ClassDojo Reviews

by JoeShiro

School uses this for communication to families. Here is my review: -The main page is confusing because it’s hard to distinguish between one post and another plus you can’t just click on a class or teacher to get only their posts. With multiple kids, the home page is chaos. -Messaging teachers direct works but I’ve double profiles of teachers in the school. -There is no explanation of monsters or how it actually helps your child other than supposedly it’s a point-reward system but confusing whether or not kids actually interact. -App focuses on getting you to upgrade and pay $60 for features that I’m still not sure what they are - except if you don’t pay, it deletes all the pictures at the end of the year. -Doesn’t look like there is a group chat feature where you could message a teacher and include another parent/guardian. -No notification settings to let you choose between getting DMs vs general front page info. -Also, it seems that it could be a failure of the school, but some teachers use DMs to communicate information and others use main posts. Again, it’s hard because you can’t just select on one teacher, but you have to go through all posts to find that nugget of information.
In addition, there is no group chat so teachers have to write different messages to parents of the same child - even if the parents are married and the same household.

by TU Greystones

I would give zero stars if Apple allowed me to do so. Let me start by saying I do not want to use this software in the first place. I don’t need to know the minutiae of my kids’ day at school. As an engaged parent, we talk at dinner every night about how their day was and what happened. Unfortunately for me, other parents apparently don’t mind getting minute by minute updates on their children. If this were not required by the school, I would not use the software at all. Where I get extremely frustrated is the constant nagging for me to buy a subscription to premium content when I don’t even want the free content. I find ClassDojo beyond obnoxious and would love for educators to focus on teaching rather than updating unnecessary software. Since I’m in the minority, my request is that the developer of this app offer the option to turn off the pestering requests to upgrade to something I never wanted in the first place. I will never upgrade this software and find the constant requests to upgrade make me dislike the software even more than I did before.

by GunMik

I’ve used ClassDojo for 3 years now. As a parents I see a lot of room for improvement. 1. I am not notified via text and no way I have found to be notified- I am very busy and I don’t enjoy needing to go to yet 1 more app to look at my kids progress or homework etc. adds more work for me and not worth it. 2. It’s very elementary. As my son moved to upper elementary - they still use it but now there’s no progress on him- they find it’s too beneath the grade level which I agree on. 3. I like the anonymity other apps gives me and still allows me to communicate w other parents - like to remind them it’s the teacher bday etc. ClassDojo offer nothing like that. 4. I have to have ClassDojo ! I have plenty of storage space now but some parents don’t! And I hear complaints often that they don’t have room for yet another app- other programs allows communication via text and no need for ClassDojo ! They send sms! My kids are 3rd and 4th grade. This apps has potential to grow w the students yet it has not!! Please consider adding features for age progression. And I’m trying the at home feature- would have been great when my kids were younger but at their ages the monsters and points don’t mean near as much as the cool
Games they could be playing. Over all- the younger the kid the better and only communication with teachers and no way to make a play date w a classmate even between students! Please consider adding features !

by Sallyj456

It has become increasingly frustrating to search since there is no search function! So I have to scroll through all the posts and hopefully find the one I was looking for. It makes it even harder since the post are listed as how many days ago it was. For instance a post will say 3d or 2w ago why can’t it be listed with the specific date? Now I have to look in the calendar to see how many days or weeks ago it was. Also you can’t click on the teachers name to view all the posts that teacher has made. For example I was trying to find an announcement the principal sent some time ago. It would make sense if I found a recent post and click on her name it would bring up all the announcements she made but you can’t. A suggestion to help the teachers that are new to this kind of technology when they make a post make them place a title, maybe put a reminder if they post a video with links in the video to put the links separate in the post. I have a teacher who is posting just link after link with no way of knowing what subject it is, which makes it even harder to go back and view past lessons. With these small improvements and guidance for new teachers using ClassDojo this will be a great classroom app. Everything else works as expected.

by Notyaverage

There have been 5 updates since I reported the loss of getting notifications on my iPhone 8 plus. I was told to reinstall ClassDojo despite this issue being recognized as a bug that needs fixing. It still has not been fixed and these vague release notes leave a lot to be desired.

