Classroom Screen

Classroom Screen will transform your classroom, trust me! During your school day do you ever have the instructions, group rotations, a timer, an example of the work, noise levels, or music playing? In the past, I might have had all of those things in different areas in the classroom. I am here to tell you everything can be put in one place, and it is so easy, fun, and FREE!

Classroom Screen is an amazing site I just found through a teacher on Instagram. It has transformed so many areas in my class and has increased student engagement! I mainly use this during my station/small group time. I will also pull this up during morning meeting, as a quick exit ticket, or to vote on something.

How To Use Classroom Screen

1. Go to Classroom Screen
2. Click sign up for free.
3. Create an account or log in through Google. You do not need to sign up, you can just click launch, but I would recommend signing up so it will automatically save your screen.

Widgets

At the bottom of the screen are the widgets. You can click on more widgets to get what you see here.

• Background-Each day choose 1 student to pick the background of the day. It is silly how much they look forward to this! You can also use the random name widget for this too!
• Poll- I use this all of the time now!! The kids love to come up and use the board, so this is a great way to take a vote. Sometimes I even use it for the morning meeting question of the day. When you click on poll it gives you 3 options. True or false, multiple choice, and smileys. It takes a few seconds to type in the question and answers. Does it take longer than just raising your hand YES, but it gets them moving and it’s FUN! The best feature is that you can hide the results until the end. I love this because it forces them to make their own choice!
• Random Name- If you type in all your students’ names you can use this for everything! I would suggest going to the dashboard and then clicking on NAME LISTS. You can create multiple lists and just embed them when you click on settings in the random name widget otherwise it will not save it. Anytime you need to randomly call on someone! I also use this with group names. We do this each day to see which group gets the lap desks during stations.
• QR code- I haven’t used this because my students have laptops and haven’t seen the need to do it. I think this would be great during conferences or back-to-school nights for parents to scan for the information.
• Sound Level- I do not use this often because I have tile and the chairs squeak too loud, but when I have used it my students are SOOOO much quieter during independent times. It will make a chime when the noise gets too loud. You have the option to set the sensitivity.
• Image- I will screenshot examples of the assignment under my doc cam and add it to the to-do list during small group times. This is especially helpful at the beginning of the year when most students are reading fluently.
• Text- This is where I type the to-do list each day. I will put images if needed by the words. They have features to let you change the font, color, and background color.
• Draw- I haven’t used this feature, but I could see how this would be great if you were using a smart board and didn’t want to go back and forth.
• Work Symbols- They have silence, whisper, ask a neighbor, and work together as options with pictures. What I like about Classroom Screen is that you can put multiple widgets up there. I might have whisper and ask a neighbor up.
• Traffic Light- It’s a traffic light that you can change from green, red, and yellow. Mine mostly stays on yellow because I want the to take their time.
• Timer- you can set a countdown timer. I like the visual for me so I can see when to change groups. At first, I had students looking at it frequently and some were even concerned about it like it made them anxious. After a few conversations about why we have it the students don’t worry about it anymore.
• Clock- I like having this up under the timer because my students are learning how to tell time on an analog clock. The more exposure the better!
• Calendar- Having the date is something I always have on my board, but does anyone ever look at it? I’m not sure at the K-2 level if kids care. I think it’s important to have the date up, so I use this also.
• Dice-I have used this a few times during math or even to compromise. Often if students can’t come to an agreement, I will have them do paper, rock, scissors, or roll a die and the highest number wins. They come to an agreement quicker if they can come up and click the dice. Then they go on with their work and I can continue to help students in reading groups.
• Embed- You can paste a website in the box, and it will pop up. If there is something you need for them to see for research, an anchor chart, or facts this is a great tool!
• Group Maker- This feature lets you customize how many groups you want, the font size and the color of the box. I would suggest going to the dashboard and then clicking on NAME LISTS. You can create multiple lists and just embed them in when you click on settings in the group maker widget otherwise it will not save it. I have used this to make new pair share partners and even the groups they sit in!
• Stopwatch- Not sure I have ever needed a stopwatch I tend to use the timer for everything, but I am sure it’s helpful in certain areas. If you have an idea of how to use this, drop it in the comments!
• Webcam- This will project a webcam from the computer that is on. I am not sure how helpful this in primary. Most of my students would be walking in front of this and it would be a huge distraction.
• Video- Just recently started using this! I put on instrumental music from YouTube. I found one that has an ocean or calming video to go with it. My students really enjoyed it. I would love to use it for animal webcams. When studying animals, we can have the webcam up during independent times. Right now, we are learning about space. I bet I could find some sort of space video to play.

Here is what a normal day looks like for me:

This is an extremely EASY and fun way to get things organized in one place. You can tailor it to your classroom and needs. I have loved using this in my classroom and have only been using it for a few weeks. If you use Classroom Screen and have any ideas, suggestions, or tips drop them in the comments for us to see!