The phases of a piece of written work
Silence for individual research, ask a neighbour for proofreading, work together for pulling it all in. Moving from one phase to the next is a gesture towards the screen.
Work symbols, shown large on the board
Four working modes, one shown at a time, with its drawing and its name. This is the organising instruction you repeat most often — the one that says not what to do, but how to do it together.
Try it right now
This is not a screenshot: it is the tool itself, the one your class will see on the board.
Silence
How it works
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Four modes, one active
Silence · Whisper · Ask a neighbour · Work together. Tapping a mode shows it large in the middle, with its name written underneath, and turns off the previous one.
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A drawing, never an emoji
Each mode has its own drawn symbol: a crossed-out speech bubble, a bubble with dots, two heads, a group. The lines stay crisp at any size, and the meaning does not depend on the device’s font.
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The name always goes with the drawing
A symbol on its own would have to be taught; the word right below it makes it readable from day one, including for a substitute or a student who joined mid-year.
When it really earns its place
Setting the frame before the lesson starts
The mode is up before the class walks in. The organising instruction is already there, read by each student as they sit down, with no need to talk over the noise of settling in.
Answering “can we ask?”
The question comes up ten times a lesson. A glance at the board answers it, and students learn to find the answer themselves rather than raising a hand.
What it does, and what it does not
A mode is always active — silence to begin with. Unlike the traffic light, there is no neutral state: the tool always shows a working mode, which is deliberate, since its whole purpose is never to leave the question open.
It measures nothing and monitors nothing. It is a sign: it states what you expect, not what is happening. For the level the class is actually producing, that is the noise meter.
The vocabulary is closed to these four modes. They cannot be added to or renamed, which guarantees that the same symbol means the same thing from one classroom to the next.
Frequently asked questions
How is it different from the traffic light?
The light is about NOISE — silence, whispering, discussion — and it can be switched off. The symbols are about how the work is ORGANISED: who you are allowed to talk to. The two sit happily side by side on the canvas.
Can no symbol be shown at all?
No, a mode is always active, and that is deliberate. The tool exists so that “can we talk?” always has a visible answer; a neutral state would reopen it.
Can I add my own symbols?
Not today. The four modes are fixed, which makes them identical for every student and every class — a symbol that changed meaning from room to room would lose its point.
Is it readable from the back of the room?
The active symbol is drawn large in the middle of the card and scales with it: enlarge the card when you want nothing else on the display.
Pairs well with
This tool lives on the board’s canvas, next to all the others.