Seating Chart Generator

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Installation
3. Getting Started
4. Importing Students
5. Creating a Seating Chart
6. Working with Desk Labels
7. Organizing Students
8. Calling on Students
9. Saving and Loading
10. Printing Seating Charts
11. Printing Desk Labels
12. Additional Features
13. Managing Classrooms
14. Storage and Synchronization
15. Troubleshooting
16. Privacy & Data

The Seating Chart Generator extension makes it easy to create, manage, and print customized seating charts. Whether you're organizing your classroom for the first time, creating new seating arrangements throughout the year, or preparing for special events, this tool streamlines the process and helps you optimize your classroom space.

1. Install the Seating Chart Generator extension from the Chrome Web Store
2. After installation, you'll see the extension icon in your browser toolbar
3. Navigate to Google Classroom to begin using the extension

1. Go to Google Classroom and open one of your classes
2. Click on the Seating Chart Generator icon in your browser toolbar
3. The seating chart overlay will appear with two main sections:
   • Student Roster (left panel): Lists all students in the class
   • Seating Area (main panel): Where you'll create and manage your seating chart
4. Use the controls at the top of the main panel to create desks, add objects, and manage your seating chart

Automatic Import from Google Classroom

1. In Google Classroom, navigate to the "People" tab of your class
2. Click the Seating Chart Generator icon to open the extension
3. Click the Import Students button in the left panel
4. The extension will automatically scan the page and import all student names
5. You'll see a confirmation message showing how many students were imported

Adding Students Manually

1. In the roster panel (left side), locate the "Enter student name" text field at the bottom
2. Type a student's name
3. Click + Add Student or press Enter
4. The student will be added to the roster

Editing Student Names

1. In the roster panel, click on a student's name
2. An edit field will appear, allowing you to modify the name
3. Press Enter to save changes or Escape to cancel

Creating Multiple Desks at Once

1. In the top control bar, enter the number of desks you want to create in the input field
2. Click the Create Desks button
3. The desks will appear in the seating area arranged in a grid layout

Adding Individual Desks

1. Click the Add Single Desk button to add one desk at a time
2. The desk will be placed in an available position on the seating chart
3. Continue adding desks as needed

Removing Desks

1. To remove a specific desk: Click the "×" button in the top-right corner of the desk
2. To remove the most recently added desk: Click the Remove Last Desk button

Adding Room Objects

1. Click the Add Object button to add objects like teacher's desk, whiteboard, door, etc.
2. A new object will appear in the seating area
3. You can:
   • Drag to reposition the object
   • Click and type to change the object's label
   • Use the resize handle (bottom-right corner) to adjust the size
   • If the object is narrow, the text will automatically rotate for better visibility
   • Click the "×" button to delete the object

Managing Desks

Desk labels help identify seats independently of student assignments. The extension provides several labeling systems:

1. From the control bar, select a label type from the Desk Labels dropdown:
   • No Labels: Desks have no labels
   • Numbers (1-50): Numerical labels from 1 to 50
   • Letters (A-Z, a-z): Alphabetical labels from A to Z, and a to z
   • Playing Cards: Card suit and value labels (♠A, ♥K, etc.)
   • Fun Shapes: Emoji and symbol labels (🌞, 🍄, 🚀, etc.)
2. After selecting a label type, each desk will show "--" until a specific label is assigned
3. Click on the label area of a desk to open the label selection menu
4. Select a label to assign it to the desk
5. Labels already in use will be indicated with a dot in the selection menu
6. To clear all labels of the current type, click the Clear Labels button

Randomizing Seating

1. Click the Randomize button to randomly assign students to desks
2. The randomization follows these rules:
   • Students in locked seats remain in place
   • Priority seats (marked with a star) are filled first
   • Remaining students are randomly assigned to non-priority seats

Sorting the Student Roster

1. In the roster panel, click ↕ Sort by First to sort students by their first names
2. Click ↕ Sort by Last to sort students by their last names
3. The active sort method will be highlighted in green