As for ClassDojo use, it's a mom's nightmare if you have special needs children. If you can not ask your child what happened at school ClassDojo will leave you even more baffled. Teachers are allowed to leave unexplained negative feedback. Yes it is teacher responsibility to use it fairly but I feel ClassDojo and it's setup makes poor communicating teachers even lazier. I am expected to write *them* notes that they do NOT respond to when they mark points off, cause simply telling me makes too much sense 🙄 So how about this- stop letting teachers just lazily leave negative feedback WITHOUT notes. It should REQUIRE a note. If my child isn't doing anything worth writing about it shouldnt warrant losing points either.
Messages should have a priority setting because I am starting to think my child's teachers can't read the way they dodge messages. It's ridiculous and there should be more accountability built-in to it's use cause students are not the only bullies at school. Now we just have a bunch of lazy teachers content with bare minimum forms of communication. ClassDojo could require more of teachers, otherwise it's worsening communication and behavior problems.

by M.Fame13

The this app app is fantastic for staying up to date on last minute changes, or events that are coming up. It makes it easy to contact your child’s teachers via text, as well as seeing how your child is doing behavioral wise and if they handed in their homework. The Dojo points given by your child’s teachers is a great way to express this.

However, the reason I’m rating ClassDojo 3⭐️ is due to having to pay for the ability to give your child Dojo points at home for chores or listening etc. This is an education app. The ability to give Dojo points at home to your child should be accessible to all parents. Not everyone can afford the price you’re requesting for parents to pay. The price is a bit outrageous. In today’s society getting our child to attend school, especially our older children, is difficult already. Why not use the Dojo points at home system for pure encouragement so that your child can see their growth, in hopes they continue to go to school and stay out of trouble.

If the Dojo points at home part of ClassDojo needs to have a price tag, it should be one that is based on society as a whole. Perhaps it should be based on the lower income families, seeing as they are the families that the charter schools are geared towards, in order for their children to have better education for a brighter future.

by Jerseybird

Excellent way to communicate any quick thing btw parent and teacher whether it is an FYI or "Brian didn't sleep well last night so he may not interact as much". Especially helpful for parents of special needs kids to keep close communication with teacher and parent to help regulate a child's routine. I've been able to get feedback from my son's teacher about his behavior throughout the day which is very helpful for me when giving him adhd medication when i need to note it's effects and what time of day.

The teacher is more likely to have the convenience to give me a quick text to inform me that my son had a meltdown at 10:30a right after so I could troubleshoot with her via text.

Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because i wish we could download data to save the progress. Like the ratings the teacher gives daily are only available for like a week. It would be nice to download to excel or something to see the progression and identify weakness or patterns in behaviors based on external factors.

by Pcwittmann

I love the most recent changes to the student accounts, especially the ease in switching for students now. I would like to see a more streamlined process of posting pictures and videos. Right now, they can take a picture or video, add a caption, talk over the picture explaining or draw on it. Once they click the little blue airplane, they have to select their name again (even tho they are already on their own account) and then click post. I think the airplane on the previous screen should suffice in posting it. If there were to be another screen, maybe just give the option of being able to post the same picture to another student account like before. Sometimes my students are partners and they shouldn’t have to take two separate pictures for their work. I also would like some sort of feature where I can toggle on a record keeping of who is posting. For example, I might want to have students post a picture or video of their center for the day- I’d love to see a quick easy way to filter who has and has not posted to their own account during that time frame. It would be so helpful, especially when I have some centers I give students two or more days to do. Just some ideas! Thanks.

