Teacher Guide

1. Getting Started

Creating your teacher account

1. Go to Teacher Sign Up (or click Create Account on the login page).
2. Enter your email address, a password, and your school name.
3. Check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.
4. Once verified, sign in at Teacher Login. You will be redirected to the onboarding flow if this is your first time.

Creating your first class

1. After signing in, go to Class Setup.
2. Click Create Class and enter a class name (e.g. "5/6 Blue").
3. A unique 6-character class code is generated automatically. Students will use this code to find their class when logging in.

Adding students

You can add students in two ways:

Option A: Add manually

1. In the Manage tab of your class, type a student's first name and click Add Student.
2. Each student is assigned a unique 3-character code automatically.
3. Repeat for each student.

Option B: Import from CSV

1. Prepare a CSV file with one column of student first names (one name per row).
2. In the Create tab (or per-class in the Manage tab), click Import from CSV.
3. Select your file. A preview of parsed names will appear for you to confirm before importing.
4. Click Import. All students are added in a single batch.

Printing login cards

1. In Class Setup, open your class and click Print Login Cards.
2. A printable sheet opens showing each student's name, their unique 3-character code, the class code, and the website URL.
3. Print the sheet (formatted for A4, 3 columns per page) and cut out individual cards to distribute.

2. How Students Log In

Students do not need email addresses or passwords. The login process is designed for young learners (ages 9-12):

1. Students visit the Word Labs website on any device with a browser.
2. On the home page, they enter the class code (the 6-character code shown in Class Setup).
3. They select their name from the class list.
4. They type their 3-character student code (shown on their login card).
5. Once logged in, they see their scientist character, quarks balance, daily challenges, and all available activities.

The session is stored in the browser. Students stay logged in until they close the browser or click Log Out. If they switch devices, they just log in again — all progress is saved to the server.

3. Activities Overview

Word Labs includes 13 activities across three domains of spelling knowledge: phonological, orthographic, and morphological. Each activity is designed to develop a specific skill that transfers to real spelling and vocabulary use.

Round-based word count

Most activities let students choose how many words they want to practise per round — 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30. After completing the round, a results screen shows their accuracy and offers to play again or try a different game. This gives every activity a natural end point and encourages students to explore a variety of games.

For timed activities with a fuel bar (Mission Mode, Meaning Match-Up, Breakdown Blitz), completing the word count is the win condition — students need to answer all the words before the fuel runs out.

Difficulty and progression

Several activities offer built-in difficulty tiers that students can select:

• Phoneme Splitter: Starter (CVC words), Level Up (blends and digraphs), Challenge (complex multisyllabic words).
• Syllable Splitter: 2-syllable, 3-syllable, and 4+ syllable words.
• Speed Builder: Easy (60s), Medium (45s), and Hard (30s) timer presets.
• The Refinery: Fill the Gap (one word to place, supported) and Full Cline (arrange all words, independent).
• Mission Mode: Adjustable fuel drain speed and penalty settings.

Rewards and motivation

Students earn quarks (in-game currency) and XP (experience points) for correct answers. They can spend quarks in the Scientist Shop to customise their scientist character with lab coats, hats, face accessories, dance moves, and particle effects. Badges are awarded for milestones like streaks, total answers, and activity completion.

Students receive 3 daily challenges (easy, medium, hard) plus a weekly challenge, each targeting a random activity. Completing challenges earns bonus quarks and XP. A daily play streak tracks consecutive days of 10+ minutes of play, with streak badges at 3, 7, 14, and 30 days. Variety bonuses reward students who try different games each week, and bonus days (Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays) give 2x XP and 1.5x quarks.

Low-stim mode

If you have students who are overwhelmed by sounds, animations, or visual effects, you can enable low-stim mode for the whole class from the dashboard settings strip. This turns off all sounds, particle effects, scientist reactions, streak flames, leaderboards, and gamification notifications. All game mechanics and progress tracking continue normally — the experience is simply calmer. Toggle it on or off at any time without affecting student data.

EALD support

Word Labs supports students learning English as an Additional Language or Dialect. From Class Setup, activate EALD mode per student and select their home language from 48 available languages. Students will see a “Show in [language]” button across all activities to reveal translations, plus audio pronunciation in both English and their home language. The English content always comes first — the home language is available as a scaffold, not a replacement.

Spelling Check-In Sets

From the Class Spelling Sets tab on the dashboard, you can create spelling sets, assign students, and track their accuracy word by word on a heatmap. Start typing a word and choose a match to bring in its checked data. If your school has asked for AI features to be switched on, Analyse unverified words fills in any word that isn't in the Word Labs pool. You can also run a Spelling Check-In — an audio dictation test where students hear each word spoken aloud and type it, with instant marking and per-word accuracy tracking on the dashboard.

4. Using the Dashboard

The Teacher Dashboard gives you real-time visibility into every student's progress. Access it from the navigation bar after signing in.

Selecting a class

If you have multiple classes, the dashboard opens with a class selector. Choose a class to load its data. You can switch classes at any time using the Switch Class link in the top corner.

