Lafayette County Teachers Utilize Apps to Manage Classroom Behavior

*Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in Oxford Stories

By Rachel DePaolo
rrlfinebe@go.olemiss.edu

Teachers at Lafayette Upper Elementary School in Lafayette County are using apps to help manage their classroom’s behavior.

Student teacher Ali Carpenter said the app ClassDojo has come in handy.

“We try to promote positive behavior through rewarding the positive behavior,” Carpenter said. “Students receive points and get points taken away if they break a rule, aren’t listening, etc.”

ClassDojo is an app that offers teachers a way to manage their classroom using an iPad or iPhone. With a simple interface, tracking attendance and recording student behavior is easy. It also enables teachers to share reports with parents and colleagues.

“Each month we set a goal for total points each student should have,” Carpenter said. “If they reach that goal, they are able to participate in the class party at the end of each month. Implementing this has increased positive behavior in our classroom.”

Photo of Caldwell’s classroom at Lafayette Upper Elementary School. Photo by Rachel DePaolo.

With the app, teachers can encourage students for any skill and share photos, videos, and announcements with parents. They can also instant message with parents and display a stream of photos of the child’s daily activities that parents can view.

The app is free and K-12 teachers, parents, students, and school leaders in more than 180 countries have joined. It works on all smart devices.

“Another thing we implemented recently is flexible seating,” Carpenter said. “We have yoga balls, yoga mats, exercise disks, and stadium seats that students can check out on assigned days if they have displayed desired positive behavior.

“When unwanted behavior is present, they lose flexible seating privileges, which is something they all look forward to. This has also decreased undesired behavior and promoted positive behavior from all learning levels.”

Learning is a top priority, but it can be challenging in a classroom of 20 children, all at different learning levels.

“My biggest challenge is getting all of the students motivated to learn and getting them excited about learning,” said Melalicia Caldwell, a third-grade teacher at Lafayette Upper Elementary. “We try to include fun activities in daily lessons, but the students know that when they do not follow directions, they do not get to do all these fun activities. It is discouraging when poor behavior results in taking away a fun activity.”

One of the yoga mats where students can rent out for their flexible seating. Photo by Rachel DePaolo.

Carpenter said the most important thing she has learned is that the teacher may be the one person the child looks forward to seeing on a daily basis.

“Home life is not always the best for some students,” she said. “But I want each of my students to know I will never give up on them (no matter what), that I have the utmost faith in their abilities, and I will be their biggest fan on their road to success.”