by Sassy3ddawn

We used Dojo at a different school and the difference was huge. My first experience was really great. We only saw only items that were related to our specific classroom and those that were sent by the principal and vice principal or reminders that were sent out for the whole school. This school We see every post for every class whether or not it is related to our classroom. Also purchasing the premium program so you can do dojo points at home was pretty useless. It does not interact with the schools character development process. So basically you make up the rules on your own and you have to find incentives to prompt your student into the behavior that you want your student to have. It was not worth the amount of effort it takes to develop a program at home that may conflict what is being done at school. Also there is no way to check on what your student is getting rewards for. All I know is that on Friday he gets to spend his Dojo points to buy trinkets from the “Dojo Store” or change his login Dojo character. This program has so much potential, but it is riddled with missed opportunities for parents to be informed and included in their students learning experience. Very, very disappointed.

by Wake Me When Better

I wish there was an option to mark messages as read. Sometimes you get multiple messages throughout the day, sometimes even the same info from different people (teachers vs principal etc). Sometimes the same info multiple days in a row especially if there are tasks that need to be completed by a deadline. Because of this some info/tasks gets missed because the message is lost or buried between other messages. It would also decrease how many times messages need to be reposted because the staff would know that parents have the ability to better track “what may or may not have been missed”.
You should even include the capability where teachers can see which students/parents have/have not read which messages; whether general or direct. Teachers are busy; parents are busy. Please include my suggestions to simplify overall communications.

by Jdgdhejhxhd

My daughters kindergarten teacher Ms. Voce was by far the BEST teacher I have ever dealt with. She was amazing and loving and attentive to my at the time 6 year old daughter. We video chatted and met up once so she could give me supplies during Covid when times were a little more minimal. I wished she could be my daughters teacher every year but fortunately her first grade teacher is just as awesome! Mrs. Russell! A very kind and funny teacher my daughter says she’s so funny and a prankster lol wonderful, friendly staff and teachers even the parents I run into and other children are so nice. My baby girl loves the environment they provide and the people in it! As long as I’m in NY this is the school for my child.

During the trying times of Covid this school went above and beyond to make the parents and children feel safe and comfortable! 2020 was rough with Covid spiking and the children having to school via chrome books, it was so difficult but the more the teachers/staff learned the easier it became and the few times the children did get to go to school they made it the best they could. My daughter always came home in a good mood and told me she had fun those days! More schools need to be like Albany Elementary. 5 stars! ⭐️

by Teacher4life<3

I am a preschool teacher who holds open communication with my students parents as extremely important. I’ve recently began using class dojo and love it! I can update my parents throughout the day on their child’s behavior, share pictures with them, and post reminders and information on a the class story for all parents to see (which is great because they rarely read the ones I post in the classroom). I also love that I can message the parents directly and vice verse without having to share my personal contact information. I would suggest ClassDojo to every teacher preschool age and older.
***my only suggestion for improvement would be that ClassDojo designers make a way for parents to download the pictures of their children shared with them. My parents have complained about having to screenshot the pictures they wanted saved.

by Andrea McBrown

I LOVE ClassDojo SO much! We unschool our kiddos (8, 4 & 1) and this is the easiest way to track what we are doing. I’m not great at keeping notes, planners or lesson plans (and we honestly don’t teach that way or any “typical” way), but ClassDojo makes it super simple to show the work we do on a daily basis.

Quick pictures of field trips (children’s museum, zoo, science center, library visits, meet-ups, etc. etc.) with an explanation of what was learned.

I also take pictures of the books they’re currently reading or audio books, podcast etc.

I also am able to track behavior/life skills/chores via ClassDojo since it’s framework is pretty flexible. They get points for daily tasks around the house...at school it would likely be stuff like raising your hand, being kind...whatever and for us it’s getting dressed, brushing teeth, limiting screen time to 2 hours or less, being respectful, returning library books to the “return” bin when they’re done, etc.

Point is...app is super flexible and I love it!!! I can’t say enough good things about it!

