Plotluck Party

Previous stories

No stories yet. Every party you finish is saved here automatically.

Join the party

Scan the code, or type the address into a browser.

How Plotluck Party works

How students join

The join link is shown at the top of the Guests panel. Tap the expand icon beside it to put the address and a QR code on the big screen, so students can scan or type it. You can also use the QR button in the Teacher Hive bar at the bottom of this screen.

From the student's side there is nothing to install and nothing to set up:

They open the link in any browser, on a laptop, a tablet or a phone.
There is no account and no sign in. Nobody is asked for their name or their email.
Each device is given a party name like BraveOtter the moment it arrives. That name sticks to the device for the whole lesson, so a student who reloads, or whose tablet goes to sleep, comes back as the same person.
They land on a welcome screen and wait there until you start a round. Students who join late simply appear in your Guests list and join the next round.

Matching a party name to a student

Party names are random on purpose, which is good for privacy and awkward when you want to know who wrote a particular sentence. Name Tags, in the Teacher Hive bar at the bottom of this screen, is built for exactly that.

Open it to take a roll call. It pings the devices that are connected right now and lists the party names that answer.
Tap a name to show it full screen on that student's own device, or tap Show all name tags to light up every device at once. Look around the room and you can match names to faces in a few seconds.
Tap Stop showing when you are done. A name tag also clears itself after five minutes on its own.
No personal information is involved. Each device only ever displays the party name it was already given, and the matching happens by eye, in the room.

Running a party

Type a first line, or tap Randomized Prompt to get one.
Choose a round timer and tap Start Party.
Everyone writes one sentence. The Guests list puts a check beside each student who has sent, and the count at the top reads sent out of total.
The round ends when the timer runs out, or when you tap End Now. A chime plays on this device only, so twenty-five laptops do not all sound at once.
Read the ideas and tap Pick This on the one that goes in the story. Pick Randomly chooses for you.
The sentence joins the story and the clock stops. Nothing starts on its own, so read the new line out to the class, then tap Start Round when they are ready.
Carry on as long as you like, then tap End Party to finish.

While a round is running

+30s adds half a minute to the clock. Students see the extra time straight away.
End Now closes the round early, without waiting for everyone.
Redo Round throws away this round's sentences and runs it again. Tap it twice to confirm.

If someone needs a break

Tap the person icon beside a name in the Guests list to take that student out of the story. Their screen changes to a waiting message with a button to ask to come back, and their request appears under Asking to come back for you to approve.

Words that will not go through

Teacher Hive checks every sentence against a hidden list of inappropriate words before it is saved. A sentence that trips the filter is never stored and never reaches your screen. The student sees a short message asking them to check their words, and can rewrite and send again.

After the party

Every finished story is saved to Previous Stories automatically, listed by the date and time it was written. Open one to read it, copy it, print it, or delete it. Tapping a sentence in a finished story shows who wrote it.

About this app

Plotluck Party is published through Teacher Hive and uses the Connected Superpower, which is what keeps every student's screen in step with yours as the story grows. Sentences travel through Teacher Hive rather than being stored on student devices, so the story survives a closed tab or a flat battery.

Developed by Tony Vincent. Coded with Claude.

Welcome to the party!

The story so far

Sent!

Everyone is done.

A sentence was picked!

Taking a break

THE END

Round 1

Our story

Ideas from the class

Guests 0

Asking to come back