Many years ago I designed a Jamboard activity to help my students develop a daily habit of gratitude. Unfortunately, Google decided to sunset Jamboard, so that lesson is no longer usable.

After doing quite a bit of research I decided to start using Figjam to replace Jamboard. Figjam is very similar to Jamboard, with lots of extra features and classroom management tools.

Figjam is completely free for teachers and students. You can sign up by visiting figma.com/education.

Related Post: Convert your Jamboard Lessons to Figjam

Practice gratefulness with Figjam

My Figjam gratefulness template features four discussion questions and a collection of sticky notes. Students select a sticky note (you can add as many as you need), type their response, and place their note on the board.

Use the button below to make a copy of my template and customize it to fit your classroom.

The goal of this activity is to engage students with open ended questions and encourage them to reflect on the people and experience that have shaped their experience.

Advanced discussion features

Figjam has some great classroom management features. Once you are comfortable with the basics, start exploring these advanced features.

• Timer / Music – Look in the top right corner of the Figjam canvas to set up your class timer and music. This is a good way to keep students focused and on-task.
• Lock an object – right click on any item and select “lock” to prevent it from being moved or deleted.
• Show / hide frame – When I create multi-day activities, I group each element in a frame. This lets me hide future activities until I am ready for students to begin. In this lesson, I only reveal one question at a time.
• Version history – just like Google Drive, Figjam features a detailed edit history which allows you to hold students accountable for inappropriate comments.
• Stickers – Students can add “stickers” to like and hear classmate contributions. Just lock for the stamp icon on the Figjam toolbar.

Figjam + Google Classroom

Adding this Figjam template to Google Classroom is the easiest way to give your students access. Check out this video for tips on how to assign a Figjam file through Google Classroom.

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