As a teacher, one of the first things you will want to do to get started on Code.org is to set up a classroom section. A section is just a virtual representation of your classroom of students that lets you:
- Assign a course to your students - students will start at their assigned course when they sign in which makes it easier to keep your students focused and on-track
- Manage your students' Code.org accounts and help them reset their passwords
- Track your students' progress and in some courses, leave them feedback directly in the Code.org tools
We recommend creating a section for each class you teach (EX: if you're a middle school teacher with 3 classes of students, you'll want to create 3 separate sections, one for each class). This article will walk you through all the steps for creating a classroom section.
Check out this new video on creating classroom sections, hosted by Bryan!
Step 1: Sign in with your teacher account
To create a class section, first make sure to sign in to your teacher account. If you don’t have a teacher account, you can create one here.
Step 2: Create a section from your Teacher Homepage (aka My Dashboard)
Once you are signed in, you should be automatically taken to your Homepage at https://studio.code.org/home (also called 'My Dashboard').
- TIP: You can get back to your Homepage at any time by tapping the "My Dashboard" text in the Header or the Code.org logo in the upper, left-hand corner of the webpage
You should see a 'Classroom Sections' header on your homepage. This is where you will find any sections you've already created, and where you'll create new sections. Look for the 'Set up your classroom' banner and click 'Create a section' to get started.
Step 3: Choose how you want your students to sign in to Code.org
Code.org offers different sign options to accommodate various classroom setups and different student ages and abilities. The first decision you’ll be asked to make when you set-up your section is how you want your students to log in to Code.org.
Choose one of the following options in the New Section page (read on to learn which to choose):
- Picture password
- Secret words
- Personal email
- Google Classroom
- Clever
TIPS:
- Not seeing Google Classroom or Clever as options? Make sure you've already connected your teacher account to Google or Clever. Learn how
- You must choose the same sign-in option for all students in your section
- Once you've started adding students to your section, you cannot change that section's sign-in type.
Picture password logins (Ages 4-8)
Picture password logins use a secret picture as a password. What you should know:
- Recommended for pre-readers or students who are still learning to use a mouse and keyboard, and may have trouble with spelling: generally, ages 4-8
- You will create accounts for your students and Code.org will automatically generate a different picture password for each student
- You can view and reset your students' picture passwords at any time in the Manage Students tab Learn more.
Secret word logins (Ages 9-12)
Secret word logins use two simple words as the password:
- Recommended for students who are comfortable with a mouse and keyboard, but who do not have a personal email address yet: generally, ages 9-12.
- You will create accounts for your students and Code.org will randomly generate different secret word pairs for each student that they can use as their password
- You can view and reset your students' secret word passwords at any time in the Manage Students tab. Learn more.
Personal Email logins (Ages 13+)
Personal email logins are independently created by your students using a personal email address they have access to and a password they create:
- Recommended for students who are old enough to have and manage their own personal email address, as well as set and remember their own password for Code.org.
- This is also a good option if your students already have their own Code.org accounts and you want them to still have access to their old work.
- Instead of manually adding each student to the section yourself, you'll send your students a link to join your classroom section once they've signed in to Code.org with their personal accounts
- You cannot view or reset your students' passwords for personal email logins, but you can generate a reset password email for them if they forget their Code.org password. Learn more.
Google Classroom & Clever logins
If you already use Google Classroom or Clever with your students, you can sync a Code.org section to an existing class roster that you maintain in these services.
- This allows students to sign in to Code.org with their Google Classroom or Clever accounts and doesn't require them to remember and maintain a separate Code.org account
- You do not need to manage separate classroom lists in Google Classroom or Clever AND Code.org - you'll still do all of your student account management through Google Classroom or Clever (resetting passwords, changing student names, adding or removing students from the classroom, etc.), and then you will sync those changes with your Code.org section from the Manage Students tab.
- Recommended for students and classrooms who already have Google Classroom or Clever accounts.
The rest of this support article will focus primarily on Picture password, Secret Word, and Personal Email logins. To learn more about creating a Code.org section with Google Classroom or Clever, see these support articles:
Step 4: Fill out details about your classroom section
Once you pick the login type for your students, you will be able to finish filling out your section settings in a page that looks like this:
Fill out the section details with the following information:
Section Name
Enter any name you want to give your section that will help you remember what the section is for. Your students will also be able to see the name of the section, so we recommend picking something they'll recognize too.
Grade
Choose which grade you are teaching. Pick “Other” if you are teaching anything other than K-12. This is solely for your own reference and won't affect the students' experience or which courses they can access.
Course
Choose the course you are planning to teach to this classroom of students.
- By assigning a course to your section, your students will automatically be taken to the given course page when they log in.
- Don’t know what course to assign? Simply choose “Decide later” in the course dropdown for now. Check out our course catalog to help decide what course to teach.
- If you are teaching Computer Science Principles (CSP) or Computer Science Discoveries (CSD), you will notice that these courses are broken up into multiple units. You will see a second dropdown that lets you choose the specific unit you want to assign:
Enable Lesson Extras (certain courses only)
When Lesson Extras is enabled, students will end each lesson with some bonus challenges and creative projects rather than being automatically advanced to the next lesson. Courses that offer lesson extras are: Courses A-F, Express, Pre-Express, and CS Discoveries. Go here to learn more about this feature.
- TIP: Lesson extras let students expand their knowledge and practice what they've learned without getting ahead of their classmates
Enable Pair programming
Pair programming is a collaborative learning method in which students program in pairs instead of individually. When pair programming is turned on for your classroom section, students can choose to work with another student, in tandem, at one computer while completing regular programming assignments. Students who pair program together will share progress. Learn more about pair programming.
Step 5 - Save your section
Once you’re done filling out all of the section details, hit the “Save” button in the page to save your newly created section. If you are creating multiple sections, hit “Save and add another section” You'll be taken back to your home page and see your newly created section under the 'Classroom Sections' header.
Step 6 - Add students to your section
Finally, you'll need to add your students to your classroom section. The steps you'll take to add students to your section will differ based on the login type you chose for your students.
If you've chosen a section with:
- Picture password or secret word logins for your students, you'll need to manually add your students to your section before they can start coding. Learn how.
- Personal email logins, you'll want to have students join the section you just setup with their own personal Code.org accounts. Learn how.
- Google Classroom or Clever logins, your existing classroom roster should have already synced with your Code.org section during setup. You can double check that this is the case by looking for the number of students in your section in the Classroom Sections table. If you're having trouble or want more information, check out the following support articles:
Other tips
- Edit your section's settings: to edit your section's details (ex: the name of the section, grade level, or whether or not your students are allowed to pair program, etc.),
- Create another section: to create another section, click on "Create a section" under the Classroom Sections header
- We recommend keeping your section's assignment up to date as the class moves through the course materials. Learn how to update the materials your section is assigned to.
- Check student progress: As the students in your section are working, you can keep track of which levels they've completed and see their answers to open-ended questions, surveys and assessments. Click on the name of your section in the Classroom Sections table to explore their progress. Learn more about viewing student progress.
- Update student details: If you need to add a student or update an existing student's name, age, or other information after you've created your section, you can do so on the Manage Students tab. To find this, click the name of the section where you need to adjust the student roster, and then click 'Manage Students' on the purple bar that appears.