How can my class re-enter a task across multiple lessons?

A task doesn’t have to be finished in one lesson. At the end of a lesson you pause the session and show students how to get back in. Next lesson, each student comes back with their own re-entry code and carries on where they left off.

Pausing and resuming work task by task. Pausing one task doesn’t affect your other tasks.

Pause, then send students off with their code

1. On the task page, click Pause session, then Pause now. Everyone stops where they are and their work is kept. You can also pause individual students from their row.

2. Click End-of-lesson instructions and choose what the students’ card shows: their direct link and re-entry code, a way to email it to themselves (if your school allows it), and an optional note for the class. Then click Show instructions only.

3. Each student sees a “Time to pack up” card with their own link and code. Ask them to copy the link or write the code down before they click Got it. The card can’t be opened again from their side.

4. Next lesson, students open their link, or type their re-entry code into the Access code box on the Thinking Mode home page and continue. They go back to their own work, even on a different computer.

5. When the class is ready, click Resume session, then Resume session again in the dialog. You can also choose when the session pauses next.

The dialog always offers two buttons. Show instructions only leaves the session as it is, so students can keep working after the bell. Pause & show instructions does steps 1 and 2 in one go.

If students opened the task from your school’s LMS

Students who open a task from Canvas, Schoolbox or another LMS don’t need a code to come back. Next lesson they open the same assignment in the LMS and go straight back to their own work, on any computer.

• The end-of-lesson card tells them to open the task from the LMS. The re-entry code is off by default. Turn on Also provide a re-entry code if some students might not be able to get to the LMS.

• If some students joined with the access code instead, the dialog tells you how many. Turn the code on so they can get back in too.

• Pausing still works the same way. A student who opens the task from the LMS while it’s paused sees that it’s paused until you resume it.

If your school has an LMS connected, add the task there and students won’t need a code at all. See the Canvas Setup Guide for Teachers or the Schoolbox Setup Guide for Teachers.

What a re-entry code looks like

A re-entry code is the task’s access code followed by a code of the student’s own, for example ABC234wxyz. Re-entry codes are not all the same length. Every length works the same way.

• Capitals matter. ABC234wxyz and abc234wxyz are different codes, so students must type it exactly as it appears.

• The task’s access code on its own is not a re-entry code. A student who types only the access code and their name on a different device starts a new, blank copy instead of getting their work back.

• The link on the card already contains the code, so it’s the easiest way back for most students.

Letting students email the code to themselves

The card can offer Email it to yourself. Students type their school email address and we send them their link or code. We use the address to send that one email and don’t store it.

This option needs two things. Your coordinator turns on Allow emailing re-entry codes for your school, and your account must be on a seat your school covers. If the option is greyed out in End-of-lesson instructions, it tells you which one is missing. Ask your coordinator to turn on Allow emailing re-entry codes.

If re-entry doesn’t work

• The student has lost their code. Their code is in the Re-entry Code column on your task page. Click it to copy it, or click the link icon beside it to copy a link that takes them straight back in.

• The code isn’t accepted. Check capitals and similar-looking characters, and that they typed the whole code, not just the task’s access code.

• Code entry is paused for the task. After a lot of wrong codes on one task, code entry for that task stops for about 15 minutes. Students see “Too many incorrect codes on this task”, and your task page shows “Re-entry code entry is paused on this task” with the time it opens again. Correct codes don’t work until then either, so check the codes students are typing before they try again.

• A code may have been shared. Open the … menu on the student’s row and choose Reset re-entry code. They get a new code straight away and the old code and link stop working, so give them the new one. Their work isn’t affected.

• The student is locked out. A re-entry code won’t get them past a lockout, and they’ll see the locked screen instead. Click Readmit next to their name first. See A student is locked out. How do I let them back in?

• They see “Your teacher has paused the class”. They’re back in, but the session is still paused. Click Resume session.

Good to know

• In tasks without secure mode, students can leave by themselves with Save & return. It shows their re-entry code, and the link if there is one, before they leave the task.

• If some students are leaving early, tick their names and choose Send instructions. They get the same card, and everyone else keeps working.

• If a student keeps the tab open while the class is paused, their screen carries on by itself when you resume.

Still stuck? Contact us.