Setting the frame without raising your voice
The switch to red is visible from any seat. Many teachers only have to touch the screen, and the level comes down without a word being said.
The traffic light, your noise code on screen
Three lamps in a dark housing, one lit at a time, readable from anywhere in the room. The light replaces the sentence you repeat ten times a day: red for silence, amber for whispering, green for talking.
Try it right now
This is not a screenshot: it is the tool itself, the one your class will see on the board.
Tap a colour to display it.
How it works
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One tap, one instruction
Tapping a lamp lights it and turns the others off. The matching word appears under the housing — Silence, Whisper, Discussion — so the colour is never ambiguous.
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Tapping again turns it off
Tapping the lamp that is already lit brings the light back to neutral, all lamps off. That is the state to pick between two activities, when no particular rule applies.
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Nothing to set, nothing to remember
The light has no list, no account and no settings. It shows the current state and nothing else: when you come back it is off, waiting for your first instruction.
When it really earns its place
The phases of one piece of work
Paired research starts on green, moves to amber while each student writes, then to red for the final read-through. The light says where you are better than an instruction repeated three times.
Alongside the noise meter
The light announces the expected level, the noise meter shows the actual one. Side by side on the canvas, the two answer each other, and the comparison needs no comment.
What it does, and what it does not
The light measures nothing. It is a sign: it states what you expect, not what is happening. For the level the class is actually producing, the noise meter is the tool you want.
Its state is not kept from one session to the next. It is a live signal, not a setting: every opening starts from off, which stops yesterday’s red from lingering on the board the next morning.
The colours stay the same whatever theme the portal is using. A light that changed shade with the skin would stop being readable at a glance, and that is the only thing it is asked to do.
Frequently asked questions
What do the three colours mean?
Red for silence, amber for whispering, green for discussion. The word is written under the housing at the same time as the lamp lights up, so the convention does not have to be taught to be understood.
Can I switch the light off entirely?
Yes: tap the lit lamp again and all of them go out. The light returns to neutral, which is the normal state between two activities.
Does the light measure classroom noise?
No, it displays an instruction. The noise meter is the one that measures, using the microphone, and the two tools sit happily side by side on the board’s canvas.
Does it work on an interactive whiteboard?
Yes, the lamps are large touch targets, made to be tapped with a finger on a whiteboard.
Pairs well with
This tool lives on the board’s canvas, next to all the others.