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PBIS, IEPs, and Special Education

This post was written by Sean L., a teacher in Chicago

The best part about ClassDojo is that it is fully customizable to fit each and every teacher's needs, as well as each and every student's needs. I am a Special Education teacher at a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) school. This means that we focus on specific behaviors school-wide. ClassDojo makes encouraging these behaviors easy, and allows our team of teachers to collaborate on how our students are progressing. 

Every teacher at my school has the same 4 behaviors in ClassDojo: Respect, Responsibility, Perseverance, and Collaboration. As students travel from class to class, each teacher consistently reinforces these positive character traits through ClassDojo. As the Special Education teacher, I add a few behaviors that students are working on based on their IEP (Individualized Education Plan) goals! An example is "smooth transitions" - a number of my students are focusing on improving their ability to smoothly transition between tasks. The general education teachers and myself are able to document if students are improving their transitions through ClassDojo, giving us concrete data to better inform our discussions and accommodation decisions at IEP meetings. 

Conversations with students are so much more meaningful with ClassDojo! I can now pull up a student's behavior report and discuss moments where he/she was being collaborative or persevering, and why that is awesome! Students are beginning to become intrinsically motivated to achieve their best... it's absolutely amazing to witness.

ClassDojo empowers us as teachers to better support our students of all learning styles, skill levels, and special needs! I can't imagine ever teaching without it!

For more info on PBIS check out this amazing blog post by Lindsey P. a ClassDojo Mentor!