Have you ever been in a class where all the students were focused and engaged? And the class seemed to run perfectly? Or have you experienced the opposite — where most students were misbehaving or, at the very least, distracted? Why do students behave in one teacher’s class — but then misbehave in another’s?
What are the best teaching methods for getting students to stay focused in class?
In “Privacy Concerns for ClassDojo and Other Tracking Apps for Schoolchildren,” Natasha Singer writes:
For better or for worse, the third graders in Greg Fletcher’s class at Hunter Elementary School always know where they stand.
One morning in mid-October, Mr. Fletcher walked to the front of the classroom where an interactive white board displayed ClassDojo, a behavior-tracking app that lets teachers award points or subtract them based on a student’s conduct. On the board was a virtual classroom showing each student’s name, a cartoon avatar and the student’s scores so far that week.
“I’m going to have to take a point for no math homework,” Mr. Fletcher said to a blond boy in a striped shirt and then clicked on the boy’s avatar, a googly-eyed green monster, and subtracted a point.
The program emitted a disappointed pong sound, audible to the whole class — and sent a notice to the child’s parents if they had signed up for an account on the service.
ClassDojo is used by at least one teacher in roughly one out of three schools in the United States, according to its developer. The app is among the innovations to emerge from the estimated $7.9 billion education software market aimed at students from prekindergarten through high school. Although there are similar behavior-tracking programs, they are not as popular as ClassDojo.
Many teachers say the app helps them automate the task of recording classroom conduct, as well as allowing them to communicate directly with parents.
But some parents, teachers and privacy law scholars say ClassDojo, along with other unproven technologies that record sensitive information about students, is being adopted without sufficiently considering the ramifications for data privacy and fairness, like where and how the data might eventually be used.
These critics also say that the carrot-and-stick method of classroom discipline is outmoded, and that behavior apps themselves are too subjective, enabling teachers to reward or penalize students for amorphous acts like “disrespect.” They contend that behavior databases could potentially harm students’ reputations by unfairly saddling some with “a problem child” label that could stick with them for years.
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us …
— What do you think are the best teaching methods for getting students to behave well in class? What motivates you to stay focused? Have you ever behaved well in one teacher’s class and misbehaved in another’s? Why?
— The article reports on ClassDojo, a popular behavior tracking app used by many teachers. Do any of your teachers use ClassDojo or a similar technology? Would you want your teachers to use this kind of app?
— Do you think a system of extrinsic rewards and punishments, with points being given for good behavior or taken away for bad, is an effective way to motivate students? Would you be motivated by seeing your point tallies go up or down based on your class conduct? Why?
— Do agree with the author Alfie Kohn, who argues that methods like ClassDojo “treat children like pets, bribing or threatening them into compliance?” Or do you agree with Sam Chaudhary, a co-founder of ClassDojo, who argues that the app gives students valuable feedback that can help them become better students, leaders and team members? Why?
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