Avatars are fun characters that show on student buttons in place of, or alongside, student photos. Students can spend points to pick their own avatar and style it with hats, sunglasses and frames.
Turn On Avatars for Your School
Who can do this: Administrators and Site Leaders.
Go to Points > Settings.
Find Photos & avatars and open the dropdown.
Choose an option:
Teacher choice (Recommended): each teacher picks photos or avatars for their class.
Photos: student photos, or initials if there is no photo.
Avatars: avatars for all students.
Set per grade...: choose photos, avatars or no pictures for each grade, and which avatar styles each grade uses.
No pictures: just names on student buttons.
When avatars are on for any grade, an Avatar styles setting appears below. Each student gets one style from the styles you choose. At least one style must stay selected.
Changes save right away.
Turn On Avatars on Your Own Board
Once your school turns avatars on, each teacher turns them on for their own board. The first time a teacher opens Points after avatars are on, they see an Introducing avatars pop-up. Click Turn on avatars. Until a teacher does this, their student buttons keep showing photos (or initials) instead of avatars.
Administrators and Site Leaders see a similar question, Show avatars on your board?, with a Turn on avatars button.
Shuffle, Remove or Bring Back an Avatar
Teachers can manage a student's avatar right from the Points screen.
Go to Points and hover over a student's avatar.
Click the small pencil in the corner of the avatar.
Choose an option:
Shuffle avatar: gives the student a new avatar. Click Shuffle to confirm. Then use Shuffle again to keep trying, or Previous to go back.
Remove avatar: hides the student's avatar. They show their photo or initials instead.
Enable avatar: appears after an avatar is removed. It brings back the same avatar the student had.
These changes apply to the student in every class, not just yours. The same options are also on the student's page in Setup.
Add Avatar Rewards to a Store
Go to Rewards and open your store.
Click New Reward in any category.
Choose Digital reward.
Pick a reward, set its price and how long it lasts, and save.
Pick your avatar
Students choose their favorite character as their avatar.
School store only. It cannot be added to a teacher's class store.
The new avatar shows everywhere, not just in one class.
Lasts for is No time limit by default, so the avatar stays until the student changes it. If you choose A set time, the student goes back to their original avatar when the time is up.
Avatars must be turned on for at least one grade. Students in grades without avatars, or whose avatar was removed, cannot buy it.
Style your avatar (Style pass)
Students add hats, sunglasses and frames to their picture.
Works on photos too. At schools that show photos and no avatars, it is called Style your photo.
Can go in the school store or a teacher's class store. A style from the school store shows in every class. A style from a class store shows only in that teacher's class.
It is a pass. Lasts for is 1 week by default, and you can change it or choose No time limit. While the pass is on, students can change their style as often as they like for free. Buying it again adds more time.
When the pass ends, the style stops showing but is saved, so it comes back if the student buys another pass.
Students in a grade set to No pictures cannot buy it.
Pick your point sound
Students pick the sound that plays every time they earn a point. It lasts 1 week by default.
What Students See
On their portal home, students click their picture to open Customize your avatar (or Customize your photo). It shows the avatar rewards your school store sells, the price, and how many more points they need. From there they jump straight into the shop to pick or style their avatar.
FAQ
I turned on avatars but a teacher still sees photos. Why?
Each teacher turns avatars on for their own board. Ask them to click Turn on avatars in the Introducing avatars pop-up on the Points screen.
Why is Shuffle avatar grayed out?
The student has a custom avatar, either one they picked or one with a style on it. Custom avatars cannot be shuffled. You can still use Remove avatar.
Why is Pick your avatar grayed out in the Digital reward picker?
Avatars are not turned on for any grade yet. An Administrator or Site Leader can turn them on in Points > Settings > Photos & avatars.
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