Oh and also...I have some relatives that aren’t onboard with homeschooling (not their choice or business) and a super quick way to show them how much we truly do is to send them a parent invite so they can view what I track here..they’ve gotten off my back since 😁

by Lynda Louise

This program has revolutionized my teaching style. I use this program as a point system in my class. When a student has a certain number of points then s/he may sit in a certain chair. I also use this program to individually correspond with my parents daily regarding behavior challenges on particular students; but most importantly, I push out at up to 3 good behavior messages to my well behaved kids, so that I can give an extra thanks to these kids for being such great students. (Which in turn helps my classroom climate”). I also love using the Class Stories aspect of this program. The photos keep the parents feeling connected and I have a pictorial record of my class activities. Dojo offers all this and more free of charge plus they have no ads! This program has helped me improve my classroom climate. Thank you for the use of this program.

by Queen Bee Li

I enjoy using Class Dojo it is a fun medium that helps keep communication between home and school fast and open especially with all the device (cell phone) restrictions in the classroom. My families love seeing pictures of the littles ones engaged and learning. They get to see what they would normally miss. It is an extremely helpful tool for remote learning also. I just wish we could attach more than on post to the school and class stories. Sometimes when I make a recording for my students I want to add a file, image or activity to go along with the lesson. I don’t want to overwhelm the parents with extra posts. I also wish there was a way to transfer posts between portfolios, Class and School Stories within Class Dojo. Whenever I try to download to post I get a lot of technical data instead of the images I want to repost.

by Beachinnbum

ClassDojo is amazing and genius in every sense! I am able to see my son’s points at school and class photos his teacher posts! Keep up with announcements, message his teacher privately, and also give him points at home for good behavior and reward my son when he’s ready to cash in his points! It works soooo much better than anything else we have tried with positive and negative reinforcement. He is 8 and ADHD and he struggles with self control a lot. This really helps him SEE his week or month as a whole, and the comments the teacher leaves on his behavior... we read them every evening and go over why that happened. Or I praise him for the good things he did or the great score he got on his test! It just keeps parents more involved! And it’s awesome cause mom and dad get to both see it, so dad is always involved too. Dad can’t say he didn’t know or wasn’t informed because it’s right there on ClassDojo !!! If he didn’t look then he is held accountable as well. My only wish is that POINTS WERE DEDUCTED FOR NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR AT HOME. Not just a time out to talk about it.

by Thriving In Third

Overall, I love so much about ClassDojo! The customer support is wonderful, the points system is great for behavior management, the videos are awesome for social emotional support and the portfolios are a great way to show student progress.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had as much success as I hoped making this my only form of communication with parents. There is something inadequate about the messaging system that makes it unreliable for parents to receive messages. I don’t know if this is because of technical errors on the parents’ side with notifications or something that Class Dojo can fix. I’ve had several times when parents have missed an important message about a meeting, field trip or awards assembly. I also wish the group messaging could work like a text thread where all parents are included in responses.
There also isn’t an option for volunteer sign ups, which is crucial at our school in the primary grades. Because of this, primary teachers use Bloomz and it is tricky for parents to manage both platforms if they have children in multiple classes.

by Murnanator

I use Dojo in my middle and high school classes. It allows me to track how students are participating in my class. I can keep track how often students come to class unprepared or are off task, and I can also reward them for working hard or persevering. At the end of the quarter, I run a report through Dojo, which gives me a percentage for each student. That percentage is used for a test grade called Participation.
I can also connect parents. They see how their kids participate in class, so there are no surprises. I can also post private pictures that only the parents I think had particular class can see. I share pictures of students doing fun activities in class. Also, if they learn something particularly interesting, I post about it So the parents know “what happened at school today.” I enjoy giving parents the opportunity to increase communication with their student regarding school.
ClassDojo also helps me with group work in my class. The tools option gives me ability to randomly split students into groups. The students respond well to Dojo, and this extrinsic motivation really gets them going.