Reading the heatmap

Each activity has its own tab on the dashboard. When you select a tab, you see a heatmap table with:

• Rows: One row per student.
• Columns: One column per category within that activity (e.g. each morpheme for Mission Mode, each difficulty level for Phoneme Splitter).
• Cells: Colour-coded by accuracy — green (80%+), amber (60-79%), red (below 60%), or grey (not attempted).

Hover over any cell to see the exact score (e.g. "14/18 correct, 78%").

Intervention flags

When a student scores below 70% accuracy in a specific category after 3 or more attempts, an intervention flag is automatically raised. Flagged cells are highlighted on the heatmap so you can see at a glance which students need targeted support and in which specific skill area.

Use intervention flags to form small groups. For example, if three students are all flagging on the suffix -tion, pull them together for a focused mini-lesson, then assign a spelling set targeting that pattern.

Student profiles

Click any student's name on the heatmap to open their individual profile. The profile shows:

• Overall accuracy across all activities.
• Activity-by-activity breakdown of scores.
• Last active date and time.
• Total quarks, XP, badges earned, and current scientist outfit.
• Stretch status (if on).

Class summary

The summary view (shown at the top of each activity tab) includes:

• Average accuracy across the class for that activity.
• Most-played and least-played categories.
• Number of students with intervention flags.

Exporting data to CSV

Click the Export CSV button on the dashboard to download a spreadsheet of all student progress data for the selected class. This is useful for:

• Parent-teacher conference reports.
• End-of-term progress summaries.
• Sharing data with learning support teams.

Sending rewards

From the dashboard, you can send rewards directly to individual students. Open the reward modal from a student's row to send:

• Quarks — in-game currency they can spend in the shop.
• XP — experience points that increase their level.
• Visual effects — special particle effects for their scientist.
• Badges — special achievement badges.
• Shop items — outfit pieces for their scientist character.

5. Spelling Sets for Practice

Spelling sets let you target specific spelling patterns, vocabulary from a class text, or individual students' error patterns. Set words feed into Breakdown Blitz, Syllable Splitter, Phoneme Splitter, Sound Sorter, Root Lab, Mission Mode, and Meaning Match-Up (7 games total), and each student's accuracy shows word by word on the heatmap. Words need breakdowns to work in most games. Words saved without them can still be used for check-ins.

Custom word lists are now spelling sets. Any list you had moved across with its words, games and assigned students, marked "Migrated from word list". Those sets keep to the games you chose, and Use in all games opens them up.

Creating a spelling set

1. Go to the Dashboard, open the Class Spelling Sets tab and start a new set.
2. Give it a name (e.g. "Week 3 Spelling Words" or "-tion/-sion focus").
3. Start typing a word and choose it from the list, or press Enter to add your own. You can also paste a list, up to 30 words. Spelling words only, never a student's name.
4. Check the marks in the preview. Verified words come from the checked Word Labs pool and are ready for the games, except Sound Sorter, which uses its own word bank. Unverified words aren't in the pool yet, so they appear in check-ins and on the heatmap but not in the games until they have data.
5. If your school has asked for AI features to be switched on, click Analyse unverified words. Only the Unverified words are sent. The AI will generate morpheme breakdowns, syllable splits, phoneme splits, and contextual clues for each word. Misspelled words are auto-corrected.
6. Review the preview table. Edit any entries if needed.
7. Click Save set. Rows you change are marked Edited, and the change is in your set straight away.

Priority settings

Each spelling set has a word priority that controls whether your words mix with or replace the built-in words in Breakdown Blitz, Syllable Splitter, Phoneme Splitter and Sound Sorter:

• Mixed — Your words are shuffled together with built-in words. Students get a varied mix.
• Custom Only — Only your words appear. Built-in words are replaced entirely. Best for focused intervention sessions.

You can change the priority at any time from the set's Assigned Students card.

Assigning students and choosing a practice mode

1. Open the set on the Class Spelling Sets tab.
2. In Assigned Students, tap each student who should receive the set, or auto-assign it to a stage.
3. Beside each selected student, choose All words or Struggling words.
4. Click Save.

• All words — The student practises every word in the set.
• Struggling words — The student practises every word they have not yet shown they can spell. A word drops out once they have tried it at least twice and reach the class's Struggling below percentage in the settings strip (50% to start with). Words they have not tried stay in, and their games and check-in results both count. Once every word in a set has dropped out, that set adds nothing and they play the built-in words.

Students auto-assigned by stage always practise all words. Spelling Check-Ins always test every word in the set, and focus words stay in practice whichever mode a student is in.

6. Stretch

Stretch keeps a student at their current level but mixes in words from the next level up, so they meet harder words gradually instead of jumping a whole level. Use it for a student who is ready for more but not ready to move up, or to keep a student at their level while exposing them to what comes next. Attempts made with Stretch on are tracked separately from Level attempts, so you can see how they cope before promoting them.

What changes with Stretch on

• Games with levelled words: words from the next level up join the student's word pool.
• Sound Sorter, Phoneme Splitter & Root Lab: the student also works at the Challenge tier.
• Word Spectrum: academic and technical vocabulary pairs are added.
• The Refinery: abstract academic language clines are added.
• Homophone Hunter: 12 harder homophone groups are added.

