What is Help Me Start?
Help Me Start provides students with a “Help me start” button next to reflection questions. When clicked, it inserts a sentence starter into the response box, giving students a way to begin writing.
This feature is designed to support students who might otherwise submit blank answers, filler text, or “I don’t know” by lowering the barrier to getting started.
Why is this feature important?
Reflection is one of the most valuable parts of Find Your Grind, helping students connect activities to their own lives and self-discovery.
The Help Me Start button:
Encourages students to move past the “blank box problem” and begin writing.
Increases the quality and completeness of responses.
Provides educators with richer, more valuable student reflections to review.
How it works for students
Students see a “Help me start” button under applicable free-response questions.
Clicking the button inserts one of three pre-defined sentence starters into the text box.
Students can click multiple times to cycle through the three options (they loop back to the first after the third).
If a student has already typed their own text and clicks the button, their existing text will be replaced by the starter without warning.
What this means for you as a teacher
Expect to see fewer “I don’t know” or blank answers and more thoughtful responses.
Sentence starters are intentionally incomplete - students must still add their own ideas.
You can continue to provide feedback on responses as usual.
FAQs
Will this feature actually improve the quality of student responses?
It should. By lowering the barrier to getting started, more students engage meaningfully with reflection questions, which leads to longer, more thoughtful responses.
Can I tell when a student has used a sentence starter?
Not directly; however, educators should benefit from improved response quality overall.
What if students just copy the starter without adding anything?
The sentence starters are intentionally incomplete. They are designed to spark thinking, not provide full answers, so students will still need to add their own thoughts.
What happens if a student already wrote something and then clicks ‘Help me start’?
Their existing text will be replaced by the sentence starter without warning.
Do all questions have just one sentence starter?
No. Each reflection question has three unique sentence starters. Students can cycle through them by clicking the button multiple times, and after the third, the options loop back to the first.
Can I create my own sentence starters for my class?
Not at this time. All students see the same pre-defined options. If this is something that would be meaningful to you, please let your Customer Success Manager know!
How does this help me as a teacher?
You’ll spend less time reviewing “I don’t know” or fluff answers and more time engaging with student reflections that actually reveal their thinking and growth.
Tips for introducing this feature in class
You might say:
“You’ll notice a new button called Help me start next to your reflection questions. This button won’t give you the answer, it just gives you a place to begin. If you’re stuck, try it out, then add your own thoughts to make the reflection yours.”