ClassDojo: Bringing Communities Together

As a parent to four school aged children, nothing annoys me more than when the communication between parents and teachers fail. For my kids, there is nothing fun about turning up to school in their uniform on own clothes day, or hearing about the Valentines Disco the day after it happened, all because Mummy didn’t get the newsletter. So for that reason, I am a huge advocate of building a strong school communication platform and, thankfully, this is where ClassDojo comes in.

ClassDojo’s mission is to bring communities together and give them the tools, ideas, and energy to improve education for all kids. Founded in 2011 (by two Brits) and based in San Francisco, ClassDojo is a school communication platform that teachers, students, and families use every day to build strong relationships and supportive communities. This is done in two ways. One, by sharing what’s being learned in the classroom back home through student portfolios, photos, videos, and messages. And, two, by helping students build social-emotional skills through in-classroom feedback and engaging activities. Today, 85% of primary schools in the UK, as well as a further 180 countries, have joined ClassDojo.

ClassDojo is the most popular school communication app for teachers, students, and families. Free to download on iOS and Android, Class Dojo was named as Best for Communication by EdTech Digest in 2018 and allows millions of families around the world to see photos and videos from the classroom, message teachers and receive digital newsletters, all via one easily accessible and secure place. With three of my children at the same school I hate opening their book bags to three news letters each week, or my inbox over run with three of every notification, and so having all of this information accessible on my phone, via just one app, would make my life far easier that’s for sure!

Features

1. Portfolios – ClassDojo has launched student-led portfolios where you can see exactly what your child is doing at school, right from your phone. Once a teacher approves the posts, it gets shared with the child’s family so you can see their photos, drawings, writing, without having to try and drag the information out of them over dinner! This is perfect for my four as none of them can ever remember what they did each day and it turns out I’m not alone, ClassDojo found that 93% of parents claimed to have no idea what their children learn in the classroom on a day to day basis.

2. When language is a barrier – With 40% of parents in London speaking English as an additional language, ClassDojo now instantly translates all captions and messages into more than 35 languages. I think this is an amazing idea to bridge the communication gap between EAL families and teachers, and the perfect way to make sure that all families are kept up to date, regardless of their language.

3. Give the Grandparents a front seat – If you pass on your unique parent code to extended family, they too can connect to see what the children are up to at school each day. I know my parents love to see what the kids have been up to and would enjoy sharing in their progress at school as you can guarantee by the time my parents ring them in the evening to ask about the kids day, their answer is always “I can’t remember!”.

4. Teachers Quiet Hours – Teachers can now set a Do Not Disturb signal so they wont be notified of any messages received during their allocated quiet time. That means parents can message teachers at all hours, whatever their worry, without the fear of waking a teacher or disturbing them on their weekend. This is such a good idea as I know previously when I have had issues I needed to speak to the teachers about, I have sat on that worry all weekend, worrying about it and magnifying the issue by the time Monday morning comes around. I love that via ClassDojo you never have to worry about that!

I think ClassDojo would make my life a lot easier, a lot simpler, and a lot more informed when it comes to my children and their education. I know from my previous career working in in the classroom just how important it is to have a good relationship between teachers and parents in order to really give a child the best start in life, and so anything which nurtures that relationship is a huge bonus in my eyes.

The more I have read about ClassDojo the more I can’t believe that my children’s schools aren’t using it already. I would love for them to catch on with the other 85% of primary schools in the UK and allow me to finally learn about what the kids get up to at school each day. Fingers crossed it won’t be long, and until then I’ll continue interrogating the kids about their day and getting little more than “Can’t remember” every time.

You can find out more about ClassDojo here. 

** This is a collaborative post with ClassDojo. All words and opinions are my own unless otherwise stated **