More classroom widgets: flashcards, quiz, timetable and points

On this page
- Flashcards
- Vocabulary builder
- Classroom quiz
- Attention signal
- Visual timetable
- Learning objectives
- Class points
- When to leave these widgets off
- Accessibility and privacy
- FAQ

Every widget on this page works the same basic way. Add it from the widget menu on the free board, press the pencil button to edit, type your content, and press Save. Drag the widget to move it and pull its bottom-right corner to make it bigger. The content saves with the board when you press Save Board.

How the More widgets works

Flashcards, vocabulary, quiz, attention signal, visual timetable, learning objectives, and class points sit on the same board. Each one below is a real widget. Add the one that matches the job.

1. Open the board and add only the widget you will use in the next block.
2. Fill its text before students are watching.
3. Pair it with a timer if the block has an end.
4. Press Save Board so the layout stays in this browser.

Flashcards

The Flashcards widget shows one card at a time in large type. Tap the card to flip between front and back, and use Prev and Next to move through the deck. A counter such as "3/12" shows where you are, and the deck loops back to the first card after the last.

Set it up

1. Add Flashcards from the widget menu.
2. Press the pencil button. Type one card per line in the form Front | Back, for example H2O | Water.
3. Press Save. If a line has no back, the widget shows a dash, so check each line has both parts.

Example: a six-minute warm-up. A Spanish teacher might load twelve verbs, show each front for a few seconds while students whisper the meaning to a partner, then flip it. Students who answered correctly raise a thumb.

Quick, repeated recall like this is a form of retrieval practice, which research summarised at retrievalpractice.org links to stronger long-term memory [1]. Mix the order between days by retyping lines in a different sequence, because the widget always starts from the first card.

Limits. Cards are text only, and there is no shuffle button. For images, put an Image widget beside the deck.

Vocabulary builder

The Vocab widget works like a flashcard deck built for words. Each card shows a word; tap it to see the definition, then move on with Prev and Next. The labels on screen read "Word" and "Definition", which makes the purpose clear to students the moment it appears.

Set it up

1. Add Vocab from the widget menu and press the pencil button.
2. Type one entry per line as Word | Definition, for example Resilient | Able to recover quickly.
3. Press Save, then resize the widget so the longest definition fits without wrapping awkwardly.

Ways to use it

• Word of the day. Load one word, leave it up all day and ask students to use it in conversation.
• Unit wall. Load the ten terms for a science unit and review two at the start of each lesson.
• Predict, then flip. Show the word, ask pairs to agree on a meaning, then tap to reveal the definition.

Example. A fourth-grade teacher might keep a Vocab widget in the corner of the morning board with the week's five spelling words and spend two minutes on it after attendance.

Tip. Write definitions in student language, not dictionary language. Short definitions also read better from the back row. Keep flashcards and vocabulary as separate widgets if you use both, so students know which routine is running.

Classroom quiz

The Quiz widget shows one multiple-choice question with up to four answer buttons. You set the correct answer in advance. Tap an option to highlight the class's choice, then press Reveal: the correct answer is marked and a wrong choice is shown as wrong. Reset clears it for another try.

Set it up

1. Add Quiz and press the pencil button.
2. Type the question in the first box.
3. Type the options one per line in the second box.
4. Enter the number of the correct option (1 to 4) and press Save.

How to run it with hands, not devices

1. Read the question aloud and give ten seconds of silent thinking time.
2. Students show 1, 2, 3 or 4 fingers against their chest.
3. Tap the option most of the class chose, then press Reveal.
4. Ask one student who chose each wrong option to explain their thinking.

Example. A math teacher might end a fractions lesson with "Which is larger: 3/8 or 2/5?" and use the spread of fingers to decide whether tomorrow starts with a reteach.

Limits. The widget holds one question at a time and does not record who answered what. For a run of questions, use the Trivia widget or the Quiz Time template, and use a form for anything you need to grade.

Attention signal

The Attention widget plays a short sound when you press Signal. Pick one of three sounds: chime, bell or clap. The sounds are generated by the browser rather than played from a recording, so they work offline once the board has loaded.

Set it up

1. Add Attention from the widget menu.
2. Choose chime, bell or clap. The choice is remembered with the board.
3. Press Signal once to check the volume on the classroom speakers.

Teach the routine before you rely on it

A sound only works if students know what it means. Practise it in the first week:

1. Explain the signal: "When you hear the chime, finish your sentence, stop and look at the board."
2. Practise three times in a row during a low-stakes activity.
3. Praise the speed, not the silence, so students race to respond.

