🚀 Getting started

Every teachChat class follows the same rhythm: sign in, plant a class, put the join code on the screen, press Start session. Here is the whole path from zero to your first live chat.

Go to teachchat.app and choose Sign in with Google on the teacher card. Your dashboard opens with two cards: Your classes and Start a new class.

2. Create a class

Type a class name (something like "Period 3, Biology") and press Create class. You land straight in that class's teacher console. Every class gets its own join code, shown in the console header and beside the class on your dashboard.

Not ready for real students? The dashboard also has Take the guided tour: it builds a demo class in the subject you pick, with a fake roster that answers on its own, and walks you through the real controls one by one. Demos never use your free class slot.

3. Put the join code on the projector

In the console's quick actions, press 📺 Join code pop-out. A small window opens showing only the join code, safe to full-screen on the projector: no chat, no roster, nothing else.

4. Students join from their devices

Students open teachchat.app on a laptop, Chromebook, or any device and use the I'm a student card:

Join code: the code on your screen.
First name and last initial: two separate boxes, letters only. There is nowhere to type a full last name, and classmates never see it: only you do.
A screenname: the name the class sees.
A 4-digit PIN: their key back in.

The PIN lets a student sign back in from any device: day two is the Coming back tab (code, screenname, PIN), and a device they've already used offers one-tap rejoin. More student-side detail lives on For students.

5. Approve new joiners

Every first-time joiner waits in the 🙋 Waiting to join box in your console, always. Each row shows the student's first name plus the screenname they picked, so you can check the handle before letting anyone in. Press ✓ Accept to let them into the chat, or ✕ Decline to reject them and free the screenname for another try. The full walkthrough is on Join approval.

6. Start the session

Press ▶️ Start session. Until you do, the chat shows a "no session running" note, and points and roster carry over between sessions, so nothing is lost between periods. Once the room is live, messages arrive in the feed in real time, and your own messages stand out from the students'.

Want the chat floating over your slides on the big screen? The 📽️ Overlay button opens the projector view; see Projector overlay for the full guide.

Empty roster on day one? Pop out the join code and put it on the screen. The room fills itself from there.

If the code leaks

Join codes end up in hallway photos and group chats. When that happens, press ♻️ New join code in the quick actions: it retires the old code and mints a fresh one, with your roster and every student PIN untouched. Anyone still holding the old code, including old overlay links, will need the new one; students already on the roster keep their screennames, PINs, and points.

Need a pause instead of a new code? 🔒 Lock roster signups blocks new signups with the join code while rejoining students come and go freely.

Where to next

The console has more waiting when you want it: the auto-filter and discipline tools (Moderation), points and Hype Houses (Points and houses), and polls, the class study guide, and vibe checks (Polls, notes, vibe). None of it is required for day one: sign in, create, project the code, start the session, and watch the chat arrive. 🌱