It’s an admirable goal that parents want to be kept informed of their child’s academic and behavioral progress. In the “Way-Back Machine” before modern technology (yes, that time did exist ), parents were periodically informed about how their child was doing in school by different means, such as notes being sent home to parents or other ways of communicating.
If there were a big concern, parents were called in to discuss the matter.
Recently, I learned of a whole new way for parents to be informed of their child’s progress. Through an app (www.classdojo.com) on the teacher’s phone, she enters data about a child throughout the day that shows up on the parent’s phone. In real time, the parents are updated whether their child is performing on task, completing his work, getting along with others, that sort of thing. Detailed graphs arrive through the day along with daily and weekly summaries.
I don’t know about you, but looking back on it I shudder to think about my parents getting constant real-time streaming of my minute-to-minute functioning in school. My life would have been an ongoing nightmare of parent over-involvement.
Really, the last thing I needed or wanted was my parents knowing every behavior that I committed throughout the day. Even if I did do the momentary right thing like raise my hand properly or complete a task, did I really need my parents knowing about it? Did I really need them praising me for everything?
I could appreciate the value of knowing about general trends over time, but every hour???? (I could hear my mother calling my father, “Oh, no!!! He is acting bored in science class and not participating. You need to speak to him,” or “He teased someone on line and showed bad citizenship.”) Egad.
I could be wrong (and often am), but It just strikes me as one more example of adult over-steerage in a child’s life – one more example of micromanaging childhood.
Glad I’m not a kid. I would have gotten technologically cattle prodded throughout the day and I don’t think I would have been better off for it.
*shudder* class dojo…
Now, e-portfolios, let’s talk about those. Learning can be captured in a variety of ways (photo, video, audio, text) and shared out in real time. I’m all for this window into the classroom, particularly when it is related to learning (not behavior!). I know several educators who are using e-portfolios and they all believe it has made a positive impact on the home/school partnership. I also know parents who love e-portfolios because their kids are excited to show them what they are doing at school.
Speaking as a parent who used to get several “bad” calls home for sometimes minor infractions, the last thing I (and my child!) would need is real time notifications on my smart phone. Show me what he is learning instead!
Karen:
I’m sure there is some value as you are suggesting relative to the ‘e-portfolios.’ I do worry about the “real time” communication, though. I tend to think kids need space to work it out on their own.
And to think I couldn’t get a weekly update when my own son was struggling.
Ha….how far we have come.
Thank you, Dr. Selznick, for this article. You say what so many of us are thinking. I’m wondering if teachers are using this, then when are they teaching?
Hi Mindy:
I believe they are. It’s part of the classroom culture. I haven’t seen it live myself, but have talked to parents whose kids are getting the phone feedback.
Mindy ~ my daughter’s (3rd grade) dojo is not updated hourly. And the app is also on the laptop in class, so the kids will go add/subtract at her request. Her teacher gives a point for completed homework assignments, the end of the week for classroom jobs and when my daughter buys them out, when there is a problem or if something good happens. I check it twice a day, once to make sure the homework is turned in and end of day to see how she did. The teacher and parent can also send messages back and forth if needed, even for mundane reasons (like I’m picking her up instead of sending to latchkey). It’s easier for the teacher than sending texts messages and keeping our cell phone numbers. I think if it was done hourly, I would have more anxiety lol
haha…Yeah, I get it. I still think it’s to much…poor kid’s every move is tracked. I would have hated that as a kid.