Teacher Guide: Random Student Picker & Classroom Management Tool with Photos

Last updated: 2025

Classroom Photo Wheel is a browser-only random student picker and classroom management tool for teachers. This guide walks you through the main features so you can use it quickly and confidently in class.

1. What Classroom Photo Wheel Does

Classroom Photo Wheel lets you:

• Add students using photos or just their names.
• Organise students into tables or groups (e.g. Front, Middle, Back).
• Spin a colourful wheel to choose students fairly.
• Track who has already been chosen, with up to three orange dots.
• Optionally speak names aloud to help with pronunciation.

All of this runs locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored on our server.

2. Quick Start (30 Seconds)

1. Open ClassroomPhotoWheel.com in a modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari).
2. Click Add students from images and select your student photos, or use Paste names from list to start with text only.
3. Click Spin Random to choose a student.
4. Use the winner popup to celebrate and see who was selected.

3. Adding Students

3.1 Add from photos

• Click Add students from images.
• Select one or more image files from your computer.
• The wheel will create one student entry per image.
• The tool will guess a name from the filename (e.g. alex-smith.jpg → “Alex”), but you can always click the name and edit it.

3.2 Add using placeholder photos

• Click Add student from text (placeholder photo).
• A new student appears with a generic placeholder image.
• Click the name to type the student’s actual name.

3.3 Paste a whole class list

• Click Paste names from list.
• Paste or type one student per line (e.g. copied from Sentral, Word, Google Docs).
• Click Add names from list.
• Each name becomes a student with a placeholder photo.

Tip: You can mix and match: some students with real photos, others with placeholders.

4. Organising Students into Tables / Groups

Under the wheel you’ll see cards that represent tables or groups. You can use them as seating plans, reading groups, or any classroom arrangement.

4.1 Creating a new table

• Click Add Table to create a generic table (e.g. “Table 1”).
• Click the table name to rename it (e.g. “Front Left”, “Group A”).

4.2 Using preset classroom positions

• On the bottom-right, use the preset buttons such as Back Left, Middle, Front Right, etc.
• If you select students first (small circle in the top-left of each photo), then click a preset, those students will move into the new table.

4.3 Moving students between tables

• Click and drag a student photo from one table into another.
• Drag onto the yellow Unassigned students – parking lot area to remove them from a table but keep them in the class list.

4.4 Reordering tables

• Click and drag the table name pill (e.g. “Middle Left”) to move that table up or down the list.
• Use this to roughly match your real classroom layout (Back at top, Front at bottom).

5. Spinning the Wheel

5.1 Spin Random

• Click Spin Random to spin with all students in the wheel.
• A tick sound plays as the wheel moves between slices.
• When the wheel stops, a popup shows the winner’s photo and name.

5.2 Spin Who Hasn’t Been Chosen Yet

• Click Spin Who Hasn't Been Chosen Yet to limit the spin to students with no dots.
• If everyone has been chosen at least once, the tool will suggest using Clear All Chosen to start again.

5.3 Tracking who has been chosen (orange dots)

• Each time a student wins, they gain an orange dot under their name.
• Students can have up to three dots (maximum).
• Use Clear All Chosen to reset all dots to zero.

6. Winner Popup and Speaking Names

6.1 Winner popup

• After a spin, a popup appears showing the student’s photo and name.
• Click Close to return to the wheel.

6.2 Automatic name speaking

• Below the wheel, there is a checkbox: “🔊 Speak winner name automatically”.
• When enabled, the browser will speak the winner’s name after the win sound finishes.
• You can turn this off at any time by unticking the box.

6.3 Practising name pronunciation

• Each student has a small speaker icon (🔊) next to their name in the table area.
• Click it to hear just that name spoken, without spinning the wheel.
• This is useful for practising correct pronunciation before or after class.

Speech features depend on your browser’s built-in voice support. If nothing is spoken, try another browser or check your device audio settings.

7. Removing Students

• Use the 🗑️ Drag a student here to remove from the wheel area at the bottom.
• Drag any student photo onto that bin to delete them completely from the current class list.
• Click Clear Students to remove all students and start again.

8. Classroom Tips

• Show the wheel on the projector so students can see the selection and feel the process is fair.
• Use tables for behaviour management (e.g. group points, random group spokesperson).
• Rotate roles (e.g. random line leader, equipment monitor, presenter) to share opportunities.
• Keep privacy in mind when using real photos – for example, use school-approved photos only.

9. Troubleshooting

• Images not loading? Check that image files are on your device and that your browser allows local file access.
• No sound? Make sure your device volume is turned up, and try clicking the wheel once before spinning (some browsers require a user interaction).
• Speech not working? Try another browser or update your current one to the latest version.
• Site blocked at school? Ask your IT staff to classify the site as an educational tool. It does not upload student data.

10. Feedback and Support

If you have suggestions, find a bug, or need a feature to support your classroom better, you can contact:

Email: support@classroomphotowheel.com

Thank you for using Classroom Photo Wheel and for the work you do with students.