ClassDojo App Guide (2023): What Parents and Educators Need to Know

Educators are always searching for easy, yet effective methods of parent communication and connection, while parents are yearning for a look into their student’s school day. Many schools across the country have turned to ClassDojo to help teachers and parents communicate and motivate their students.

 What is ClassDojo?

• ClassDojo is a free, educational platform designed to help teachers, parents, and students communicate effectively
• ClassDojo encourages parents and teachers to work together to support social-emotional learning for students
• Teachers can use the app for parent communication to share classroom photos, videos,  announcements, and calendars
• Parents can private message their student’s teacher directly through ClassDojo to get in touch with them
• Teachers or parents can use the app’s features to encourage students for learning new skills and demonstrating classroom values, such as working hard, being kind, and teamwork through a points-based system
• Students can use ClassDojo's digital portfolios where they can showcase their knowledge by adding journal entries, photos, videos, and drawings to share with their parents and teachers
• ClassDojo can be used by teachers to communicate with all of their students and display activity instructions, files, or assignments
• ClassDojo says “Free for teachers, forever” (Source: ClassDojo), but there are paid annual or monthly subscription options that parents may want to consider to receive detailed reports, retain access to the prior year’s Memories, fun family activities, and more
• ClassDojo translates to 35 different languages

What is ClassDojo rated?

Apple App Store Rating:  4+

Google Play Rating: E (Everyone)

Founded by: Sam Chaudhary; Liam Don, based in San Francisco, CA

Available on iOS, Android, or on the web at www.classdojo.com

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

ClassDojo in the news

Academic studies have found that ClassDojo helped to increase students' positivity, self-control and engagement and to reduce behavioral problems. - Forbes

Struggling is an inevitable part of learning, but banging one’s head repeatedly against the wall until a problem is solved is not an example of how to develop a growth mindset. - EdSurge

The little island and its friendly monsters are reminiscent of virtual worlds we’ve seen before—Animal Crossing, Minecraft and Roblox all come to mind. But what has Don so excited isn’t unique graphics or the simple game play. It’s what this live demo promises: a virtual environment for children that parents and teachers will actually trust. - Forbes

Why should parents & educators care?

• Parents can only join ClassDojo with a special code or link from their student’s teacher.  There is a school search feature which will then allow the parent to request access from the teacher before the parent can connect with the class https://youtu.be/Rzzb5cmNoc0
• Students can create their own unique “monsters” and can join ClassDojo with a special login code from their parent or teacher
• Parents can use the paid version of ClassDojo at home to award their students with points for chores and behavior at home
• The “Discover” section of the app contains short videos, featuring ClassDojo’s monsters, that aim to help students develop social-emotional learning skills

What is Dojo Islands?

• Dojo Islands is a ClassDojo Beta program for students to play and learn together online. Not all schools and teachers using ClassDojo have access to this program
• Students will only be able to play games with other students that have been added/verified by their teacher
• Chat is limited to a few preprogrammed phrases 
• Dojo Islands can be enabled or disabled from the parent’s account settings (Source: ClassDojo)

What can parents & educators do?

• If your student's teacher is using ClassDojo, don’t let it replace every day conversations with parents, educators, and students about the school day and activities.  Continue to encourage open-ended dialogue and daily discussions about what you are seeing through the app and what you are not seeing
• Teachers can visit the ClassDojo YouTube channel to watch video tutorials about how to maximize the use of the app with your students
• Visit the ClassDojo homepage to learn more about the app before allowing your student to use it
• Teach your students that face-to-face interactions with their teachers and school staff are still important, even if their school uses digital methods for tracking their student's progress
• Parents using ClassDojo should consider turning on “Push notifications” through settings to receive alerts and reminders directly to your phone when the teacher posts to the app
• Parents, if your student’s teacher provides a login code, be sure to sign up.  Teachers, make sure you maintain communication methods for parents outside of Class Dojo if necessary

Conclusion

ClassDojo can be used in a positive way to track student progress, reinforce positive behavior, and allow parents to feel involved in the classroom.   Although parents can use ClassDojo to start a dialogue with their children and help them build social intelligence, the app should not substitute face-to-face lessons and hands-on learning activities. 

Additional resources

Listen to the MomTalk podcast where Rachel and Andrea discuss ClassDojo and other social media