well! Wish me luck!

Welcome to my world :)