Classroom spinner wheel

A printable routine for your desk

Some teachers like a reminder card taped next to the keyboard, especially in the first weeks of using a spinner or when a cover teacher is in. Copy this into a document, adjust it, and print it.

Using the spinner with a seating chart

You don't have to spin individual names. The slices can be anything you can type, which makes the wheel work with however your room is arranged.

Table groups

Replace the roster with your table names, such as "Table 1" to "Table 6," or the group names the class already uses. The Reading groups example wheel is a good starting point: load it and rename the slices. Spin to choose which table reports back, which group picks the next topic, or who packs away first. Keep remove-winner on and every table gets one turn before any table goes twice.

Seat or desk numbers

If your desks are numbered, put the numbers on the wheel instead of names. It's quicker to set up on the first day, before you know everyone, and nobody's name has to be typed into a website at all. Once the class has settled into fixed seats, a number wheel doubles as a name wheel.

Two-step picks for groups

For "one person from one table," spin twice: first a wheel of tables, then a quick name pick within that table. The random team generator is better if you need to form the groups in the first place. It splits a whole roster into groups in one step, prints them, and can make partners with its Pairs option.

Rotating classroom jobs without arguments

The Classroom jobs example wheel hands out line leader, door holder and other helper roles. There are two ways to run a weekly job rotation, and they suit different classes.

Spin the jobs for each student. Load Classroom jobs, edit the list to match your room, and spin once per student who is due a job this week. With remove-winner on, each job is given out once. This works when you have fewer jobs than students and want the jobs to feel like a surprise.

Spin the students for each job. Paste your roster, keep remove-winner on, and spin once per job: "Line leader is… Door holder is…" Nobody can get two jobs in the same week, because a picked student leaves the wheel. Next week, don't paste the full roster back in. Carry on from the names that are left, so everyone gets a job before anyone gets a second one. When the list runs out, start a fresh round.

Either way, write the week's jobs on the board. The wheel doesn't keep a history, and a written list settles "but I was line leader last week" in seconds.

Uses by subject

• English: who reads the next paragraph aloud; which character a group writes about; spinning a story element (setting, problem, twist) for a quick-write.
• Math: whose working goes under the document camera; which strategy a table has to use for the next problem.
• Science: lab roles for each group, like recorder, materials manager, timer and reporter. Spin a role wheel, not names, and each group member takes the next role.
• PE: which warm-up drill, which station a group starts at, who chooses the cool-down stretch.
• Languages: spin vocabulary topics, then spin a student to start the conversation.

Worked example: one week with a class of 28

Say you call on students about eight times a lesson and teach the class every day.

• Monday: paste the roster and press Copy before the first spin. Eight names come off. Twenty are left.
• Tuesday: don't paste the roster back. Carry on with the 20 who are left. Eight more. Twelve left.
• Wednesday: eight more. Four left.
• Thursday: the last four go first, then paste the full roster back in and start round two.

By Thursday every student has been called on exactly once, and nobody had a second turn while someone else was still waiting. If a student is absent, delete their line for the day and add it back when they return. They keep their place in the round.

When students are absent or away for a while

Most days, absence is simple: delete the student's line before you start the round. A few situations need more thought.

• A student is away for a week or more. Keep a separate full roster in your own notes. Each day, paste the full list and delete the absent names, so returning students reappear without you having to remember them.
• A student comes back mid-round. Add their name as a new line. They're in the draw for the rest of the round, and they won't have missed a turn they were owed, because their name was never picked.
• A student is out of the room for part of the lesson. Temporarily delete the line, then add it back when they return. Spinning and skipping them when they're not there works too, but it tells the room who is missing.
• A student shouldn't be cold-called at all because of an individual plan. Leave their name off the wheel and include them in other ways. A wheel that covers everyone else is still fair to everyone on it.

Accessibility and comfort

A wheel on a projector is a visual thing, so a few adjustments help everyone follow along.

• Read the result aloud. Don't rely on students reading a name from the back of the room. Say it, then pause.
• Choose a theme that reads clearly on your projector. The page has several color themes. Test from the back row in your real lighting; a theme that looks good on a laptop can wash out on a whiteboard.
• Zoom the browser if the wheel is too small. ExesTools doesn't have a separate presentation mode, so browser zoom is the way to make it bigger.
• Turn Sound off if the spin sound is distracting, or if a student is sensitive to sudden noise.
• Use the Short spin length if waiting builds anxiety. A short spin gets to the result quickly; it doesn't change who gets picked.
• Keep names short and distinct. "Maya R." reads better than a full name in small text, and initials help when two students share a first name.

Fairness and comfort are not in conflict. A student who knows the pick is genuinely random, and that everyone gets one turn before anyone repeats, has less reason to worry about being singled out.

One wheel per class

The page saves one list in this browser. If you teach several classes, you don't have to retype rosters each lesson:

1. Paste the roster for your first class. Optionally, type the class name in Wheel title.
2. Press Share and save the link as a bookmark named after the class, such as "Period 3 Year 8."
3. Repeat for each class.

Opening a bookmark loads that class's wheel. Because the names are inside the link, keep these bookmarks in your own browser profile, not on a shared school bookmark bar, and follow your school's policy on student names.

Leaving the spinner for a substitute teacher

A cover teacher doesn't know who is who, which is exactly when a random pick is most useful. Leave them:

• The share link for each class they will teach, in your cover notes or by your school's usual internal messaging.
• The routine card above, so the procedure is the same as with you.
• One instruction about absences: "Delete the names of anyone absent before spinning."

Ask them to press Clear at the end of the day if they're using a shared computer, so the next teacher doesn't open the page to find your class list.

Habits that keep the spinner working all year

The spinner is most useful when students trust it, and a few habits protect that trust.

• Don't spin for consequences. Use it for questions, jobs and turns, never for "who has to tidy up" as a punishment. Once the wheel feels like a threat, the students who most need low-stakes participation start dreading it.
• Don't restart a round early. It's tempting to paste the roster back in when the confident students have all had their turn. That's the moment the round is doing its job. Finish it.
• Let the class see the roster. Scroll the list on screen once at the start of the year so students can check their name is there and spelled right. Two students called Sam with no initial would quietly become one slice, because identical lines are merged.
• Don't use it for every question. Mix spins with hands-up, mini-whiteboards and pair discussion. A spinner that is one tool among several stays fresh.
• Let a student press SPIN. Handing over the Space key for the last few picks of a round is a small privilege that also shows the class the teacher isn't steering the result.
• Ask the question before you spin. If you spin first, 27 students relax.
• Allow "phone a friend." The picked student can bring in a classmate, so nobody is stuck on the spot.