When I mention using color in the classroom, people often think I’m talking about how certain hues might influence student moods or behaviors. While that’s one perspective, it’s still under debate, and not everyone perceives color in the same way. (Here’s a great chart to reference).
What I’m really focusing on is the strategic use of color to enhance the student experience and make lessons more organized. When color is applied thoughtfully, it does more than just brighten up a worksheet or slideshow—it can guide students’ attention, help them process information more effectively, and even improve retention. By assigning specific colors to different steps or sections, you can create visual cues that clearly indicate transitions and reduce confusion. This is where color truly shines: as a tool that helps students navigate and engage with classroom content.
Here’s what I would do in class:
Think about each segment of class – your Do Now, Independent Practice, Partner Practice, Mastery Check, etc. You may have different names for these, but you get my jist.
When students would walk in, the Do Now instructions would be ready for them on my smart board (check out this video on crafting the perfect entry slide).
The entire slide would be a bold blue. Then when they opened their laptops to begin the activity – sometimes it was a google forms quiz, sometimes it was just a brainstorming exercise in a Google Doc – that activity would also be heavy on the blue.
Each segment of class would have this same color correlation. So, when we transitioned to partner work, the screen was orange, and their work was orange, too.
It made it so easy for me to easily see who was on track, who hadn’t started, or who might be skipping ahead. Forget being a help to me as the teacher, it was more than anything a huge support for students. I firmly believe that no student comes to school each day intending to have a bad day. Instead, it’s the small, often overlooked experiences that add up and can leave them feeling discouraged or unsuccessful. So, when a student realizes on their own that their screen doesn’t match their neighbor’s and fixes it right away — instead of waiting for the teacher to step in — that small moment of independence can have a big impact on their day. Especially once they’re moving from one class to another. Just imagine if an entire grade level used this same system!
When I was designing Stickity, I really wanted to embrace this same color strategy. That’s why you can’t simply switch sticker colors — if students know to look for that yellow instructions flag or the green/orange/red feedback stickers, they’ll naturally stay on track.
It’s also why I made sure that most stickers match the Google default color palette. So, for example, when you’re using clear steps for an important process, you can change the text or the background to match that color of the step icon. It’s a huge benefit for every student—and you’ll often see it written right into IEPs — because it’s essentially visual chunking with color.
If I were still in the classroom, here are some ways I would take advantage of Stickity with a strong color strategy:
The Instructions flag is always yellow. The vocabulary flag is always teal. Use that to your advantage by highlighting key words in that same teal color, or always housing instructions in a yellow box.
The Steps icons are all associated with colors ready for you in the Google default color palette. Make each step in an important process “louder” by making the background color or text color that same matching tone.
Same goes for acronyms. Consider something like A.C.E.S. – attach a color to each step. It’ll help students remember the order, I promise. Maybe have them highlight each parts of their response to correspond with that letter while you’re practicing this skill!
My science teachers and my math teachers - color has been built right in to your important graphics like the 5 E’s and PEMDAS. Use this to your advantage and build out your activities to match! Just like the class segment example from my own classroom, something like this could help you manage progress, and students self-monitor as well.
I love this post!