Random Student Picker

A fair name wheel for classrooms that never calls the same student twice.

About this tool

About the Random Student Picker

Teachers tend to call on the same confident hands, and students notice. The Random Student Picker replaces that pattern with a visible, neutral draw: paste your roster, spin, and the wheel names who answers next. Because the selection happens on screen, students see that being picked is chance, not favoritism, which lowers the sting of being called on.

This template ships with remove-winner mode on, so a picked student leaves the wheel until you reset it. Over a lesson that guarantees full coverage of the class with no repeats. The eight names included are placeholders; the bulk-paste field accepts one name per line, so loading a class of thirty takes a few seconds.

Four quick steps

How to use it

  1. Delete the placeholder names and paste your class list, one student per line.
  2. Spin whenever you need a reader, an answer, or a volunteer.
  3. Let the wheel remove each picked student automatically.
  4. Reset the wheel at the end of the activity to restore the full roster.

Starting options

What is on the wheel

Eight placeholder names ship with the wheel so you can see the layout, and every slot is meant to be overwritten with your own roster.

Alex
The first slot, drawn at the top of the wheel. Replace it with the first name on your register so the on-screen order matches the list you read from.
Maria
Names land in the order you paste them, one per line. Paste from a sorted register if you want to glance at the wheel and see who has not been called yet.
Sam
A reminder to deal with duplicates. Two students sharing a first name need a surname initial added, or the class will not know which one was just called.
Nikos
Accented and non-English names type in exactly as written. Use the spelling each student actually uses rather than an anglicised version the class does not recognise.
Elena
Segments stay legible well past eight names, so a class of thirty fits. Shorter labels, such as first name plus an initial, read better from the back of the room.
Chris
Use whatever name the student answers to. A wheel that announces a register name nobody uses undercuts the whole point of picking in front of the class.
Sofia
Leave out any student who has agreed with you that they should not be cold-called. Editing the list beforehand is far quieter than overruling a result in front of everyone.
Leo
The last preset slot, not a limit. Keep adding rows until the whole class is loaded, then leave remove-winner on so nobody is called twice before everyone is called once.

Useful moments

Good for

  • Cold-calling during discussions without targeting anyone
  • Choosing who reads the next paragraph aloud
  • Assigning presentation order for student projects
  • Picking a classroom helper for the day

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do I handle absent students?

Remove absent names before the first spin, or simply spin again if an absent student comes up. Removing them first keeps the no-repeat coverage accurate.

Can students see that the picker is fair?

Yes, and that visibility is the point. The wheel spins in front of the class and every remaining name occupies an equal segment, so students can verify nobody is favored.

Do picked students stay off the wheel for the whole lesson?

They stay off until you reset. If you want students to be eligible again each round, switch remove-winner mode to keep in the settings.

Do I have to paste my class list again every lesson?

The wheel can save locally, which keeps your list in that browser on that device between lessons. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account, so a different computer or a wiped browser starts empty again. Keeping the roster in a text file you can paste from is a sensible backup.

Can I use it to pick groups rather than individuals?

Yes. Put group or table names on the wheel instead of students and spin to choose which group presents, answers or tidies up. For splitting the class into teams in the first place, the team generator does that job better than repeated single picks.

Should I project the wheel or keep it on my screen?

Project it if fairness is the point you are making. Students who watch the draw stop reading selection as a judgement about them, which is most of the value. Keep it on your own screen when you are quietly working through a roster and do not want to interrupt the lesson.

Keep deciding

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