How to Use Thinking Classroom Tracker

Everything you need to know to get started with random grouping, point tracking, and more.

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Getting Started

•Sign in with your Google account — no password needed.
•You get a 14-day free trial with full access, no credit card required.
•Create your first Class Period (e.g., "Period 3 Algebra") from the dashboard.
•Add students to the roster. Enter student names — they're stored securely in your browser and Google Drive (see below).

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•Student names are stored in your browser's localStorage AND your Google Drive — NOT in our database.
•Our database only stores an opaque student number per period. We never see or store your students' actual names.
•If you log in from another device, your student names sync automatically from Google Drive.
•This privacy-first design means student names are never stored on our servers — they're processed only in your browser, including when you export reports.

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•On any Class Period's Roster tab, click "Import from Google Classroom".
•Pick one of your active Google Classroom courses and preview the enrolled students.
•One click adds the whole roster. Re-importing the same course never creates duplicates.
•Roster data flows straight from Google to your browser — it never touches our servers.
•Need Classroom access granted? You'll be asked to connect Google Classroom once — only the missing permissions are requested.

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•Go to any Class Period and click the Groups tab.
•Set the number of groups (2 up to the number of present students).
•Optionally add constraints — "must separate" or "must pair" specific students.
•Mark absent students using the attendance chips before generating — they'll be excluded.
•A live preview shows you exactly how many students will be in each group.
•Click "Generate Groups" to randomize. Click again to reshuffle.
•Lock the session to save groups and start point tracking.

✅

•Create a rubric from the Rubrics page — add criteria like "Collaboration" or "Perseverance" with max point values.
•After locking a session, choose from three point-entry modes:

• Live Web — projector-friendly view for entering points during class

• Mobile — optimized for your phone while you circulate

• Batch — spreadsheet-style entry for after class

•Points follow individual students across daily regroupings — you get a complete picture of each student's progress.

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•Review any past session — see the groups, who was absent, and all scores.
•Student-level reports show aggregate performance across all sessions in a period.
•Export any report to CSV for your gradebook or records.
•Create a formatted Google Doc report with one click — perfect for sharing or printing.

📸

•Use the 📸 button in an active session to capture whiteboard photos from your phone — one tap per group.
•Photos are stored in YOUR Google Drive — not on our servers.
•Browse and filter photos by period or date from the Photos page.
•Connect Google Drive in Account settings to enable photo capture.

🎨

•Visit the Account page to set default group colors (up to 12) and emojis for each group.
•These presets apply automatically when you generate groups. You can still change them per-group.
•Color and emoji defaults sync to your Google Drive so they follow you across devices.

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