1 · What is TA-Help.me?

TA-Help.me moves the asking of questions in your classroom to a digital queue. No more hands in the air: students put their question in a queue, and you see exactly who's next and what the question is about.

In a busy classroom, a lot of time is lost on the logistics of questions: who raised their hand first, who's been waiting the longest, and what was the question again? TA-Help.me takes that hassle off your hands, so you can spend your time teaching.

Students briefly type out their question and submit it. They can then simply carry on working instead of waiting with their hand up. On average, a student waits about 18 minutes before being helped. TA-Help.me makes that waiting time productive.

Why this works

Delayed attention

TA-Help.me supports the principle of delayed attention: students don't get help immediately, but in turn. That encourages patience, independence, and problem-solving skills. Students often solve their own question while they wait.

"When people come to observe my lessons, they often ask 'Is this class always this calm?' I answer that all my classes are this calm, thanks to TA-Help.me. Students ask their questions in the app and know they'll get their turn. They don't have to watch for when I have time, so they can keep working or start looking up the answer themselves." Heleen Kamphuis, Computer Science Teacher, Het Stedelijk

2 · How it works, in short

The system revolves around one simple step: a student asks a question, that question joins the queue, and you handle it in order.

TA-Help.me has three levels:

• Course: the overarching level per subject or class, which you set up once.
• List: a queue within a course, e.g. one for questions and one for sign-offs.
• Room: a temporary session that you create at the start of every lesson.

3 · Create an account & log in

Before you can create a course, you need a teacher account.

1. Go to the website. Open ta-help.me and click Login in the top right.
2. Register as a teacher. Click Create a new account and register with your (school) email address. Confirm your account via the email you receive.
3. Log in to your dashboard. From here you manage courses, view insights, and adjust settings.

4 · Setting up your course

A course is the overarching level in TA-Help.me: you create one per subject or class. This keeps questions and statistics separate. You do this once, as preparation. Once the course is set up, daily use only takes a few seconds.

Creating a course

On the overview page, enter a name in the 'Create course' field and click create. You'll then land in the settings menu.

After creating it, a setup wizard guides you step by step through the settings. You can go back a step at any time, and all settings can still be changed afterwards.

Setting up lists

Within a course, you create one or more lists to distinguish between questions. Typical examples:

• A Questions list: for content-related help with assignments.
• A Sign-off list: for students who want their work checked.

Type the name under 'Add list' and click the green '+' button. Don't forget to click Save when you're done.

Advanced list settings

Via 'Advanced settings' next to a list, you can set extra options per list:

Option	What the student does	When useful?
No extras	Clicks "Add me"	Sign-offs or quick check-ins
Question required	Types in a short question	Most lessons
Work out the question with AI	Bounces ideas off an AI assistant first, then joins the queue	When students need to think carefully before asking for help
Sharing questions	Sees previously asked questions and can reuse them	When students often have the same question
Subcategories	Chooses a category for the question (e.g. exercise number)	For questions spread across sections or exercises

Work out the question with AI: what does that mean?

Before a student ends up in the queue, they first have a short conversation with an AI assistant. It asks targeted questions: What are you trying to do? Where are you getting stuck? What have you already tried? This helps the student sharpen their question, and sometimes solves it completely. Only once the student has worked out the question properly, or indicates that the AI isn't helping enough, do they join the queue.

5 · Creating a room for the lesson

A room is a temporary session that you create at the start of every lesson within a course. This is the daily task, and it takes less than ten seconds.

1. Go to the overview page and click Create room next to the desired course.
2. Give the room a name (descriptive enough if you have multiple rooms open at once). Select which lists you want to use.
3. The room automatically gets a code. Share it via the board or your learning environment.
4. Students can now start asking questions right away.

Once the lesson is over, you close the room. The queue is cleared, and a brief history can then be found in your course settings under 'History'.

6 · Getting students to join

Students don't need to create an account. With the room code, they can join on any device: laptop, tablet, or phone.

How students join

1. They go to ta-help.me and click Login → As a student.
2. They enter the room code.
3. They enter their name and give permission for browser notifications.
4. They follow the step for their list: add themselves, write out a question, or choose a subcategory.
5. They submit the question and keep working.

Sharing the room code

The code is visible in the top-left of the banner as soon as the room is open.

7 · Answering questions during the lesson

During the lesson, the teacher screen is your home base. You see the whole queue, read questions in advance, and handle them calmly in order.

Working with a queue

• Read ahead. Check the next few questions, so you can have an answer ready.
• Call up the next student. Click the green checkmark next to a student. The student gets a notification and raises their hand.
• Bundle where you can. Same question from multiple students? Help them together. The system will also recognize this itself and let you know!

After accepting, the student gets the message 'It's your turn!' on the website and as a browser notification. They can also click 'Nevermind' if they've already solved the question themselves.

After accepting, an overview of recently helped students appears. You can also send a reminder if someone missed the notification.

Extra options in the room

Via the Room button in the navigation bar, you have access to extra actions:

• Projector mode: displays the queue on a large screen, handy in a classroom.
• Announcements: send a message to everyone in the room.
• Close lists: stop new questions, but still finish the current queue.

8 · Insights & integration with your learning environment

Besides managing questions, TA-Help.me collects data about your lesson. These insights help you improve your teaching.

Insights into your lesson

• Frequently asked questions: what do students get stuck on most often?
• Busy moments: when is the most help needed?
• Deploying support: where are extra hands needed?

Also regularly review the statistics afterwards, as this provides valuable input for preparing your next lesson. You can find the history per room in your course settings under the History tab.

Integration with your learning environment

TA-Help.me integrates seamlessly with the most widely used learning platforms:

If your institution has set up TA-Help.me within Canvas, you can launch it directly from Canvas. Go to your Canvas course → Settings → Navigation and enable TA-Help.me.

9 · Tips for a flying start

With this checklist, you'll be ready for your first lesson. Most teachers get the hang of TA-Help.me within a single lesson.

Quick agreements with your class

• No raised hands: questions go through the queue.
• One question at a time; write it out briefly first.
• Keep working while you wait.
• Raise your hand once it's your turn.
• Already solved your question? Remove it from the queue yourself.