How to Use Contests in Vocab Loco

Contests let you motivate your class with a friendly competition based on Banked Words or Mastered Words. Set a goal, choose a prize, and watch your students push each other toward it — all while you track progress in real time from the monitor page.

Step 1: Go to Manage Contests

• From your Teacher Dashboard, click Contests in the left sidebar.
• Click Add new Contest to open the contest creation form.

Pro Tip: Use the Quick Start presets at the top of the form to prefill all settings with a popular contest format — you can still customize everything before saving.

Step 2: Set the contest goals

• In the first step of the form, configure the contest structure:
  • Goal based on — choose Banked Words (students earn credit by adding words to their Word Bank) or Mastered Words (credit for mastering words through practice).
  • Goal based on total effort of — choose Individual Effort (each student competes independently) or Classroom Effort (the class works together toward a combined total).
  • Goal — enter the target number of words students need to reach.
• Click Next Step to continue.

Step 3: Add the contest details

• Fill in the contest information:
  • Name Your Contest — give the contest a title students will see.
  • Contest starts at / Contest ends at — set the date range. Only words banked or mastered within these dates count toward the goal.
  • Student Groups — leave blank to include all students, or select specific groups to limit participation.
  • Short description — a brief summary shown on the contest card.
  • Contest Instructions — the full message students will read on the contest details page.
• Click the banner area to select or upload a custom cover image (1200×250px).
• Click Next Step to continue.

Step 4: Choose a prize

• Select how you want to reward winners:
  • Enter Your Prize — type a custom reward description, such as a pizza party or homework pass. Click any suggested option to insert it automatically.
  • Award Game Coins — use the slider to set a coin bonus (0–30 coins) that will be added directly to each winner's account.
• Click Save to create the contest. It goes live immediately with an Active status.

Step 5: Monitor the contest

• From the Contests page, click Monitor on any active contest card to open the monitor page.
• The monitor page shows:
  • Goal progress — overall completion percentage for classroom contests, or individual success rate for individual contests.
  • Time elapsed — a progress bar showing how much of the contest period has passed.
  • Results table — each student's word count, percentage of goal reached, and whether they've attained the goal.
• Click Details next to any student to see the full list of words they banked or mastered during the contest.
• To end the contest before the end date, click Close contest and confirm.

Step 6: Close the contest and select winners

• Once the contest closes, the status changes to Closed and checkboxes appear in the results table. Students who reached the goal are pre-selected.
• Review the selections — you can add or remove students as needed.
• Enter a Winner Message — a short congratulatory note that will appear in the student notifications.
• Click Confirm selected students as contest winners to finalize. Winners receive their prize notification and any game coins you set.
• If no students reached the goal, click Finalize without winners to close the contest.

Pro Tip: If the contest ends but you want to give students more time, click Reopen contest and set a new end date before finalizing.

Q: Can I edit a contest after it goes live?
A: Yes. Click Edit contest on the contest card to update the name, dates, description, or prize while the contest is still active.

Q: What's the difference between Individual Effort and Classroom Effort?
A: With Individual Effort, each student competes on their own and winners are determined individually. With Classroom Effort, all student totals are combined into a single class goal — the whole class wins or loses together.