Creating Student Groups

1. Click the 👥 Create Groups button
2. Enter the number of students per group when prompted
3. If the number of students doesn't divide evenly, you'll be presented with options:
   • Standard Groups Only: Creates equal-sized groups with some students unassigned
   • Smaller Groups: Creates some groups with fewer students than specified
   • Larger Groups: Creates some groups with more students than specified
4. A popup will display the groups with student names
5. Click 🔄 Shuffle Groups to create a new random grouping with the same settings
6. Click anywhere outside the popup to close it

Grouping Desks

Desk grouping allows you to move and rotate multiple desks together:

1. Click the 🔗 Group Desks button to enter grouping mode
2. Click on individual desks to select them (they will be highlighted with a green border)
3. When you've selected all the desks for your group, click ✓ Finish Grouping
4. The selected desks are now grouped together:
   • Moving one desk in the group will move all grouped desks together
   • A rotation handle will appear above the group for rotating all desks simultaneously
   • An "Ungroup" button will appear above the first desk in the group
5. To ungroup desks, click the Ungroup button

The extension provides a fair way to randomly call on students during class:

1. Click the 📢 Call on Student button
2. A student name will be randomly selected and displayed in a large overlay
3. The selected student is marked as "called" in the roster (indicated with a checkmark)
4. Subsequent uses of the "Call on Student" button will only select from students who haven't been called yet
5. When all students have been called, a message will indicate that all students have been selected
6. Click the 🔄 Reset Calls button to clear all call records and start fresh

Layout Templates

Templates save only the physical arrangement of desks and objects (without student assignments):

1. Set up your desk and object arrangement
2. Click Save Template
3. Enter a name for your template when prompted
4. To load a template:
   • Click Load Template
   • A dialog will display all saved templates
   • Click Load next to the template you want to use
   • If you have existing student assignments, the system will attempt to maintain them in the new layout
5. To delete a template:
   • Click Load Template to open the template list
   • Click the "×" button next to the template you want to delete
   • Confirm the deletion when prompted

Complete Seating Charts

Save full seating charts including student assignments, labels, and called status:

1. After creating your complete seating arrangement, click 💾 Save Chart
2. Enter a name for the seating chart when prompted
3. To load a saved chart:
   • Click 📂 Load Chart
   • A dialog will display all saved charts with details on when they were last updated
   • Click Load next to the chart you want to use
   • If the chart is for a different class, you'll be prompted to switch to that class
   • The complete seating arrangement with all student assignments will be restored
4. To delete a chart:
   • Click 📂 Load Chart to open the chart list
   • Click the "×" button next to the chart you want to delete
   • Confirm the deletion when prompted

1. Click the 🖨️ Print Chart button
2. In the dialog that appears, check the boxes for the class(es) you want to print
3. Click Print Selected
4. Your browser's print dialog will open
5. The printed chart will include:
   • The classroom name as a title
   • The student roster on the left side
   • The seating arrangement with student names and labels
   • All room objects with their labels
6. Adjust printer settings as needed (landscape orientation is recommended)
7. Click "Print" to print your seating chart

The extension allows you to print desk label cards that can be cut out and placed on physical desks in your classroom:

1. Create and assign desk labels to your seating chart (see Working with Desk Labels)
2. Click the 🖨️ Print Chart button
3. In the dialog that appears, select the Desk Label Cards option
4. Click Print Selected
5. In the desk label printing dialog:
   • Choose a label size from the dropdown (Small, Medium, or Large)
   • Check the "Include student names on labels" box if you want names to appear on the cards
   • Review the preview of labels that will be printed in the grid below
6. Click Print Labels to send the labels to your printer
7. The printed labels will include:
   • The desk label (number, letter, playing card, or shape)
   • Optionally, the student's name assigned to that desk
   • Dashed cutting lines around each label

Zoom Controls

Zoom controls help you navigate large seating arrangements:

• Use the + and − buttons to zoom in and out
• The current zoom level is displayed between these buttons (e.g., "100%")
• Click Reset to return to the default zoom level (100%)
• You can also hold Ctrl (or ⌘ Cmd on Mac) and use the mouse wheel to zoom
• Your zoom level is saved with each classroom

