Focus Tools

Eyes Up

To refocus one, a few, or the whole class, click the ‘eye’ and student screens will go black with the message “Attention! Eyes Up! Your teacher would like your attention.” When you close the icon, the message disappears from your students’ screens and everyone is ready to move forward. The Eyes Up feature is also perfect when you want to drive the lesson from the front of the class, as it prevents students from interacting with the software.

Spotlight

Use the spotlight tool to focus attention on a specific word, area, feature, or more of content. Also, a fun way to play, “Guess what this is?” or “Guess what we’re learning today” and spark excitement for the lesson to come.

Window Shade

Uncover (or cover) content as you move through a lesson. Great for making predictions, naming the next item in a pattern, and analyzing a writing sample.

Laser Pointer

A great tool for directing attention to a specific word in a text, identifying features of a shape, locating places on a map, and more. When used to draw, the laser point will stay on-screen temporarily, making it a great tool for temporary underlines or other markings. If you’re using a mouse, the red laser point will follow your movements. Unfortunately, can’t be used for cats (unless you make a fun video with a cat playing and use this tool for hand-eye coordination practice!).

Poll

Quickly assess student understanding by sending a poll (MC, Yes/No, or True/False) and repeat, reteach, or redirect the lesson as needed. Very handy for getting a whole class view of what students know, want to know, and need to learn (KWL in a poll).

Pick

Want to keep your students on their toes? Use this tool to randomly pick students to answer a question or share a comment. This tool was designed to boost active participation and involvement from each student in the class.

Whiteboard

Quickly displays a clean whiteboard area for jotting notes or placing other digital content during a class discussion. Click the “x” at the top right when you’re done. You can discard it, or save as part of your lesson for later reference.