by Allkindsofunusual

I'm a first year teacher in a special education 5th grade class and the behavior system I was using just wasn't cutting it. It wasn't effective for me to cross the classroom and stop my lessons to give my students reinforcements. Now I keep class dojo connected to the smart board at all times. The tap their naps in the morning to clock in for attendance. I give them points and demerits that I designed according to my needs which play a positive or negative sound. If a student earns three points in one day I give them a ticket to the classroom store. If the class gets more then 30 points I give them a class reward. The students see where the stand when it comes to their individual behavior and can see the effect they have on the group. The records they keep make report cards a breeze when it comes to marking students behavior. Parents stay connected and send messages through ClassDojo . This is all just the features of the website! ClassDojo offers added bonuses when used in tandem. The toolkit is a lifesaver with so many amazing things that it would take all day to describe them. ClassDojo is worth it a thousand times over!

by Big Daddy Richy

We enjoy the dojo app each and every school day! We receive messages and pictures of our child as he weaves his way thru the school year. He’s only in 4th grade so all the messages aren’t going to be great one’s, however we can use these as tool to garner improvement and discipline as well. It really gives you a piece of mind when you can see what/ How your child is doing throughout our dreary work a day lives. I’m not sure all schools use the dojo app for their parents, I’m sure there are other apps out there that do basically the same thing, but dojo works just fine. I’m glad they didn’t have anything like this when we were coming up in the school system, things seemed so much simpler back then. The children can’t even breathe wrong or it will be documented and reported to the parents nowadays. I think today’s youth will be better off for it. They will be more accountable and detail conscious.

by Grape Julius

Apparently, “More things still to come :)” can be properly translated as: look forward to dozens upon dozens of future update notes that will continue to read “More things still to come :)” without the developers delivering any change of substance whatsoever.

We’ve been waiting for years for a very simple tweak: the ability to edit/subtract points directly without using the “needs work” feature in 1-5 point increments. As it stands right now, it is virtually impossible to use Class Dojo with a classroom store or token economy. For example: if a student purchases an item that costs 150 points, then the only way to subtract that number of points from his account is to create a special category within “needs improvements with a value of -5, and then hit that button 30 times. Now multiply similarly priced purchases by 20 or more students each week, and the impracticality becomes overwhelming.

ClassDojo is a great concept and is a powerful, fun motivator. But we have suggested the “edit points” feature for years and have received plenty of “we’ll take that under advisement” promises from customer reps, only to receive countless updates without this game changing tweak included. Until the developers take customer feedback seriously, I will forever be searching for a viable replacement.

by Dcolato

Class Dojo is a great classroom management tool that also allows for students to safely post their accomplishments for their classmates and parents to see. Like the fact that we can message parents about issues at school, and that we have the OPTION to write a note for any positive or negative feedback. Which teacher on the planet has time to document EVERY moment in the day? The messaging system is great for a blast to all parents or individual ones. I’m happy that you can sent photos and videos of student work and participation in class. If you’re a mentor at your school, then you have the option to communicate with all parents not just the ones in your class, this is great for school-wide announcements. ClassDojo has improved over the years, BUT I wouldn’t mind additional icons - even though you can upload your own.

by TASSFABS

ClassDojo has given us parents the capability to see what our children have and are continuing to learn in their classrooms’. ClassDojo give us the pleasure to view fun pictures and videos of classroom activities as well as the amazing programs, super fun social gatherings and awareness our school/teachers are bringing our children every day/ week. We all know the feeling when we ask our children, “ what did you learn/ do at school today?” Their answer is, “ I don’t know...I don’t remember...nothing!” Well, ClassDojo allows teachers to give us some of what our kids are learning and more. I too can send a personal message to my daughter’s teachers’ and get a response right away. There is no longer a communication barrier that keeps us disconnected from our children’s education. I love ClassDojo!! Just amazing!!!