Example. During a noisy group project, a teacher might press Signal, wait for eyes, give one instruction and let groups continue, all in under thirty seconds.

Choosing a sound. The chime is the gentlest and suits younger classes. The bell is lower and longer. The clap is very short, which helps in a room that is already loud.

Accessibility. Pair the sound with a visual cue, such as switching Work Symbols to Silence, so students who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who are wearing headphones, get the same message. Warn sound-sensitive students before the first use.

Visual timetable

The Timetable widget lists the day or the lesson as time slots and highlights the slot happening now, based on the computer's clock. Students see what is next without asking.

Set it up

1. Add Timetable and press the pencil button.
2. Type one slot per line as time | activity, for example 8:30 | Morning meeting.
3. Use 24-hour times for anything after noon, such as 13:15 | Science. The widget compares times with a 24-hour clock, so 1:15 would be read as early morning.
4. List the slots in order from earliest to latest, then press Save.

Example: a primary classroom day.

• 8:30 | Morning meeting
• 9:00 | Reading groups
• 10:15 | Break
• 10:30 | Math
• 12:00 | Lunch
• 13:00 | Science

Why it helps. A visible schedule reduces "what are we doing next?" questions and gives students who find change hard a clear sense of the day. Offering information in more than one format is a core idea in the Universal Design for Learning guidelines [2].

Tips. Use the same activity names every day so students recognise them. If the day changes, update the timetable before students arrive and point the change out during morning meeting. For one-lesson plans, list the chunks of the lesson instead of the whole day.

Learning objectives

The Objectives widget shows a short checklist of goals. Each line has a checkbox; tick it and the goal is crossed out. It is a simple way to show progress through a lesson.

Set it up

1. Add Objectives and press the pencil button.
2. Type one goal per line. "I can" statements work well, such as "I can explain what a food chain shows".
3. Press Save. All boxes start unticked each time you save new text.

Using it during a lesson

• Read the objectives aloud at the start and ask students to rate their confidence with fingers.
• Tick each objective when the class reaches it, not when you finish talking about it.
• At the end, return to the list and ask which goal still feels shaky. That answer can shape your exit question.

Example. A seventh-grade science teacher might show three objectives: describe a producer, describe a consumer, and draw a food chain with four links. The third objective is ticked only after students show their diagrams.

Tips. Keep the list to three goals or fewer; more than that turns into an agenda. Write goals students can check themselves. "I can label the parts of a cell" is clearer than "Understand cells". If an observer visits, a ticked list is a quick way to show where the lesson has reached.

Class points

The Points widget keeps a running score for tables, teams or houses. Each row has a name, a minus button, the score and a plus button. Scores never drop below zero.

Set it up

1. Add Points and press the pencil button.
2. Type one team per line, such as "Table 1" or "Red house". Saving new names resets every score to zero.
3. Press Save, then use the plus and minus buttons during the lesson.

Keeping it positive

• Award points for specific behaviours you named in advance, such as "everyone in the group spoke".
• Use team names rather than student names, so no single child is singled out on the wall.
• Agree when points reset: daily, weekly or at the end of a unit.

Points systems work best inside a clear, taught set of expectations. PBIS.org has guidance on acknowledging expected behaviour across a school [3].

Example. A third-grade class might earn table points for smooth transitions all week, with the winning table choosing Friday's brain break.

Points or Scoreboard? Use Points for long-running class systems with many teams. Use the Scoreboard widget, which allows up to six teams with editable names, for a single game.

When to leave these widgets off

• When the board is already busy. Two or three widgets are easier to read than six. Add one of these only when it serves today's routine.
• For graded assessment. Quiz and Flashcards show answers on screen but store nothing about individual students.
• For individual behaviour tracking. Public points for named students can embarrass children. Keep individual records private.
• When the sound would disturb others. In shared spaces or exam weeks, use a visual cue instead of the Attention signal.

Accessibility and privacy

Accessibility. Make text large enough to read from the back row and use a high-contrast background; WCAG asks for at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text [4]. Read cards and questions aloud for early readers and students with visual impairments. Pair every sound with something visible.

Privacy. None of these widgets uses student devices or accounts. Content you type stays on the board and saves with it in your browser's local storage when you press Save Board. If you share a board with Copy link, the link carries what is on the screen, so avoid full student names in Points or elsewhere.