The complete ClassKite guide for teachers

This is the ClassKite Teacher's Guide, in full. It follows the same sections and steps as the printable PDF and the tutorial videos, so whether you read, print or watch it, you get the same instructions.

Getting started

Everything in this guide happens in one place: sign in to your ClassKite teacher account in any modern browser, on a laptop, a smart board or an iPad. The four sections that follow are one teaching cycle, in the order you use them. You build a lesson's practice questions with an AI assistant, explain one concept at a time on the Smart Board, watch that concept's practice in the Live Session until every student is green, then go back to the board for the next concept. Reports keeps the record afterwards, and the Gradebook adds it up into a grade for each student.

Sign in with your teacher account - the same login works on any device. — Sign in with your teacher account. The same login works on any device.

Your dashboard after signing in: classes, live sessions and reports are one click away in the left navigation.

Before you start: create your class and bring students in

A class is the home for everything: its students, its topics and worksheets, its live sessions and its reports. Setting one up takes under a minute, and students join with a short code, so there are no email invitations to manage. Do this once for each group you teach; the four sections that follow are the lesson itself.

1. Create the class

Open Classes in the left navigation. Type a class name and subject at the top of the class list and press Create Class. The new class appears in the list straight away.

The Classes page: name + subject, then Create Class. Existing classes are listed below. — The Classes page: enter a name and subject, then press Create Class. Existing classes are listed below.

Tip. Write the join code on the board at the start of the first lesson, and the whole class can enrol in under a minute.

2. Find the join code

Select the class to open it. Its join code is shown in the class header; students use this short code to enrol. Use the icons next to it to copy the code, print it as a handout or regenerate it if it is shared outside your class.

The selected class showing its join code, topic list, and class tools.

3. Students join with the code

Students sign in with their own accounts and enter the code in the “Join a Class” card on their dashboard. Depending on your school's settings, they join straight away or wait for you to approve them, and the class then appears on their dashboard. You will see them in the Students tab of your class, where you can also add students by hand or import a whole list from a spreadsheet.

What students see: entering the join code on the student dashboard enrols them in your class.

Section 1: Importing question banks

Start the lesson by building its questions. ClassKite's question-bank template is written so an AI assistant can fill it in for you from your own lesson material. Download the template first: open your section's Questions tab and press Download Template. The Excel file contains example questions, a sheet for maths and an Instructions sheet covering all six question types.

1. Give the AI your material and the template

Upload your PDF and the Question Bank Template to ChatGPT or another AI assistant, then use this prompt, adjusted to suit your lesson:

I'm uploading the ClassKite Question Bank Template along with the lesson material PDF.
Read the "Instructions" sheet in the Excel template carefully and follow all instructions exactly.
Generate [a similar number of science] questions based on [pages X-Y of the uploaded PDF] at a [similar] difficulty level.
Use a variety of the 6 supported question types defined in the Instructions sheet.
Important: For math questions, the JUMBLED_SENTENCE question type is NOT allowed.
Add all generated questions only below the separator row in the template. Do not modify, delete, reorder, or reformat any existing content, sheets, headers, examples, instructions, or formatting.
Return the completed Excel file ready for use in ClassKite.

Tip. The bracketed parts are yours to change: the subject and number of questions, the pages of your PDF to draw from, and the difficulty level.

2. Import the completed template into your lesson

Back in the Questions tab, press Upload Question Bank and pick the file the AI returned. Valid rows are imported into the lesson straight away.

The Questions tab: Download Template and Upload Question Bank sit above the question list - the template goes out here and the completed workbook comes back in here. — The Questions tab: Download Template and Upload Question Bank sit above the question list. The template goes out here, and the completed workbook comes back in here.

The imported questions, arriving in the lesson in one upload. — The imported questions, added to the lesson in one upload.

3. Organise the imported questions into one practice per concept

Put two to five questions in each practice. One practice per concept is what makes the teaching cycle in Section 2 work: you explain a concept, then run the short practice that belongs to it.

4. Keep each concept's practice short

A long practice stops being a quick check of one idea. A short one lets the class finish while the concept is still fresh, and shows you who has understood it before you move on.

5. Fix a rejected file and re-import it

Sometimes the import reports invalid rows. Copy the error messages, paste them into ChatGPT or your preferred AI assistant and ask it to fix the Excel file. Each message names the row and the reason, so the assistant has what it needs to repair it. Before you import the corrected file, delete the practice the first import created: it already holds the valid rows, and every import makes a new practice, so the corrected file would add them a second time. If the whole file was rejected, nothing was imported and you can upload the corrected file straight away.

A rejected file: every problem row is listed with its row number and the reason. This is the text to copy back to your AI assistant.

Section 2: The Smart Board process

This is the cycle the whole lesson runs on: explain one concept, launch that concept's practice, monitor the Live Session, then return to the Smart Board for the next concept. One concept at a time is the point: each practice checks the idea you have just explained, while it is still fresh.

Explain concept → Start practice → Monitor Live Session → All students green → Next concept

Your material has to be in the section first: inside your class, pick a topic and section, drop a PDF onto the upload zone in the Examples tab, and press Share with Students when the class is ready to see it.

