Dojos and behavior grade

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I would like to ask a question to the teachers here because I am not having a good experience with these dojos. I am not a teacher, my daughter is in kindergarten and they use these dojos. She gets LOTS of negatives for things like speaking when she isn't supposed to, lifting up her shirt, standing on her chair, sticking out her tongue, twirling around in the hallway, etc- she doesn't do any one of these repeatedly (except talking out of turn) she just gets one every time she does something wrong. My problem is that she then gets a grade at the end of the week based on these dojos and has brought home grades in the 60s. For my kindergartener to get a "D" to me says something must be REALLY wrong but they are all just little things like listed above, the teacher says she is more defiant than most of the other kids but nothing extreme. I feel like this is all crazy- this will be a grade on her report card, like an actual percentage/letter grade (not satisfactory,etc) and I really don't think my daughter should be starting her school career with "D"s for what seems like really normal behavior considering she is only 5 years old. I spoke with the principal and he said this is the system they switched over to recently and seemed unconcerned.

So I guess my question is: is this how these dojos are being used all over? Is this grading system normal? I feel like I'm going crazy here. She really is not a bad kid at all (it's not like she is hurting others or bullying)

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[+3] - Tes yeux noirs - 11/19/2015[quote] I can't let the word "caning" in Izzy's post go. What a screwed up system![/quote] I think I may be a rough contemporary of Izzy; I was educated in the UK, at infant school (5-7...

@kfriemoth,

What is a dojo?

3 Replies

@ossobuco,

If a Kindergarten class sent my daughter home with a grade, I would pull my kid out of there pretty quickly. Is there another option where your kid could go for kindergarten?

This sounds like a horrible thing to do to 5 year olds.

The Dojo term reminded me of this...

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

That's what I wondered..

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@ossobuco,

pros and cons

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/28/teacher-guide-classdojo-behaviour-management

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-behavior-classdojo-app-lisa-mims

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/technology/privacy-concerns-for-classdojo-and-other-tracking-apps-for-schoolchildren.html?_r=0

Quote:

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.

Quote:

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.

ClassDojo does not seek explicit parental consent for teachers to log detailed information about a child’s conduct. Although the app’s terms of service state that teachers who sign up guarantee that their schools have authorized them to do so, many teachers can download ClassDojo, and other free apps, without vetting by school supervisors. Neither the New York City nor Los Angeles school districts, for example, keep track of teachers independently using apps.

If parents wish to remove their child’s data from ClassDojo, they must ask the teacher or email the company.

1 Reply

@kfriemoth,

IMHO, this is bizarre treatment for 5-yr-old kids. Are they trying to turn children into automatons?

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

Ah, that's all a brave new world to me. Eeeeek.
Off to read your links.

1 Reply

@kfriemoth,

I just read about Dojo's. How horrible! Public shaming is not appropriate for use with 5 year olds.

http://www.teachingace.com/thinking-about-classroom-dojo-why-not-just-tase-your-kids-instead/

I would talk very strongly to the teacher that this is hurting your child and that you want it to stop. If that didn't work, I would go to the school administration and talk to other parents. Of course, if removing your child from that kindergarten is an option I would do that first.

Teachers are called "teachers" because their job is to teach your child. They aren't called "wardens". A good teacher will set up a positive environment that will make kids want to participate positively and will work with kids to help them be successful. Gimmicks like this that label kids as "bad" aren't successful and they actively hurt students.

Reading about this upsets me.

0 Replies

@ossobuco,

They do it at my son's (special) school. From my point of view it's been very positive, dojos mean rewards, and he went on a reward trip to Harry Potter World in London last year.

It is a special school so expectations are limited, but all that's been noted are the positives. I don't think they use the negative ones, but if they did I would be opposed, especially for kids like that.

Piling up the negatives doesn't work. A lot of kids take the attitude that they may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, and there's some kudos to be had in being the naughtiest kid in class. I remember the kids who got caned were viewed as especially tough and to be feared/respected when I was a kid.

The best way to reinforce discipline is to offer the kids a privilege/treat that has to be worked for and can be withdrawn. Kids behave if they think there's something in it for them.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

Quote:

I remember the kids who got caned were viewed as especially tough and to be feared/respected when I was a kid.

The best way to reinforce discipline is to offer the kids a privilege/treat that has to be worked for and can be withdrawn. Kids behave if they think there's something in it for them.

Good teachers don't need to "reinforce discipline", especially in Kindergarten. Kids aren't prisoners... they are kids.

Kids want to be good, and they want to play and have fun. A good teacher sets up engaging activities and a environment where kids and learn and interact. If a teacher does that, he might have to give a little direction to a kid here are there, but he will never have to enforce disciple.

I have seen good kindergarten teachers. They set up their class a community that includes all of the kids. They don't have discipline problem because all the kids want the community that works... you don't rebel against something that is working for you.

There is no problem with sending the good kids to Harry Potter world, as long as you aren't excluding anyone. If there are kids who don't get to go to Harry Potter world, it isn't because the kids are "bad". It is because the teacher is bad. Excluding kids from a class trip is a pretty cruel punishment... imagine how you would feel if your kid were excluded.

By the way, I can't let the word "caning" in Izzy's post go. What a screwed up system!

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

Quote:

I can't let the word "caning" in Izzy's post go. What a screwed up system!

I think I may be a rough contemporary of Izzy; I was educated in the UK, at infant school (5-7 years) in the 1950s, junior school (7-11) and secondary (11-18) in the 1960s. At infants, slaps with the hand on the ass or leg were quite common, and at juniors they used a sports shoe on the ass (one teacher would hit a boy's held out palm with a ruler). At secondary school there was practically no corporal punishment; they seemed to prefer detention after class or expulsion for very serious things. Teachers or other school staff who hit children nowadays would be prosecuted and probably get a jail sentence.

2 Replies

@Tes yeux noirs,

I remember kids being hit with rulers during my first years at school. I'm glad those days are over (at least in the school system here - I can't speak for the rest of the world).

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@ossobuco,

Martial arts schools are often referred to as dojos. Martial arts teachers/instructors are often referred to as Sensei or Sifu.

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@Tes yeux noirs,

Max is rather pathetically trying to get my attention. The fact that he thinks caning still goes on over here is reason enough to keep him on ignore. Needy narcissistic ignorance is all he has to offer.

2 Replies

@izzythepush,

Ali G: Do you believe kids should be caned?
Sir Rhodes Boyson MP: I do.
Ali G: You do! Wicked, man! You believe kids should be caned even in school?
Sir Rhodes: Even in school.
Ali G: Do you not think, Sir Rhodes, if you get caned in school you can’t concentrate as well, because a lot of people out there say that, if you’re getting caned?
Sir Rhodes: Well, I was caned in my time and I’ve concentrated all my life.
Ali G: You were caned? Respect, man! Respect!

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

I remember that. Rhodes Boyson was a bloody weirdo, like something out of Victorian London, or 1930s Lancashire a regular Bradley Hardacre.

0 Replies

he had mutton-chop whiskers, didn't he?

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

Oh yes.

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He was one of Mrs Thatcher's favourites, but surprisingly from 1957 until 1961 he was a Labour councillor in his home town in Lancashire.

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

People are supposed to grow more conservative the older they get, but not usually to that extent.

0 Replies

Dojos and behavior grade

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