Rise and Shine: Create your own morning screen in 3 steps

What is a 'morning screen'?

Morning slides or welcome screens are a popular and effective way to kickstart the school day. These slides not only extend a friendly welcome but also serve to display information such as the daily schedule, important announcements, and any pertinent reminders. Some screens also track attendance and behavior points - what you include is truly up to you! In all cases, it ensures that students are well-informed and ready for the day ahead.

Within Classroomscreen, you can design your perfect screen that you can reuse again and again. Let’s build our own!

Step 1: Start with a background

Choosing a background is a crucial step in creating an effective morning screen. In Classroomscreen, we offer over 100+ background images to choose from, including famous landmarks, cute animals, and much more. However, many of our users prefer to design their own personalized backgrounds for their morning screens. Like a background with placeholders for their favorite widgets within their backgrounds, so all you need to do is pop your top widgets on it. A background like this can easily be created with a design tool like Canva.

Top tip: If you create your background on a 16:9 aspect ratio, and then use the same aspect ratio for your screen in Classroomscreen, you’ll make sure your background always lines up with your widgets regardless of the screen size you use in your classroom. (Learn more about the screen aspect ratio setting here)

Step 2: Add Widgets

Widgets are the building blocks of your morning screen, each serving a distinct purpose. Here are some essential widgets to consider welcoming your students at the beginning of the lesson:

• Timer: Keep track of time in just a few clicks.
• Calendar: What’s the date today? Let the Calendar widget tell your students what you’ve told them before.
• Text: Share instructions, inspirational quotes or daily riddles!
• QR Code: Share relevant links or resources.
• Poll: Create a wellbeing check-in and see which kids need some extra attention.
• Work symbols: Signal to students what is expected of them.
• Video: Play an educational video or calm music playlist (with no ads - yay)!
• Timetable: Show today's schedule with fun icons.

Not sure where to start? Why not try out our ‘Daily Check-in’ template which has all the key widgets you need for a wellbeing check-in.

Step 3: Final touches

If all the essentials are in place, there are a bunch of ways to add some extra ✨ pizzazz ✨:

• Add a few of our gorgeous Stickers, either just for fun or to add clear directions with the “Goal”, “Must do” and “To do” stickers .
• Include an inspirational quote using the Text widget - this ‘We Are Teachers’ article has some perfect examples!
• Get your kids thinking with a 'Riddle of the Day'! Here is a list provided by ‘Bored teachers’ with fun Riddles for students.

Automatic updates

In case you were wondering, your widgets will update automatically to show the right date and time. Do you have an Event countdown or a Calendar? No worries, it’s the right date when you need it. Don’t throw those screens in the bin, we’ve got you covered. 

Save your work

If you want to reuse your screen, make sure to login to your account before getting started. Our Pro subscribers can save their work, along with a ton of other benefits, so make sure to get your free trial to see how much time you could save each morning! 

Start your mornings off right

By creating your ideal morning screen, you can not only take the stress out of your morning routine but also establish a stable routine for your students. To experience the benefits firsthand and discover how daily screens can enhance your teaching experience, create your own today!