Spinner Wheel for the Classroom

Paste your class list into the random name picker, leave Remove winner switched on, press Full screen, and spin: that is the whole setup for a classroom spinner wheel, and it takes about two minutes the first time and ten seconds after that. Save the list under the class name and it is waiting for you next lesson. This page walks through that routine, then the two other wheels teachers reach for most, and ends with ten ideas you can start with one click.

Set up a class wheel in two minutes

1. Open the random name picker. It loads with twenty example names and Remove winner already switched on, so the behaviour is right before you touch anything.
2. Paste your roster over the example names, one per line. Copying a column from a spreadsheet, a register or an email list works as it is.
3. Press Tidy. It removes numbering, bullet points, blank lines and duplicate names, so "12. Priya" and "Priya" do not become two slices.
4. Save it. Open the Saved tab, type the class name and press Save wheel. The list stays in this browser for next time.
5. Go full screen and spin. Press Full screen, then tap the wheel or press Ctrl + Enter. The picked student's name appears in a result window large enough to read from the back row.

Nothing on this page needs an account or a login, which matters on a shared classroom computer. The roster is stored in that browser and never sent anywhere, and the only way it leaves the device is if you create a share link yourself.

Calling on students fairly

The reason a classroom spinner wheel works where "hands up" does not is that everyone can see the choice is random. Students who never volunteer get picked; students who always volunteer do not get picked more; and nobody can accuse you of choosing them on purpose. The wheel absorbs the blame.

Remove winner after each spin is what turns a random pick into a fair rotation. When you close the result window, the student who was picked leaves the wheel, so the next spin can only land on someone who has not answered yet. Over a lesson everyone is called exactly once, and the shrinking wheel shows the class how many turns are left. If you would rather keep a name on the wheel for one question, press Close without removing, or switch the toggle off for that activity.

When you need more than one student at once, set Pick to 2, 3 or however many you need, up to 20. The wheel lands on the first name and the rest are drawn from the remaining list without repeats, and the result window lists all of them together. This is the quick way to choose two readers for a dialogue, three students to write on the board, or a pair to demonstrate.

The Results tab is your record. It lists every name the wheel has picked this session, newest first, and Copy gives you one name per line to paste into your notes. If a student says they were not asked this week, the list settles it.

The wheel needs at least two names to spin, so when one student is left it stops and says so. Call that student directly, then open the Saved tab and Load the roster to put everyone back. Students notice when the last name is treated as a formality, so it helps to say out loud that the last slice is still a turn.

Save the roster and reuse it next lesson

The Saved tab holds up to fifty named lists in each browser, which is more than enough for every class you teach. Save one list per class, named the way you talk about them, and loading the right wheel at the start of a lesson is a single press of Load. The Saved tab exists on the name picker and on the wheel spinner home page, so a review-category wheel can be kept alongside the rosters.

Saved lists belong to the browser they were saved in. On a classroom computer that is exactly what you want; if you also teach from a laptop, use Share link to move a list across. The link encodes the entire roster in its address, so opening it on the other machine shows the same wheel, ready to save there too. The same link is how you hand a wheel to a colleague covering your class or a student teacher, and how you put a list on a whiteboard computer you cannot install anything on.

Because the names are inside the link, treat it like the register itself: send it to the people who should see it and no one else. A link that holds only review topics or brain-break activities can be shared freely.

Once the lists are saved, the routine at the start of a lesson is four actions: open the name picker, open the Saved tab, press Load next to the class, press Full screen. It is quick enough to do while the class is settling, and because Remove winner is already on and the settings are remembered, there is nothing to configure. If you removed students during the previous lesson, Load has already restored them.

Projecting the wheel

Full screen hides the editing panel and grows the wheel to as much as 900 pixels across, so it reads clearly on a projector or an interactive display. The result window opens on top of the wheel, and Spin again is right there, so you can run a whole activity without leaving full screen. On a touch display, students can tap the wheel to spin it themselves, which turns a cold call into a small ceremony that the class usually enjoys.

Three settings are worth adjusting for a classroom. Spin time at Short keeps the pace up when you are spinning every minute; Normal and Long are for a dramatic final draw. Sound adds the ticking as the wheel passes each name and a short chime when it stops; mute it if the room is already loud or the speakers are off. Confetti is the burst at the end, and younger classes tend to want it on. All three are remembered by the browser, so the next lesson starts with the same choices.

To leave, press Exit full screen in the top corner, or spin a few more times first; there is no limit. The panel, the Results tab and your saved lists are exactly as you left them.

Ten classroom ideas to start with one click

Each card below opens the right wheel with the right settings, and the cards marked "Start with this list" load a ready-made set of entries you can edit before spinning.

1. 1
   Cold calling without the dread

   Spin to choose who answers. Students know it's random, so nobody feels singled out, and Remove winner means everyone gets a turn.

   Open the tool →
2. 2
   Instant project groups

   Paste the roster, pick the number of groups, and show the result on the projector. Lock a group and reshuffle if two students shouldn't be together.

   Open the tool →
3. 3
   Letter of the day

   Spin a letter and brainstorm words, animals or places that start with it. Vowels only for phonics work.

   Open the tool →
4. 4
   Times tables drill

   Spin a number from 1–12 and have the class multiply it by the table you're practising.

   Open the tool →
5. 5
   Geography of the day

   Spin a country, find it on the map, name the capital and one fact. Filter by continent to match the unit.

   Open the tool →
6. 6
   Who presents first

   Put the presentation order on the wheel so nobody argues about going first.

   Open the tool →
7. 7
   Review game categories

   Put your review topics on the wheel; each spin decides the next question's category.

   Start with this list →
8. 8
   Brain break picker

   Short activities on the wheel: stretch, 20 jumping jacks, a quick riddle, two minutes of silence.

   Start with this list →
9. 9
   Classroom jobs and rewards

   Rotate line leader, board cleaner and plant waterer fairly, or spin for a small reward on Fridays.

   Start with this list →
10. 10
    Writing prompts

    Spin a prompt or a story element (setting, character, problem) and write for ten minutes.

    Start with this list →

The ideas that use review categories, brain breaks, classroom jobs and writing prompts all run on the general wheel: the entries are activities rather than people, so leave Remove winner off and let the same category come up twice if the wheel says so. For jobs you want to rotate fairly, turn Remove winner back on and spin once per job.

Groups and letters: the other two classroom wheels

Splitting the class into groups is a different job from picking one student, and it has its own tool. The random team generator takes the same pasted roster, asks whether you want a number of teams or a number of students per team, and deals everyone out at once, shuffled first so the groups are random rather than alphabetical. If two students should not be together, lock the groups that work and press Shuffle again to redeal only the rest. Copy gives you the groups as text, one team per block, to paste into a slide or a seating plan.

Phonics, spelling and vocabulary games use the random letter generator. The wheel holds A to Z, and you can restrict it to vowels or consonants, type any letters you want left off the wheel, and switch on Don't repeat so each letter of the day comes up once in a term. For geography, the random country generator spins a country with its capital and flag, filtered by continent to match the unit, and for number work the random number wheel spins any range with the same no-repeat option.

All of these share one engine and one set of settings. Sound, confetti, spin time and full screen behave the same on every page, and the answer to "is it really random?" is the same too; the wheel spinner home page gives the short version and is the wheel spinner random the full one, if a student asks.