Random Name Picker
Paste a class roster and pick a name. No-repeat so the same student does not come up twice. The list stays in this tab. Space picks the next name.
Press Space, or Pick a name. The next student shows up here.
6 on the list
One name per line, or a comma list. The roster stays in this browser. Mixpanel only sees a count, never a name.
The list stays in this browser
I built this because the class list vanished the moment I closed the tab. ClassTools and the other classroom pickers make you paste the roster again after lunch. Or they want an account to keep 28 names. A teacher should not create a login to remember who is in period three.
This page writes the roster to localStorage on this machine. Refresh tomorrow and the names are still here, until you paste a new list or clear the site data. It does not follow you to another laptop. Mixpanel and Google Analytics load with the rest of Softery.io. They see that someone opened the tool. They do not get Ada or Ben. If you came here because a privacy page promised zero third-party scripts, that is not this site, and I will not write that sentence.
No-repeat until everyone has a turn
Cold-call is a rotten game when the same two students come up three times and the quiet ones never do. No-repeat pulls from who is left. The name that just appeared drops out of the pool. The counter says how many are left. When the pool is empty, Pick stops. Reset starts the period over.
I did not invent a fancy shuffle you cannot audit. The next name is a fair index into who is still waiting. Turn the mode off if you want repeats. Leave it on for a class. A Reddit thread about falling balls and obstacles sat at 153 points with 66 comments. People will watch a marble bounce. I shipped the part a teacher actually needs: do not call the same kid twice before everyone else has gone.
One key on a projector
Projector hides the roster and makes the name large. Space or Enter picks the next one. You do not need to walk back to the keyboard tray and hunt for a button. I left the roster editable when Projector is off, because that is when you fix a spelling or add a late arrival.
Space inside the roster box still types a space. The hotkey only fires when you are not editing the list. That is the difference between a classroom remote and a broken textarea.
What this page will not do
I did not build falling balls. That demo is someone else's, and it is a good show. It is also a different product. I did not put the wheel on this URL. The wheel spinner already exists if you want slices. This address is the list.
Two hundred names is the same cap the wheel uses. A yearbook paste is cut there so the tab stays usable. One name is enough to pick, unlike the wheel, which needs two slices. If you want the longer version of why classroom pickers keep losing the roster, I wrote it up in The List Was Empty After I Closed the Tab.
Common questions
Does the roster leave this tab?
The names stay in this browser. The pick runs in JavaScript here. After the page has loaded you can unplug the cable and still call the next student. Mixpanel and Google Analytics load with Softery.io. They see that someone opened the tool. They do not get the names. They get a count, and that a pick happened.
What does no-repeat do?
When it is on, a name that already came up stays out of the pool until you reset the round. That is the whole mode. When the pool is empty the Pick button stops. Reset puts the full roster back. Turn the mode off if you want the same name to be able to come up twice.
Can I pick with the keyboard?
Space or Enter picks the next name, as long as you are not typing in the roster box. That is the projector path. Open Projector, hide the list, hit Space. The name is big enough to read from the back row.
Is this the same as the wheel spinner?
No. The wheel is a spin with slices. This page is a list with a no-repeat pool and a hotkey for a classroom. Both keep names in the browser. Use the wheel when you want the spin. Use this when you want to get through a roster without calling the same student twice.
Nearby tools
If you wanted the spin, Wheel Spinner is the canvas. Unit Converter is the page I wanted when a search result put an ad over 350 F. Password Generator makes the password in this tab and never sends it.