Display Mode

Display mode provides a clean view for presenting your seating chart:

1. Click the eye icon (👁️) in the controls to toggle display mode
2. Display mode hides all control elements:
   • Delete buttons
   • Rotation handles
   • Priority and lock buttons
   • Drag handles
3. This creates a cleaner view for presentations or when sharing your screen
4. Click the eye icon again to exit display mode

Undo and Redo

• Click the undo button (⟲) to revert the last action
• Click the redo button (⟳) to reapply an undone action
• The extension maintains a history of up to 50 states
• Disabled (grayed-out) buttons indicate when you've reached the beginning or end of your history

Switching Between Classes

1. Use the dropdown menu at the top of the roster panel to select a different class
2. Your seating arrangements are saved separately for each class
3. The extension automatically detects which class you're currently viewing in Google Classroom

Managing Students

1. To add a student:
   • Use the "Enter student name" field at the bottom of the roster panel
   • Type the student's name and click + Add Student or press Enter
2. To edit a student's name:
   • Click on the student's name in the roster
   • Edit the name in the text field that appears
   • Press Enter to save changes
3. To remove a student:
   • Hover over the student's name in the roster
   • Click the "×" button that appears
   • Confirm the deletion when prompted

Deleting a Class

1. Select the class you want to delete from the dropdown menu
2. Click the Delete Current Class button in the roster panel
3. Confirm the deletion when prompted
4. All data for that class will be permanently removed from both local storage and cloud sync

Clearing All Data

1. Click the Clear Saved Data button in the roster panel
2. Read the warning message carefully
3. Confirm the deletion when prompted

The Seating Chart Generator uses two types of storage to save your data:

Local Storage

• By default, all your seating charts, templates, and classroom data are saved to your browser's local storage
• This data remains on your current device and is accessible even when you're offline
• Local storage has a limit of approximately 5MB per domain, which is usually sufficient for most classroom setups
• Clearing your browser cache or using incognito mode may affect access to your local data

Cloud Synchronization

To access your seating charts across multiple devices, the extension offers cloud synchronization:

1. To save your current data to the cloud, click the ☁️ Sync button
2. This uploads your data to Chrome's sync storage, which is tied to your Google account
3. When using a different device:
   • Install the extension and sign in to Chrome with the same Google account
   • Click the ⬇️ Load from Cloud button to download your synced data

Sync Issues

If you encounter problems with cloud sync:

1. Try clicking ⬇️ Load from Cloud to refresh your local data from the cloud
2. If that doesn't work, try clicking ☁️ Sync again to upload your local data
3. If you see an error message, it may indicate that your data is too large for sync storage:
   • Try removing unnecessary classes or simplifying your layouts
   • Divide complex layouts into multiple templates
4. In extreme cases, you may need to click Clear Saved Data and start fresh, but this should be a last resort

Import Problems

If student import isn't working:

1. Make sure you're on the "People" tab in Google Classroom
2. Ensure student names are visible on the page (scroll down if needed)
3. Try refreshing the page and importing again
4. As a workaround, you can manually add students using the "Add Student" function

Layout Issues

If desks or objects aren't displaying correctly:

1. Try using the zoom controls to adjust the view
2. Click the undo button (⟲) to revert recent changes
3. If problems persist, try loading a different template or chart
4. As a last resort, you can reload the page to reset the interface (your saved data will remain intact)

If the Extension Disappears

1. Click the maximize button (☐) in the top-right corner of the screen
2. If that's not visible, refresh the page and click the extension icon again
3. Check if the extension is enabled in your Chrome extensions menu

• All data is stored locally in your browser's storage or in your personal Chrome sync account
• No student data is sent to any external servers
• The extension only operates on classroom.google.com domains
• No analytics or telemetry features are included in the extension
• Clearing browser data will remove all locally stored seating charts
• Using "Clear Saved Data" will permanently delete all class data saved in local storage, but will preserve your saved templates and charts

Data Storage Details

• Class Layouts: Desk positions, object positions, and student assignments
• Layout Templates: Desk and object arrangements without student information
• Complete Charts: Full seating assignments, labels, and classroom configurations