Classroom Spinner Wheels

Pick the wheel that matches the job

Most classroom uses fall into a handful of jobs. Each one has a wheel already filled in, and every wheel is editable, so the fastest route is to open the closest match and replace the entries with your own.

Run a round where nobody gets picked twice

This is the most common reason a wheel disappoints a teacher. By default every spin is independent, so the same name can come up twice in a row while three students have not been called at all. That is genuinely random, and it is not what a participation round needs.

1. Open the options drawer and use Paste list to enter the class, one name per line.
2. Tick the replace option so the placeholder names do not stay on the wheel.
3. Turn on Remove winner after spin.
4. Spin until the wheel empties. Each name leaves as it is called, so the class works through everyone exactly once.
5. Use Clear all and paste the list again to start the next round.

A duplicate row is the other common surprise: a name entered twice gets two chances. There is a fuller walkthrough in the classroom picker workflow guide .

Before it goes on the projector

A wheel is on screen in front of the whole class, which makes it a small piece of public display rather than a private tool. Two minutes of checking avoids the awkward cases.

Count the entries against the students actually present, and take off anyone absent or excused. Check the spelling of every name, because a misspelled name projected at the front of a room is remembered. Decide in advance whether a student who has already contributed stays eligible, and say that rule out loud before the first spin, so the wheel is settling a question the class already understands.

What the wheel will not decide for you

Randomness removes the appearance of favouritism. It does not know which student has an accommodation, who is having a hard week, who has already presented twice this term, or who should not be put on the spot in front of others.

The usual approach is to apply that judgement first and let the wheel choose among the students who are genuinely eligible today. Used that way it settles the small decisions quickly and keeps the important ones where they belong, which is with you.

Shared devices and student names

Wheel entries are saved in the browser you used, which is convenient on your own laptop and worth thinking about on a shared classroom machine or an interactive whiteboard. Nothing is sent to an account, but the next person opening that browser sees the list.

Use the least identifying labels that still work for the activity. First names, initials, or seat numbers are usually enough, and your school may have its own rules about what can be displayed. Use Clear all when you finish on a device that is not yours.

What is stored, and what travels inside a shared link, is set out in the saving and sharing guide .