✦ GUIDE · SEPTEMBER 2026

How to set up a classroom points system

A points system is simple to start and easy to let fade. These are the decisions worth making on day one, whether you run it on paper, in a spreadsheet or on the class screen. We make Learnify, and it comes in at the end.

Six decisions, in order

  1. What earns a point

    Pick four to six reasons you want more of: homework in on time, teamwork, a great idea, helping someone, a real try at something hard. Keep the list short enough that the class can say it back to you.

  2. Whether anything costs a point

    Some teachers never take points away. Others keep a short “needs work” list, like late, off task or no homework. Either can work if it is the same every day and the class knows the list.

  3. Small and visible

    One point at a time, given in the moment, where the class can see it. A point that lands during the lesson says more than a total read out on Friday.

  4. Somewhere for the points to go

    A number that only goes up is easy to stop noticing. Give it a shape: levels, a class goal the whole room works toward, or teams that compete over a few weeks.

  5. Fair to the quiet ones

    Give points for effort and progress, not only for the fastest hand. If a student has gone a week without one, look for a real reason to give it.

  6. What the class sees

    A board everyone can see can turn into a ranking. Decide up front whether you show who is on top, and use first names or nicknames.

Paper, spreadsheet or class screen

A paper chart

Nothing to set up and always on the wall. You update it by hand, which is hard to keep up with during a busy lesson.

A spreadsheet

The totals add themselves. The class does not see it during the lesson unless you project it.

An app on the class screen

One tap gives points, the class sees them land, and the totals keep themselves. It needs a laptop and a screen the class can see.

How Learnify runs it

You set your own reasons on two tabs, positive and needs work, each with its own number of points. One tap gives a student that reason's points during the lesson, and they land on the class screen for everyone to see.

Points fill levels. Every level-up changes the student's character one stage, ten stages per rank, and the ranks keep going (how the characters grow). The same points power the whole-class games: boss hunts, squad seasons and races (how a boss battle works).

The teacher decides what the class sees: the top-3 badges and sorting by level switch off, and last names can be hidden. Points and attendance keep working offline and sync when the wifi comes back.

Questions

Do students need accounts or devices?

No. There are no student logins, emails or passwords. You add first names or nicknames and run everything from your screen.

Is it free?

Yes, for one class of up to 30 students, with the whole core toolkit: points, avatars, attendance, groups and behavior.

Run your points on the class screen

Free for one class of up to 30 students. Four minutes to set up, and your register is the only thing you bring.

Start free