The rules teachers actually need
- Keep apart: two students who shouldn't be in the same group.
- Keep together: a pair who need to stay together, for example for language support.
- Not neighbours: keep two students off tables next to each other.
- Lock to a table: a student who needs a particular seat, such as near the board.
- Maximum group size.
- Avoid previous partners and avoid repeating a table, for a whole class or one student.
- Balance a tag: spread students you have tagged yourself (for example “EAL” or “confident reader”) evenly across groups.
Must, Strong and Prefer
Every rule has a strength. Must rules are always kept. Strong rules are kept whenever possible, and Prefer rules are nice-to-haves that give way when they clash with something more important.
After each mix, MixMyClass tells you in plain words whether all Must rules were met and lists any preferences it couldn't meet, so nothing is broken behind your back.
When rules can't all be met
Sometimes rules contradict each other, for example two students who must be kept together and kept apart. Instead of quietly ignoring one, MixMyClass doesn't mix and explains which rules clash, so you can change them. If you drag a student by hand and break a Must rule, it warns you straight away.
Rules plus memory
Rules work alongside MixMyClass's memory of past lessons. Within your rules, it still prefers new partners and a different table each lesson, and reports how many repeat pairs each mix has.