Quiet Builders
A quiet work timer for the board, made for K–2 independent work. Each quiet minute, Sparky's crane adds one block to today's build, and every finished build joins your class town.
- Free
- Board
- K–2
- No sign-up
A quiet work timer that never takes anything away
A 2nd grade teacher asked for something to keep her class quiet during independent work, with no distractions and a reward for staying focused. In Quiet Builders, every quiet minute adds one block. When voices get too loud, the crane waits and the clock pauses. No blocks fall, and nothing is lost: the class just needs to quiet down to keep building. A build has one block for each minute of today's goal, so as your class's goal grows, the town grows from tents to castles. There's no noise meter on screen, and it works with or without a microphone.
How Quiet Builders works
Set today's goal and pick a build
Set a goal from 3 to 30 minutes. A new class starts at 5. Quiet Builders offers three blueprints sized to that goal, and your class votes on one. Longer goals unlock bigger builds, from a tent or a lemonade stand up to a rocket or a city hall.
Teach the crane your room
In 20 seconds, the crane learns what your room sounds like: 10 seconds of silence, then 10 seconds of everyone whisper-reading. Then choose how quiet work time should be: Silent, Whisper or Partner voices. If you're meeting with a small group, Partner voices lets you talk at your table.
Build one block for each quiet minute
Press Start building. While the room stays at the voice level you chose, the crane lowers one block every minute. A cough, a dropped book or a scraped chair won't stop it. When talking goes on for a few seconds, Sparky holds up a sign, the crane waits and the clock pauses. Once the room has been quiet for 2 seconds, building starts again.
Add the build to your class town
When the class reaches the goal, the roof goes on. Press Done to see the minutes of focus, the number of waits and the longest quiet stretch. If the class met its goal, Quiet Builders offers one more minute next time. Finished builds join your class town. An unfinished build is saved, and your class picks it up next time.
What's in Quiet Builders
A town and a stamina chart that grow all year
Every finished build joins one street, and every 10th build adds a landmark like a park or a fountain. Under the town, the stamina chart has a bar for each session's minutes of focus and a mark for that day's goal. Open it as a table, or print it for conferences.
Run it from the keyboard
Every control has a key. Pause listening while you talk to the whole class, and it starts listening again on its own after 5 minutes. Without a mic, press P when the room gets too loud. In Chrome and Edge, Pop out puts Quiet Builders in a small window that stays on top of Google Slides, Canva or Spotify.
- Space
- Pause listening
- P
- Too loud, or back to building
- M
- Calm music
- F
- Full screen
- Esc
- Close a panel
Built for the classroom
- No mic? Turn on Use without a mic, and blocks still go up every minute. Press Too loud (P) when the room gets noisy.
- Calm music from Calming Classroom Music plays inside Quiet Builders, and it turns down when the room gets loud.
- Students never see a noise meter. The crane just waits.
- Each class has its own goal, voice level, town and chart.
- If the page reloads during work time, Quiet Builders picks the session back up.
- Save to file keeps a copy of every class town, and Open file brings it back on another computer.
The crane listens for loudness only
Quiet Builders measures how loud the room is on the computer itself. Sound is never recorded and never leaves that computer. There are no accounts and no student names. Your classes, towns and charts are saved only in the browser on that computer.
Quiet Builders questions
What is Quiet Builders?
A free quiet work timer for the classroom board. Each quiet minute, Sparky's crane adds one block to today's build, and finished builds join a class town that grows all year.
What grades is it for?
Quiet Builders is made for kindergarten through 2nd grade independent work time. Older classes can use it with longer goals, up to 30 minutes.
What happens when the class gets loud?
The crane waits, Sparky holds up a sign with your voice level, and the clock pauses. There's no alarm and no flashing, and no blocks are taken away. Once the room has been quiet for 2 seconds, the crane starts building again.
Will a cough or a dropped book stop the crane?
No. The crane only waits when the room stays loud for a few seconds, like when students start talking. Short sounds such as a cough, a dropped book or a chair scraping are ignored.
Does it work without a microphone?
Yes. Choose No mic when you start, or turn on Use without a mic in Settings. Blocks still go up every quiet minute, and you press Too loud (P) when the room gets noisy.
Is the microphone recording my class?
No. Quiet Builders only measures how loud the room is, on the computer itself. Sound is never recorded or sent anywhere.
Can I play music while students work?
Yes. Turn on Calm music to play calm instrumental music in four styles, and the music turns down when the room gets loud. If your music plays from Spotify or YouTube instead, turn on Music is playing from another app in Settings, and the crane relearns the room with your music on.
Can I use it with Google Slides or Canva on the board?
Yes, in Chrome and Edge. Press Pop out, and Quiet Builders moves to a small window that stays on top of other tabs and apps. Keep the Quiet Builders tab open while the window is out.
Do students need accounts?
No. Quiet Builders runs on the teacher's computer, with no accounts or sign-ins for you or your students.
Tell us how your class builds
Send an idea, a bug or the build your class wants next. Every message goes to the Flint team that built Quiet Builders.
