Classroom Best Practice Guide

This guide pulls together the most important best practices for running Securly Classroom well, from first-day deployment through day-to-day teaching, web access management, and troubleshooting. Each section links to the detailed how-to articles so you can go deeper wherever you need to.

1. Get the foundation right before students arrive

A smooth Classroom experience starts with a clean deployment. Roster data and agents should be in place before the first class session so teachers see the right students on day one.

• Plan your deployment. Review How To Deploy Securly Classroom to choose the right path for your device fleet.

• Deploy the agent for every platform you support. Use the Chrome extension for Chromebooks, the Windows agent MSI (or push it with Microsoft Intune), and the macOS agent. Always verify the install before go-live.

• Automate rostering with your SIS. Connect a OneRoster provider so classes and enrollments stay current automatically — see the OneRoster SIS Providers Overview. Manual classes are great for clubs and ad-hoc groups (How to manually create a class).

• Assign admin rights deliberately. Give org-admin access only to staff who manage settings district-wide — see How to Assign Organization Admin Rights.

2. Harden student Chromebooks so monitoring can't be bypassed

Classroom can only see what the device lets it see. On managed Chromebooks, lock down the settings students use to slip past monitoring in the Google Admin Console (these are Google policies, not Securly settings) so your Classroom and Filter coverage holds up. Apply these to your student org unit under Devices > Chrome > Settings > Users & Browsers.

• Disable the Crosh / terminal. The Chrome OS developer shell (Crosh) and the Terminal app let technical students poke at the device and work around oversight. Turn these off for student org units — they are commonly missed because they aren't covered in the standard Classroom setup docs.

• Turn off Incognito mode. Set Incognito mode to Disallow so browsing always happens in a monitored, filterable context. This is the most common Filter/Classroom cross-over request.

• Remove unneeded system features. In the User Experience section, use Disabled System Features to switch off apps students don't need for class (for example Camera, Gallery, or Calculator) so there are fewer off-task distractions. This control requires ChromeOS v84 or higher; if a setting doesn't take effect, confirm the policy is applied to the device's org unit and force a policy refresh before assuming it's broken.

• Prevent agent removal. Force-install the Securly extension (rather than allowing it) and block students from disabling or removing extensions, so the Classroom agent can't be turned off mid-class.

If you also run Securly Filter, the Filter Securly Best Practices Guide for Chromebooks covers these same Google Admin hardening steps in more depth and pairs well with this guide.

3. Set classes and teachers up for success

• Confirm rosters early. Check that each class shows the correct students and teachers before instruction starts, and fix mismatches now rather than mid-lesson.

• Plan for shared classes. If multiple teachers share a room or co-teach, set up co-teaching so everyone has visibility into the same class session.

• Onboard teachers with the basics. New teachers should start with How do I get started using Securly Classroom? and the video guides for teachers. Admins can use the admin video guides.

4. Run an effective class session

Classroom works best when teachers actively use live views during instruction instead of only reacting to problems.

• Start a session for the class you are teaching. Only monitor while class is in session so students keep privacy outside of instructional time.

• Use Screen View and Tab View together. Thumbnails give you an at-a-glance read of the room; Tab View shows exactly what sites and apps are open so you can spot drift quickly.

• Capture evidence when needed. You can take a screenshot of a student's screen to document an issue for a follow-up conversation.

5. Keep students on task — escalate gently

The best results come from the lightest intervention that works. Move up only as needed. See What to do when a student is off task for the full playbook.

• Start with a private nudge. Send a one-on-one Chat message before doing anything more disruptive.

• Use Announce for the whole class when several students need a reset.

• Focus attention by pushing a URL to student devices or freezing screens for a transition.

• Block distractions for the session when a site keeps pulling focus (next section).

6. Manage web and app access intentionally

• Block in the moment. Teachers can block websites during a class session without changing district policy.

• Use Access Plans for repeatable lessons. Build reusable allow/block sets with Access Plans so a test or research day is one click.

• Know the difference: Web Links vs Global Allow Lists. Admins should read Managing Web Links vs Global Allow Lists and pre-load Predefined Web Links so teachers have ready-made options.

• Avoid over-blocking. When using allow-only plans, account for dependencies and wildcards so legitimate resources (logins, CDNs) still load. On Windows, you can also block specific applications.

7. Use oversight and collaboration tools

• Co-teach and monitor across classes where your school allows it, so coverage continues when a teacher is out.

• Review class history to coach students and inform parent or admin conversations with concrete context.

8. Troubleshooting quick reference

Most live-class issues trace back to agent installation, network access, or identity matching. Start here:

• Screen View won't load: What to do if Screen View is not working and Share Screen not working — Port and Server access.

• Students offline or duplicated: Resolving students appearing offline or having duplicate accounts, often related to username matching.

• Agent or install errors: Troubleshooting MSI installations and Windows and macOS agent errors.

9. Keep building your skills

Classroom rewards consistent, intentional use. Revisit the teacher video guides and share this best-practice guide with new staff each year so every classroom starts strong.