Ask any teacher what their biggest challenge is on a daily basis, and most will say behavior. Managing classroom behavior is challenging, and many teachers struggle immensely with behavior issues. Even expert teachers can find themselves spending too much of their valuable class time dealing with behavior problems.
Thankfully, edtech can help. There are actually tons of apps designed to help teachers monitor and correct problem behaviors in the classroom. Let’s discuss three of the best on the market.
1. Hero K12
Hero rethinks traditional discipline policies and builds programs to recognize students in a positive way on a school-wide or district-wide scale. While Hero does have a process to manage and track undesirable behaviors and their consequences, Hero is more about recognizing and rewarding students who are on task.
Hero takes a school’s behavior framework such as PBIS, RTI, SEL or other district-led initiatives and builds a system to recognize, reward, and reinforce those behaviors. Hero connects to student information systems and gives teachers a single-sign-on to see their individual class roster the moment they log in.
Hero does simplify the tracking and reporting of tardies and consequences of negative behaviors such as detentions and suspension, but its emphasis on redirection makes it possible to drive a positive school climate and bring everyone - students, teachers, administrators, and parents - into the process. Hero is accessed from a browser, mobile phone, tablet, or any connected device. Hero mobile behavior tracking allows schools to capture behavior where it happens: in the hallways, field trips, bus rides, lunch room, assemblies, or school events.
2. ClassDojo
One of the most popular classroom behavior management apps is ClassDojo. ClassDojo allows teachers to track positive and negative behaviors for each student with just a few clicks. Each student has a unique icon which teachers can click on and note behaviors. Students earn points for good behaviors and lose points for bad behaviors, so it’s easy to incorporate ClassDojo in with a classroom reward system.
Another reason ClassDojo is so popular is that it keep parents in the loop. Parents can get updates on how their child’s behavior was that day. If their child gained or lost points, they could see why. Students can also get alerts when their teacher adds or takes away points, so they know what they did without a verbal redirect in front of the class.
3. Too Noisy
Even when students are trying to behave, sometimes the classroom just gets too loud. Teachers get tired of yelling over students and asking them to be quiet. Luckily, there’s an app that can monitor noise levels for you--Too Noisy.
Too Noisy measures how loud the room is and displays the noise level with a fun, colorful graphic. When it gets too loud, the app will alert you. Teachers can set different noise limits for various activities. During individual work time, a teacher might set a very low limit. During group work, the ceiling might be higher.
This app not only helps keep the room quiet, but it can also help younger kids learn how to monitor their own voice level. When they start to get too chatty, teachers can tell the class to check out the app and view their current noise level. Soon, students will monitor their noise levels and quiet themselves down without the app.
Conclusion
With these three apps, we’re only scratching the surface of classroom behavior management apps. There are dozens of apps available to help teachers track and manage behaviors. Which classroom behavior apps are your favorite?