How to enable it

1. Go to Class Setup.
2. Find the student in the Manage tab.
3. Click the Stretch button beside their name. To set it for one activity at a time, use the stretch badge beside their name on the dashboard.

Attempts go under Stretch only in the activities Stretch is on for, and that includes words at the student's own level. Every other activity stays under Level. Use the Level / Stretch switch on the dashboard to see each set, or the Stretch tab on the student's profile. Mastery and the Ready tick on the Levels screen count Level and Stretch attempts together. A Pioneer student has no Stretch level above them, because Pioneer is the top level.

Students see a small Stretch label on game pages. Only a teacher can turn Stretch on or off. Stretch needs no extra preparation from the teacher and supports provision for High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE).

7. Support Mode

Support Mode provides extra scaffolding for students who need additional help. It adjusts game difficulty and adds visual and strategic hints without changing the content itself.

What changes in Support Mode

• Fuel bar: Drains at half speed. Correct answers refill 1.5x more. Wrong answer penalties are halved.
• Speed Builder: 50% more time per round.
• Multi-choice games: Show 2 options instead of 3–4.
• Visual scaffolds: Phoneme and syllable count badges, colour-coded tiles, and part count hints.
• Need Advice button: Appears below the scientist character. First tap gives a general strategy hint. Second tap gives a specific clue about the current question. Each hint has a speaker icon for text-to-speech.

How to enable it

1. Go to Class Setup or the Dashboard summary table.
2. Find the student and click the SUP badge next to their name.
3. When active, the badge turns teal. Click again to turn it off.

Student self-serve

Students can also turn on Support Mode themselves during gameplay using a toggle on the game page. This is temporary (stored in the browser session) and resets when they log out. If a teacher has enabled Support Mode for a student, the student cannot disable it — the teacher setting always takes priority.

Support Mode works alongside Stretch and Low-Stim Mode — they can all be active at the same time for the same student.

8. Account Management

All account settings are managed from the Account page, accessible from the dashboard navigation.

Adding another teacher (job-share)

Each teacher sees only the classes they are on. To share a class with a colleague, they join your school, then you add them to the class as a co-teacher. Co-teachers see the same students and dashboard data for that class. Tutoring centres and clinics work the same way: everyone on a class shares one set of students.

1. Go to Account Settings.
2. Find the Your Team section.
3. Copy the invite code shown there and share it with your colleague.
4. Your colleague creates a Word Labs account and pastes the invite code into the Invite code field on the sign-up page.
5. Once they sign up, they'll join your school, but they won't see any classes yet.
6. Go to Class Setup, find the class, and choose your colleague under Teachers on this class.

Changing your password

1. Go to Account.
2. Under Change Password, enter your new password and confirm it.
3. Click Update Password.

Updating your school name

Your school name can be edited directly on the Account page. This name appears on login cards and printed materials.

Subscription management

Your current plan status is displayed on the Account page with a colour-coded badge. From here you can:

• See your subscription renewal date.
• Click Manage Subscription to open the Stripe Customer Portal, where you can update payment details, view invoices, or cancel your subscription.
• Upgrade from a trial to a paid plan via the pricing page or dashboard upgrade banner.

Deleting a class

Deleting a class permanently removes all students, their progress data, and any spelling sets associated with that class. This action cannot be undone. To delete a class:

1. Go to Class Setup.
2. Open the class you want to delete.
3. Click Delete Class and confirm the deletion.

Deleting your account

You can permanently delete your account and all associated data from the Account page. This requires double confirmation. Deletion removes:

• Your teacher account and login credentials.
• Any class only you are on, with its students, progress data and spelling sets. Classes you share with a co-teacher stay with them.
• If you are the last teacher at your school: your school record and its shop items as well. Otherwise the school and your colleagues' own classes stay.

9. Troubleshooting FAQ

10. Support & Contact

General support

For any questions about using Word Labs in your classroom, setting up classes, or interpreting dashboard data:

• Email: nick@wordlabs.app
• Response time: We aim to respond as quickly as possible during school days (Monday to Friday, Australian Eastern Time).

Reporting a bug or technical issue

If something is not working as expected, please email nick@wordlabs.app with:

• A description of what happened.
• The device and browser you were using.
• A screenshot if possible.

You can also use the in-app Feedback form (linked from the landing page footer) to report issues directly.

Reporting a security or privacy concern

If you believe there is a security vulnerability or a privacy issue affecting student data, please report it immediately to nick@wordlabs.app with the subject line "Security Report". These reports are treated with the highest priority and will be acknowledged within 24 hours.

Word Labs is designed to align with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. For full details, see our Privacy Policy and School Data Handling Agreement.

Useful links

• About Word Labs — research base, curriculum alignment, and activity details.
• Pricing — plans, trial information, and school quotes.
• Privacy Policy — what data is collected and how it is protected.
• Terms of Service — subscription terms and acceptable use.
• School Data Handling Agreement — for IT and privacy officers.