A worksheet uploaded into the Worksheets section, already shared with students.

1. Select your class, topic and section on the Smart Board

Open Smart Board from the left navigation and choose them in that order. Your material loads full-size with the annotation toolbar, ready for the projector or an interactive display.

The Smart Board: the worksheet rendered with the annotation toolbar alongside.

2. Click “Fullscreen”, then annotate and explain in Fullscreen view

Click the “Fullscreen” button, then annotate and explain in Fullscreen view. Pick the pen and write on the page: underline, circle answers, tick correct work. Present one concept at a time, and after each one start a practice to check your students' understanding. Your ink is saved automatically in the background and is still there when you come back to the page.

Annotating in Fullscreen view: the page has the whole display and the toolbar floats at the bottom - underline, circle and tick drawn with the pen tool, saved automatically. — Annotating in Fullscreen view: the page fills the display and the toolbar floats at the bottom. The underline, circle and tick were drawn with the pen tool and saved automatically.

Tip. Fullscreen first, then write. Entering fullscreen re-fits the page, so switch before your pen touches it.

3. Select the practice for the concept you just explained

The practice picker sits in the board's header, next to Start Session. Choose the practice for the concept you have just explained (its question count is shown beside the name), then press Start Session to put it on every student's screen.

Choosing the concept's practice in the Smart Board header, with the ink from the explanation still on the page. The count in brackets is how many questions it holds.

4. Once the session starts, open “Live Session” to follow your students' progress

The practice appears on every enrolled student's device the moment the session starts. They answer each question and get instant feedback, while your Live Student Grid fills in as they join and work.

The student's view during a live session: one question at a time, with instant feedback after each answer.

5. What each student status colour means in the “Live Session” view

Green is a student who has completed the practice. Yellow is a student still working through it. Red is a student who has answered the same question wrong several times; go to them first. Grey is a student who has not started, which usually means they have not joined yet. A flag is a raised hand: a student asking for you directly.

The Live Student Grid mid-session: green = completed, yellow = in progress, red = several wrong tries, grey = not started yet, flag = a raised hand - the whole class at a glance. — The Live Student Grid mid-session, with the whole class at a glance: green = completed, yellow = in progress, red = several wrong tries, grey = not started yet, flag = a raised hand.

Section 3: Live Session progress

While the practice runs, you watch progress, help the students who need it and wait until every student is green before you end the session and carry on teaching.

1. Monitor your students' progress and provide support when needed

The aim is for everyone to finish the practice in good time. The grid tells you who needs you before they ask: red is a student stuck repeating a question, a flag is a student asking for help, and grey this far into a practice is a student who never joined.

Tip. Keep the grid on your own screen, not the projector. It shows each student's progress, and it is meant for you, not the class.

2. Once all students are in green, end the session and start the next concept

End the current Live Session, return to the Smart Board to explain the next concept, and repeat the cycle. A screen of all green is the signal that the concept has landed: no yellow means nobody is still working, no red means nobody is stuck, no grey means every student took part, and no flags means every request for help has been dealt with.

Every student green: the whole class has answered every question, and no hand is still raised. This is what you are waiting for before you end the session.

Explain concept → Start practice → Monitor Live Session → All students green → Next concept

Section 4: Reports

Reports holds every student's practice history. Every session you run is kept, so the record builds up over the term with no upkeep from you.

1. Open the class's session list

Go to Reports in the left navigation and select the class. Each live session you have run is listed with its date and status; once your school year is set up, the list opens on the current term, and you can choose another term or All terms. Expand one to see the full breakdown: every participating student with their score and their progress through the questions. It is the after-class view of what the live grid showed you during the lesson. The Gradebook, also in the left navigation, puts every session of the class in one grid and works out an overall grade for each student. Scores come from the practices themselves; they are not typed in.

Reports for the class: one row per session, with the class size, how many took part and how many mastered it.

Tip. Two minutes with the session report after class shows you who to follow up with tomorrow.

A session expanded: completion and average score for the class, then every student on the register - what they got right first try, what they solved in the end, and who has not opened it yet. — A session expanded: completion and average score for the class, then every student on the register: what they got right first try, what they solved in the end, and who has not opened it yet.

Students have a My Reports page of their own, showing their score for each completed practice - their record stays private to them and you. — Students have a My Reports page of their own, showing their score for each completed practice. Other students never see it.

You're ready

That's the cycle: questions an AI assistant drafted from your own material, one concept explained at a time on the Smart Board, its short practice watched in the Live Session until every student is green, then the next concept. Reports keeps the record afterwards. Every screenshot in this guide was taken in the real app, so your screen will match.

Quick reference

Classes: create classes, manage the roster, upload material, import question banks

Smart Board: explain one concept at a time, in Fullscreen, with live ink

Live Session: run that concept's practice and watch the Live Student Grid

Reports and Gradebook: every student's practice history, and the grade it adds up to

The complete ClassKite guide for teachers: from your first class to live insight