Guides, Tips & Ideas

Guide Writing Prompt Wheel: 100 Original Story Starters for Five Wheels 100 original writing prompts in five ready-to-paste spin wheels: characters, settings, problems, objects and opening lines. Includes a 10-minute method. Read article Guide Student Privacy and Name Pickers: What to Type In (and What to Leave Out) Can you put your class list in a spin wheel? A practical guide to what to enter, what to leave out and how to check a name picker's privacy. Read article Guide A Substitute Teacher's Wheel Kit: 6 Wheels to Get Through Any Day Six spin wheels a substitute teacher can set up in minutes: names, jobs, quick activities, transitions, early finishers and a closing reward. Read article Guide Group Work Roles Wheel: How to Assign Roles Fairly Assign group work roles fairly with a spin wheel. Includes roles by group size, role cards with sentence starters and a rotation method. Read article Guide 30 Two-Minute Brain Breaks for a Spin Wheel Thirty free two-minute brain breaks sorted by energy, focus, calm and connection, with a routine for using them on a spin wheel and returning to work. Read article Guide 8 Math Fact Practice Wheel Games for Grades K-5 Eight math fact wheel games for kindergarten to grade 5, with rules, grade guides and a trick for practicing the facts children miss most. Read article Guide 12 Fair Participation Routines Using a Random Name Picker Twelve classroom routines for a random name picker, with scripts and timing, plus a tally sheet to check participation is really fair. Read article Guide How to Cold Call Without Embarrassing Students (With a Random Name Picker) Cold calling can feel kind or cruel depending on how you do it. Scripts, warm calling and private spins to keep random name picking fair and safe. Read article Guide 10 Vocabulary Review Games You Can Play With a Spin Wheel Ten vocabulary review games for a spin wheel, with rules, timing, level guides and tips for building a word list. Works for classrooms and ESL. Read article Guide Is a Coin Flip Really 50/50? What the Research Found and How to Flip Fairly A study of 350,757 coin flips found a small same-side bias of 50.8 percent. See what it means, why it rarely matters and how to make a fair flip. Read article Guide Pseudo-Random vs True Random: What Teachers and Giveaway Hosts Need to Know Pseudo-random, cryptographically secure and true random explained in plain English, with advice on which one matters for a classroom wheel or a giveaway. Read article Guide Yes/No/Maybe Wheel vs Pros and Cons List: Which Should You Use? A yes/no/maybe wheel is quick and a pros and cons list is thorough. See how they compare, with a worked example and a simple way to combine them. Read article Guide How to Make a Spin Wheel in 60 Seconds Make your own spin wheel online in about a minute. Add your entries, press spin, and fix the common mistakes that cause unfair or confusing results. Read article Guide Weighted Spin Wheel Explained: How Weights Change Your Odds How a weighted spin wheel works, with the exact formula and worked examples for classrooms, giveaways and prize wheels. Includes what happens when winners are removed. Read article Guide How to Stop a Spin Wheel Repeating Winners Why a spin wheel picks the same name twice, how removal works, what it does to the odds, and how to run a no-repeat draw for a class or giveaway. Read article Guide When to Let a Yes or No Wheel Decide A yes or no wheel is great for small choices and a poor idea for big ones. Here is a simple stakes ladder, a gut-check trick and what research says. Read article Guide How to Split a Group Into Fair Teams: 3 Methods Three ways to make fair teams: random, balanced by skill, and captains. Includes a worked example with 14 players and tips for odd numbers. Read article Guide What Is a Wheel of Names? A Plain Guide A wheel of names is an online tool that picks one entry at random from your list. Here is how it works, where it helps, and where it doesn't. Read article Guide 8 Halloween Party Games You Can Run With One Spin Wheel 8 Halloween Party Games You Can Run With One Spin Wheel, A spin wheel turns a plain Halloween party into a game night with almost no preparation. You type in the options, spin, and the wheel decides who plays, Read article Guide Halloween Movie Night: 40 Picks by Age Group Can't agree on a Halloween movie? Here are 40 picks sorted by age, from gentle kids' films to adult horror, plus a wheel to settle the vote. Read article Guide Halloween Costume Ideas Wheel: 50 Costumes by Budget and Effort Halloween Costume Ideas Wheel: 50 Costumes by Budget and Effort Can't decide what to wear? Spin the wheel on 50 Halloween costume ideas sorted by cost and effort, from 5-minute looks to weekend builds. Read article