School tools
Enter a class list once and these classroom tools handle fair name picking, balanced groups, or a seating chart. Separate calculators answer what you need on a final and what your weighted GPA is, with stated rounding. Saving a class list is optional and stays in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, and there's no account.
Tools
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Pick names at random, each once per round, print who's been called, and reuse the list for groups and seating.
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Make random groups by count or size, with keep-apart rules and an even spread by one label.
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Shuffle your class into rows, pairs, pods or a U-shape, with keep-apart rules and the front of the room marked.
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See the grade you need on the final, the highest grade still reachable, and your grade if you skip it.
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Get weighted and unweighted GPA side by side, with Honors and AP bonus points you can change.
Guides
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Covers what Wheel of Names does well, and a thirty-second test of any picker for third-party load and repeat picks.
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Answers what a 3.7 GPA means, with a letter-to-points table and four school rules that can change it.
Two groups of tools, one class list
The set splits cleanly. Three tools work from a list of names. Two work from numbers. They don't share data with each other, and that's on purpose.
| You have | You want | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| A class list | One student, fairly | Name picker |
| A class list | Even teams | Group generator |
| A class list | A desk plan to print | Seating chart |
| A running grade | The score needed on the final | Final grade calculator |
| Courses and credits | Weighted and unweighted GPA | GPA calculator |
Paste the list once and the three list tools can reuse it. Saving is a choice you make, not a default, and one visible control deletes it.
What does "fair" mean when a computer picks a name?
Two different things, and the difference shows up in the room.
A plain random pick can call the same student three times in ten minutes. It's random, and it's also the thing that makes a class stop believing the tool. Within a round, the name picker removes each name once it's been called and shows who's still waiting. Everyone goes once before anyone goes twice. Editing the class list or resetting starts a fresh round.
The group generator shuffles with the browser's cryptographic random source, then deals students round-robin. Group sizes come out within one student of each other whether you ask for a number of groups or a target size, because a class that doesn't divide evenly gets its extra students spread one per group. Add a rule or a Spread by label and the sizes stay the same, but the page searches for groups instead of dealing in order.
Why do two GPA calculators give me different numbers?
Because the 4.0 scale isn't one scale, and the disagreements are real rather than bugs.
Commercial calculators disagree on what an A+ is worth: 4.0, 4.3, or 4.33. They also disagree on whether a failing grade in a weighted AP course earns 0.0 or keeps the 1.0 bump. Schools disagree too, which is the root of it.
So the GPA calculator makes both conventions available instead of picking one and staying quiet. It defaults to A+ at 4.0, offers a 4.3 preset, and carries a switch for schools that still award points for a failing weighted course. Honors and AP bumps are editable, because your school's are probably not ours. Rounding is stated on the page, and where rounded and truncated values differ, you see both.
Check the number against your school's published scale before you rely on it. A GPA is a local convention wearing a universal-looking decimal.
How do I work out what I need on the final?
Three fields: your current grade, the weight of the final, and the target you want.
The final grade calculator returns three numbers rather than one. The score you need for your target. The best grade still reachable if you ace it. And the floor, which is where you land if the final scores zero. That last one is the number students actually want at eleven at night, and it's rarely the one they're shown.
One subtlety the page handles: an ungraded final category shouldn't drag your running grade down. Use the gradebook number while the final is still ungraded and the arithmetic stays honest. If your grade is built from weighted categories, you can construct it in the page and push it into the field. Extra credit that takes a score past full marks is a switch, since some courses allow it and some don't.
Does anything leave the classroom?
No. Student names, grades, and credits stay in the tab you typed them into. Nothing uploads, and there's no account to make.
If you save a class list, it goes into this browser's local storage so the other list tools can reuse it. It isn't attached to an account, it doesn't sync anywhere, and deleting it is one control. Share links carry state after the hash mark, which browsers don't send to a server.
Student names deserve that treatment more than most inputs on this site, which is why saving is opt-in rather than automatic. Once a page has loaded, you can turn your wifi off and every tool here still works.
What does classroom mode do?
Select Classroom mode on any school list tool and the page becomes readable from the back row. Site navigation and headings disappear, the result gets large, and the board switches to high contrast for a projector. Escape, or Exit classroom mode, returns you to the normal page.
Classroom mode takes any advertisement out of the page rather than hiding it, so the projected board shows none. Hidden and absent are not the same thing when the screen is four feet wide and pointed at thirty children.
Every action carries a text status for assistive technology, so a screen reader announces what happened rather than leaving a silent change on screen.
FAQ
Can I print a seating chart?
Yes. The seating chart prints with the front of the room labeled, and any desk without a student is marked Empty. On that page the button is called Print chart. The name picker, the group generator and both grade calculators have a Print button too.
Does the name picker have a spinning wheel?
No. The name picker shows two lists, Already called and Still waiting. If your class expects a wheel, Wheel of Names alternatives compares the options, including when a spinning wheel is the better fit.
Can I keep two classes saved?
No. This browser keeps one saved list, so saving again replaces it. For a second class, paste the list in or open a share link. A share link fills the box without touching the list you saved.
Do the group and seating tools honor "keep these two apart"?
Yes. Both take Keep apart and Keep together rules over any names on your list, and both can spread a label such as reading level. If the rules can't all be kept, the page says so, lists the rules involved and shows no arrangement. The name picker doesn't use rules.
Related tools
For scheduling across time zones rather than seating a room, use the date and time tools. Material changes land in the changelog.
Other tools you might want
Counting school days to a deadline or adding weeks to a start date? The date tools cover days between dates, adding or subtracting time, exact ages, and meeting times across time zones.