Teacher and Student Layers: Private Feedback

Picture a worksheet on the classroom display. You are explaining the second question, thirty students are working through the same page on their own devices, and one of them has made a small slip in the third line of their working. On paper, you would lean over their desk and circle it. In ClassKite, you can do the same thing on screen, because every lesson page is built from separate layers: one for you, and one for each student. This guide explains how those layers work and how to use them to give quick, private feedback.

Your layer: the board

Whatever you write on a lesson page goes on your own layer. This is your board: the place where you annotate the PDF, underline key terms, sketch a diagram and model a method step by step.

Once you have shared the section with your class, students can follow your board from their own devices. They switch to the Teacher view and watch your writing appear as you make it. That view is read-only, so nobody can change or erase your explanation, and it works whether you are teaching live on the smart board or a student opens the page later.

Each student's layer: their own work

Every student also has their own layer on the same pages. When they switch to My layer, they can take notes, work through the questions and show their method directly on the material you are teaching from.

A student's layer is visible only to that student and to you.
Classmates never see each other's layers, so students can make mistakes and correct them without an audience.
Your board and their notes stay apart, so your explanation is never buried under thirty sets of handwriting.

Opening a student's layer

Next to your annotation tools is a layer menu. It lists My layer (your board) and then an entry for every approved student in the class, shown as Feedback: student name. Every student appears there, including those who have not written anything yet.

Choose a student and ClassKite puts you into Feedback mode. You now see exactly what that student has written, and a banner confirms that their marks are locked and that anything you add is saved only to their layer. If the student is still writing, you see their work update as they go.

Giving feedback on the work itself

In Feedback mode, you write directly on the student's page, next to their working. You can circle the line where a sign went wrong, add a short hint beside a diagram, or tick a method that is exactly right.

It is private. Your feedback is saved to that one student's layer. Nobody else in the class sees it.
It is immediate. If the student is looking at their own layer, your notes appear as you write them. If not, they will be waiting the next time the student opens the page.
It is safe. The student's marks are locked while you work, so you cannot accidentally erase them, and the student cannot erase or move your notes afterwards.

When you have finished, press Exit to return to your own board, exactly as you left it.

During the lesson and after it

Layers and feedback do not depend on a live session. You can give feedback while the class is working in front of you, or sit down after school, open a few students' layers one at a time, and leave notes for them to find the next day. Because everything is saved to the lesson page, both your board and each student's work are still there the next time anyone opens it.

Ways to use it

Worked examples: model the first question on your board, then check a few students' attempts at the second and nudge them in the right direction.
Quiet support: help a student who would never put their hand up, without drawing the attention of the whole room.
Feedback that gets acted on: a note on the exact line of working is far more likely to be acted on than a comment at the bottom of the page.

Create a free teacher account and try teacher and student layers with one of your own worksheets.

Frequently asked questions

Can students see my annotations?

Yes, once you have shared the section with them. Students switch to the Teacher view to follow your board, which updates live as you write and cannot be changed by them.

Can students see each other's work?

No. Each student's layer is visible only to that student and to you.

Can I see every student's layer at once?

You open one student's layer at a time from the layer menu. The Live Student Grid gives you the class-wide picture of who is progressing and who needs help during a live practice.

Which plan includes layers and feedback?

Teacher and student layers, and feedback on them, are included on every plan, including the free Teacher Basic plan.

Teacher and Student Layers: Private Feedback on Every Page