Teacher dashboard tour

Opening the dashboard

The dashboard opens as a slide-in panel from the right. Two paths:

• Profile avatar top-right → Teacher dashboard
• Grid icon (▦) next to the bell

Close the same way or hit Esc. Re-opening returns to the same class or tab. Per-session; a refresh resets to the Classrooms grid.

The dashboard at a glance

Fixed header (title + close), single scrolling column. The header shows the signed-in account. Below, a two-tab control flips between Classrooms (default) and Messages — the column holds the class grid or the inbox.

Open a class and the column becomes: header strip with name, color, join codes; three tabs (Stream / Classwork / People). A ← All classrooms link steps back.

The two views — Classrooms / Messages

Two destinations. Everything else lives inside a class or thread.

Classrooms default

Grid (or list) of every classroom you own or help with. Click a card to drop into its tabs.

Messages

Flat list of every student thread across all classrooms, newest activity first. Unread counts roll into a red pip. Click a row to open the thread inline — right view when a message comes in and you want to reply without finding the class first.

The Messages badge scopes to inbound student messages; the bell covers everything.

The Classrooms panel

Each tile: name, subject, term, join code, student count, assignment count. The colored stripe is your recognition cue — same color in the class header, activity feed, notifications.

Co-teachers and TAs get a role pill — Co-teacher blue-grey, TA sage. Owners see no pill.

Sorted newest-first by creation. Archive older ones to surface a specific class.

Grid vs. list layout classroomsView

Top-right toggle: grid (cards, default) or list (one-line rows). Saved per device.

Grid suits 1–6 classes. List wins at 7+ — chip-colored bar, name, join code, counts on one line. Same click target either way.

Creating a classroom

Below the grid: a collapsed ＋ Create classroom disclosure. Three fields: Name (required), Subject, Term. Submit and you drop into the new class.

Full setup detail (color picker, join code, invite link, archive) is in Setting up your first class.

The "Show archived" toggle

Archived classes hide by default. With one+ archived, a Show archived (N) checkbox appears above the grid. Cards carry an "Archived" label.

Unarchive: toggle visibility, open the class, kebab → unarchive.

Per-session filter; doesn't change the underlying class. Students still can't see archived classes regardless of your filter.

Archive for term end

The Classroom toolbar has a second button beside Archive: Archive for term end. The deliberate "term over, freeze the gradebook" path. Type the class name to confirm. Then:

• Writes a per-student-per-assignment grade snapshot to a frozen table. Later rubric edits leave the snapshot intact.
• Notifies every enrolled student and active staff member.
• Flips the class read-only with an "Archived" pill.

The snapshot writer is a scheduled internal action, so the button returns immediately even on a 200-student roster. State lands as archived when the snapshot completes.

Transfer ownership

The Transfer ownership button hands the class to a co-teacher or TA. Previous owner downgrades to co-teacher; new owner picks up owner-only capabilities (archive, transfer, retention windows, staff invites). Audit-logged with previous and new owner IDs.

The picker lists only active co-teachers and TAs. To hand off to someone else, invite first, wait for accept, then transfer.

Recent activity inside a class

The Stream tab is the chronological feed for that class. Newest first. Two row types:

• Assignment posts — every assignment you publish. Click to jump to its row in Classwork.
• Updates — short notes appended after publishing ("Due date moved to Friday."). Nested under their parent assignment.

Per-class. Four sections = four feeds. The bell is the cross-class signal.

The notifications bell

A red pip flags unread notifications. Flyout shows newest first; three messages on one assignment collapse into one row with a "×3" chip.

Teacher kinds:

• assignment-message — student messaged you. Most common.
• new-assignment / assignment-update — co-teacher created or edited.
• classroom-announcement — co-teacher posted to the class.
• teacher-application — admin-only.
• teacher-approved / teacher-rejected — verdict on your application.

Click deep-links: assignment-message opens the inbox at the thread; assignment notifications open the Classroom view; admin notifications open the application queue.

Each row's × drops the group. Flyout re-fetches on open.

The Messages inbox

Flat, cross-class list of every (assignment, student) thread. Each row: avatar, name, assignment title, latest snippet, red dot if unread.

Sorted by latest activity. Click a row to read and reply inline.

Right surface when a notification pings, or for a sweep after grading wraps.

Customizations & visual prefs

Settings → Appearance holds look-only toggles:

• Theme — paper (warm cream default), light, dark.
• Reader font scale — bumps text size. Good for projecting.
• Reader line height — looser spacing on long-form text.
• PDF size — export page size.
• TTS visibility — text-to-speech bubble. Off by default.

Per-classroom defaults (style preset, attempt limits, rubric) live on each class's settings page. See first class.

Verification status

Until verified, the dashboard opens to a status page instead of Classrooms.

The three states

• Not applied — routes to the application form.
• Pending review — three-step checklist: Application submitted, Awaiting review, Approved → full access. "Check status" button and "Resend confirmation email" link.
• Rejected — verdict, reason if filed, Re-apply button, support link.

Once verified, the status page disappears; the dashboard opens to Classrooms. A green Verified pill appears on your profile.

Keyboard shortcuts

Global shortcuts:

• Esc — closes the dashboard (and most overlays).
• Tab / Shift+Tab — moves focus through tabs, cards, buttons, fields.
• Enter / Space — activates the focused element.

Tab strips use role="tablist" ARIA; cards expose role="button". Assistive tech gets the same navigation as a mouse.

Editor shortcuts (mark palette, view modes, scrubber) live in a separate doc.

Where to find help

Two paths reach the help library:

• ? in the top-bar utility cluster — opens /help/.
• ?Help in the New Assignment modal — opens Creating an assignment scrolled to the current section.

The library filters by audience and tier. This doc is in Tier 1 — Getting started, alongside Setting up your first class and Co-teachers and TAs.

Every help page footer has an Email feedback link to a real person.

Related

→ Setting up your first class — the next stop after the dashboard tour.

→ Creating an assignment — every section of the New Assignment modal explained.

→ Co-teachers and TAs — what the role pills on the dashboard mean.

→ Messaging students — what happens inside the Messages inbox.

→ Back to the help library for more topics.

Missing something? Email feedback.