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21 Oct 2025

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Teacher Takeover: How Kahoot! Ambassador, Steve, uses just one tool to teach routines, empower student autonomy, and celebrate class community

Kahoot! Ambassador, Steve Auslander keeps community and connection at the epicenter of his teaching approach and practice. Here’s how he’s using Kahoot! to stay connected with his students across the entire academic year.

Teacher Takeover: Using Kahoot! to bring together an entire school

Kahoot! Ambassador, Steve Auslander keeps community and connection at the epicenter of his teaching approach and practice. In all activities, events, and assignments – community is the main driver for planning and teaching. Over the last decade, Steve has relied on Kahoot! to weave connection and community into every part of the school day. Read on to learn what’s been inspiring, exciting, and impactful over the past years.

I teach at Allisonville Elementary School in Indiana, USA and our school mascot is a Gator…we are the Gators! At Allisonville, each student belongs to one of seven Gator Packs, almost like the house system at Hogwarts! Each year, we enjoy multiple schoolwide kahoots to inspire connection and community across the Gator Packs.

The back to school season is a wonderful time to establish a positive community across the entire school. A great way to do this is with positive and fun shared experiences—and that’s where Kahoot! comes in.

Back to school, back to Kahoot!

We review school-wide expectations and information about our Gator Packs, our mascot, our teachers, and other facts about our school. This kahoot is a great review for returning students, and important information for our new friends—and is always so much fun! Best of all, the live kahoot provides all of the students with a shared bonding experience. As this introductory kahoot involves many students of different ages, abilities, grade levels, and strengths, I keep several considerations in mind during the planning and preparation process. Here’s how:

  • Create a video stream link (my school uses Zoom) and share it with classroom teachers.
  • As teachers join this livestream, I use the “Screen Sharing” tool and launch a live kahoot.
  • The lobby shows a unique game pin and QR code and students join the kahoot from their classrooms using their individual Chromebooks.
    #KahootTip The youngest learners (Kindergarten and 1st grade students) play as a class instead of individually—this helps to scaffold independence with tech ability and literacy! To do so, the teacher polls their class and answers as a whole.
  • For students in grades 2 to 5, each joins independently and represents their Gator Packs!

Setting students up for success

Three students standing in front of screen with Kahoot podium

While some returning students may be familiar with the cadence and routine of a live kahoot, some new students and players may be engaging for the first time! Prior to this introductory session, I take time to review expectations and procedures for live play. With individual classes and groups of students, I discuss a few different elements of ‘lobby etiquette’.

For a school of hundreds of students, creating a common and standard format for nicknames is crucial! In such, I can track student performance and progress, and also identify students while maintaining anonymity across peers. This naming system has also inspired and encouraged my students to feel pride and purpose—they’re not only representing themselves, they’re representing their entire Gator Pack! While the format for nicknames is specific to each school year, I’d suggest a few different options:

  • Students pick their own nickname and also include the color of the students’ Gator Pack
    #KahootTip For the 2025 school year, my students followed this exact routine! My nickname would be Steve Green since I’m in the Green Pack.  A student named Hannah would be Hannah Purple if she was in the Purple Pack. 
  • Students use their nickname and their Homeroom teacher
  • Students use their Gator Pack and initials 

No matter what you’re Kahoot!’ing about…how you’re Kahoot!’ing, or even when you’re Kahoot!’ing, it’s a blast to have a shared experience.

Repeat, repeat, and repeat routines!

I’m a STEM and Technology teacher, and see classes of all different grade levels), I have the privilege of connecting with nearly every student in the building each week! This also allows me to reiterate, repeat, and review routines again and again so that students know what to expect, and how to engage, and when we’re officially live and playing! Here’s how I do it:

  • Briefly explain my Kahoot! sign in expectations on our live Student News broadcast before the event.
  • Email the staff directions beforehand, too. This way all teachers can troubleshoot with students rather than relying on me as the sole organizer.
  • During classes the week before, students practice signing in and joining the lobby.
    #KahootTip Rehearsing the login process helps to make the live kahoot much more efficient and supports time management during an already busy morning routine!

 

Adding Kahoot! to the school calendar

Of course, this back-to-school kahoot is just one of several school-wide kahooting events! Every January, I host kahoots across Book Buddy classrooms. At Allisonville, every 5th grade class is paired with a 1st grade class, while 4th is paired with a 2nd grade class, and 3rd with Kindergarten.

For this schoolwide kahoot, older students bring their Chromebooks with them to the younger students’ classrooms and pair up with their book buddy, then teachers match kids up in groups of two or three. To avoid any sense of disorganization or chaos, follow these reminders:

  • Be clear about how you want your students’ nicknames preemptively 
  • Use Team Mode (with one device per team) rather than each student joining individually. This way, each Book Buddy Team includes all student pairs 
  • Encourage the older book buddy to help teach and demonstrate this process with their younger buddy

Or, inspire autonomy and technology literacy for each student with Team Mode…one device per participant! 

  • Students are matched up based on their Gator Packs. 
  • Students are then paired, sharing a device between the couple
  • As the kahoot is launched, I create teams based on the different Gator Packs. 
  • As buddy pairs join the kahoot, they choose to join their Gator Pack Team.
    #KahootTip If students select the wrong Gator Pack, hosts can easily move participants and players from team to team

While students across Allisonville connect with their book buddy via Kahoot!, any format, function, and event is just another option for Kahoot!’ing. Consider how to pair and connect students based on classes, grade levels, areas of the building, or curriculum focuses—the options are limitless!

Using Kahoot! beyond one school and across the entire globe

Collage of pictures from the Kahoot! cup classrooms

Now in the ninth year of gameplay, Steve has brought school-wide kahoots far beyond the brick-and-mortar with the annual Kahoot! Cup, a celebrated annual event. Each year, students and teachers come together for a live, virtual, pop culture quiz tournament! Students from around the world represent their countries with flags, trophies, posters, and banners, engaging in a 30-question kahoot recapping trends, stories, and news from the year prior.

Waving across the live Zoom video screen, students across all ages, grades, and ability levels corral for a collaborative, competitive, and all-around awesome live event. In the years since the inaugural event, Steve has themed the Kahoot! Cup with a mantra of “more alike than we are different” driving group success while offering trivia that transcends language and culture, including topics like global events, pop culture, and shared traditions.

Mark your calendars! The 2025 Kahoot! Cup is happening soon and is scheduled for November 13, 2025. Register your class to join the live event and partake in an awesome exemplar of community and togetherness…both physically and virtually!

No matter what you’re Kahoot!’ing about…how you’re Kahoot!’ing, or even when you’re Kahoot!’ing, it’s a blast to have a shared experience. The collaboration across teams, groups, ages, and abilities allows our big school to feel more connected than ever before!

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