New to Boom and don't know where to start? This article will take you step-by-step through the basics of navigating and using Boom as a student or the parent of a student.
If you are unfamiliar with any of the terms used here, you can find a list of common Boom terminology and definitions here: Boom Learning Terminology - Helpful Definitions which will help orient you or act as a reference any time you need clarification.
Table of Contents
Student Login
There are a number of ways students can play Boom Cards. Teachers may assign a deck of Boom Cards with a Fast Pin, send a Hyperlink, or they may create a student account on Boom and assign the decks there. Parents should take a look at our FAQ on Logging in and Understanding Progress Reports for details on how to log students in.
Students should ask their teacher how they should be logging in to play Boom Cards. Students who are already in Google Classrooms will usually use Google Sign In to access assigned decks of Boom Cards.
Letters addressed to students and parents with instructions to sign in are linked below including:
How to sign in with Boom!
How to sign in using Picture Passwords
How to sign in with Google
How to sign in with Microsoft
How to sign in with Clever
Student Account Tour
Once you've logged on, you'll notice three tabs at the top of your page.
The Assignments tab is where you will find any and all of the decks your teacher assigns to you. Once you start playing through decks of Boom Cards, you will also see gems, lightning bolts, and grades here. We'll talk about those later in this guide.
Below that, you'll see your Classroom List followed by a list of the decks assigned to you. Next to your assigned decks, you'll find your progress on a deck as well as the number of gems you have earned from it so far.
Your Notebook tab is where you can keep track of cards you want to come back and look at again later. If you want to save a card to review it later, you can give it a star. Any time you "star" a card, it will be added to your Notebook tab. The star box can be found on the right side of a Boom Card. The box will be blue with a white star in it until you click it.
When you click it, the box will turn yellow, so you know that it's been added to your Notebook tab.
For more information on how to use your Notebook, see our FAQ on Using the Notebook Feature.
The My Settings tab is where you will find all your profile information including the classes you're in and your teachers for each of those classes. You can click on the picture in the circle at the top to change your profile picture. Below that, you'll see the nickname your teacher gave you in Boom (shown below as "Student"). If your teacher has allowed you to, you can click on that name to change it. This name is what your teacher and you will see; it is not the same as the username used to log in.
You will also see the red "Sign Out" button on both your Assignments and Settings tabs, so you can easily log off.
Playing Boom Cards
Find the decks assigned to you by logging in and going to your "Assignments" page.
Boom Cards are all about interaction. There can be different elements on a card that you can click/tap on, drag around, listen to, or even type an answer into. If you have questions about a deck you have been assigned, ask your parent or your teacher for help.
You can save your work and quit any time you need. You can also play a deck as many times as you want until your teacher un-assigns it.
For information about changing sound settings in a deck, check out: How to change or turn off feedback sounds (Ting and Whoops)
Boom Card Scores and Grades
Boom Cards give students instant feedback as they play through the deck. As soon as you select an answer, you'll find out if it was the right one or not. You can also see your scores on any deck that is currently assigned to you.
Students can see how they are doing overall at the top of their "Assignments" page. Correct answers earn students gems, and every deck in the assignment list below will show a score right next to it.
As soon as you try playing a deck, a green circle will show up next to the deck in your Assignments list. The light green circle fills up with dark green as you play through the deck. When you've finished a deck, you'll see a checkmark inside the dark green circle.
Every right answer earns you gems. You'll see a blue circle next to the green one. Inside the blue circle will be the number of gems you've earned out of the total number of gems you could get from that deck. You can play a deck many times until you earn all of the gems.
The FAQ on Logging in and Understanding Progress Reports covers understanding this progress and performance data in more detail. You can also find more information on how Students earn Coins, Gems, and Pulses (also known as Lightning Bolts) here as well as how to use those coins.
Troubleshooting
If you're having trouble logging into a student account, please reach out to your teacher to check that you have the right username and password. In some cases, the teacher may need to update a password or make a username easier to remember.
For security reasons, you may wish to choose your own password once you've logged into your new student account; you'll find instructions on how to Change your own password here.
If you're having trouble playing Boom Cards on your device, please check that you meet the necessary Technical Specifications here and reach out to your teacher or IT for support.
How can you see the score you got on a deck you played that's no longer in your list of Decks Assigned? Once a teacher un-assigns a deck, it will no longer appear in the list. If you want to see the number of gems you got on that deck or check that you fully completed a deck, ask your teacher to reassign the deck to you.
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If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us at [email protected] or call us at (833) WOW-BOOM. A real human will happily help you!