A random student picker earns its place for one reason: it takes the choice out of your hands in front of the class. "The computer picked you" ends a negotiation that "I picked you" starts.
This one is built to be watched on a projector. The names become baby zodiac animals, they race or tumble, and the class sees the result arrive rather than appear. It takes about fifteen seconds and it reliably gets a room's attention back.
What teachers use it for
- Who answers next. Run a race and take the winner. Run it again for the next question.
- Group work. One race with the whole class, then deal the finishing order out across the tables.
- Presentation order. Settle who presents when, before anyone can claim the last slot.
- Jobs and monitors. The order the classroom jobs get handed out in, decided in public.
- A reward at the end of a lesson. It is genuinely fun to watch, which is not nothing on a Friday afternoon.
Fits a real class
Up to 30 names in one run, so a full class fits without splitting it in half. Paste the register straight out of your spreadsheet — the parser finds the name column and ignores the ID and attendance columns beside it.
It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install on a locked-down school machine and no student data leaves the device. Nothing you paste is stored anywhere unless you sign in and deliberately save the class as a crew.
Saving your classes
If you use it every day, retyping the register every day is the thing that will make you stop. A paid account saves crews, so each class is one click away, and it lets you assign a specific animal to each student — which classes get attached to faster than you would expect.
Everything else, including the full 30-name roster and every game mode, is free and always will be.
How it works
Paste the register
Straight out of your spreadsheet is fine.
Put it on the board
Run a race and let the class watch it decide.
Go again
One click re-runs it with the same class.
Questions
Is it free for teachers?
Yes. Up to 30 students, all three modes, no sign-up and no ads-wall. Saving your classes so you do not re-paste them daily is the paid feature.
Does it store my students' names?
No. The match runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. Names are only stored if you sign in and save a class as a crew on purpose.
How many students can it handle?
Up to 30 in a single run, which covers most classes without splitting.
Will it work on a school computer?
It is a website with nothing to install. If the site loads, it works.
Can I stop the same student being picked twice?
Run one race and read the finishing order top to bottom — that gives you a full no-repeat sequence for the whole class from a single draw.