SchoolAI Platform: Getting Started

Step 1: Sign up free

Go to schoolai.com and create an educator account — it is free, no credit card required. Pro tip: sign up with your school email address, not a personal one, so a future district upgrade or Team plan maps to the right account without migration headaches.

Step 2: Tour the dashboard

Before building anything, click through the three areas you will live in: the Spaces library (premade activities), Mission Control (the live monitoring dashboard), and the content tools. Knowing where Mission Control lives matters — you will want it open on a second tab or your teacher device during every student session. Pro tip: bookmark the Mission Control view now; during class you will not want to hunt for it.

Step 3: Pick your first Space

Browse the 200,000+ premade Spaces by subject and grade level, or search for your current topic. For your first run, choose a low-stakes activity — a review game, a brainstorming partner, a practice quiz — not a graded assessment. Pro tip: read a Space’s description and its default instructions before assigning; premade does not mean perfect for your class.

Step 4: Write the guardrails

This is the most important step. Edit the Space’s instructions to define Dot’s role (“you are a Socratic tutor”), the topic boundaries, how it should respond when a student is stuck (hint vs. answer), the reading level, and what to do with off-topic questions. Vague instructions produce vague tutoring. Pro tip: steal from the Space Setup prompts on this site — they are written in exactly the format SchoolAI expects.

Step 5: Set grade, subject, and language

Configure the Space for your grade level and subject so Dot pitches explanations correctly. If you have multilingual learners, note that Dot supports 60+ languages — you can allow students to interact in their strongest language while the content stays on your topic. Pro tip: when in doubt, set the level slightly below your class average; students would rather feel the AI “gets” them than be talked over.

Step 6: Preview as a student

Run through the Space yourself before any student sees it. Try to break it: ask off-topic questions, demand the final answer, type nonsense, test edge cases your students will absolutely try. If Dot handles your abuse gracefully, it will handle theirs. Pro tip: do this preview at least once per new Space — instructions that look fine on paper often need one round of tightening.

Step 7: Share the join code

Each Space generates a join code. Project it on the board, post it in Google Classroom, or print it on a half-sheet. Students enter the code — no accounts, no passwords, no “I forgot my login” delays. Pro tip: generate a fresh code per class period if you want separate Mission Control views per section.

Step 8: Run the activity

First 10 minutes matter most. Model one interaction on the board — show students what a good first message looks like and what Dot will and will not do. State your expectations out loud: this is practice, not a shortcut, and you can see the transcripts. Then let them work while you watch Mission Control. Pro tip: telling students upfront that you can read every conversation prevents 90% of misuse attempts.

Step 9: Review Mission Control

During or right after the session, read through the transcripts. Look for patterns, not just individuals: which misconceptions came up repeatedly? Who was silent? Who raced ahead? This is your formative assessment, already done for you. Pro tip: screenshot one great student exchange and one revealing misconception — they are gold for tomorrow’s warm-up and for your pilot evidence folder.

Step 10: Iterate and save

Tweak the Space instructions based on what you saw — tighten a guardrail, clarify a prompt, adjust the level. Save the Space to your library for next year and share it with colleagues; good Spaces are reusable assets. Pro tip: keep a one-line note on each saved Space (“worked well for factoring, too easy for honors”) — future you will thank present you.

Common first-timer mistakes

• Skipping the student preview. The number one cause of chaotic first sessions. Ten minutes of preview saves forty minutes of classroom firefighting.
• Instructions that are too vague. “Be a helpful tutor” is not a guardrail. Specify the role, the topic fence, the stuck-student protocol, and the reading level.
• Making the first activity high-stakes. Never debut a new tool on a graded assessment. Low-stakes practice first, always.
• Checking Mission Control days later. The dashboard’s value is immediacy — misconceptions found tomorrow are reteach opportunities missed today.