Author: PCCS TIS

Declutter Your Canvas Dashboard

As we transition from out October Professional Development day to our November PD window, you might want to declutter your Canvas dashboard. To do that, go to https://pccsk12.instructure.com/courses and click on the star next to the courses you want to be visible on the dashboard. Leave any courses you don’t want to see unfilled. When you return to the dashboard, only the course with filled stars will be visible.

🌟🌟🌟BONUS Tip: You can drag and drop the course tiles on your dashboard to rearrange them in any order you would like.

Canvas

Read&Write for Google Resources

Did you know that all P-CCS students have access to Read&Write for Google? The toolbar is added in Chrome as an extension. Students likely notice the puzzle-shaped toolbar pop up on certain sites. If you would like to learn more about what tools are available, explore this interactive image.

Additionally, if you have students with Dyslexia, you can look at this resource to see how it can help their overall performance. Elementary teachers, in particular, may find it useful for building listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in their students.

You might use one of these activities to help students learn how to use the tool or to explore it for yourself:

Find even more information on our Read&Write for Google’s websites for students and staff.

2022 Fall Canvas Updates

This fall, Canvas has rolled out a few great updates. Check them out below!

Custom Images in the Icon Maker

Earlier this year, Canvas launched an icon maker. It allows you to create custom images and buttons for your course. The icons are saved in the course file and can be updated easily in one place. At first, the images to add to the icon were very limited, but Canvas now allows you to upload and edit an image. Here’s a video demonstrating the process.

Studio Video Editing

Basic cut and trim video editing options are available for Studio media. This update allows media owners to easily edit media within Studio itself, rather than having to edit media in a third-party editing software. Take a closer look here.

Schedule Page Publishing (coming 10/15)

You will have the option to schedule a date and time that page is published. Find more information here.

Canvas

Digital Citizenship Week

Every year, the third week of October is coined Digital Citizenship Week. It’s a great time to focus on Digital Citizenship with our students.

To help guide instruction on Digital Citizenship, consider the 5 competencies:

The five competencies of digital citizenship

Inclusive: I am open to hearing and respectfully recognizing multiple viewpoints, and I engage with others online with respect and empathy.
Informed: I evaluate the accuracy, perspective, and validity of digital media and social posts.
Engaged: I use technology and digital channels for civic engagement, to solve problems and be a force for good in both physical and virtual communities.
Balanced: I make informed decisions about how to prioritize my time and activities online and off.
Alert: I am aware of my online actions, and know how to be safe and create safe spaces for others online.

A Change in Mindset: Focus on the Do’s not the Don’s

Watch this video to learn how to shift from telling students all the things they shouldn’t do online, to helping them see all the things they should do while working online.

Interested in exploring Digital Citizenship with your students? Explore these resources:

Brain Pop is a district K-12 subscription that has many videos and activities surrounding digital citizenship.
Nearpod also has free lessons available for Digital Citizenship week. Click HERE to access Nearpod’s free lessons.
Common Sense Media also has free (just sign up for an educator account) resources and lessons for Digital Citizenship. (If you’re an elementary teacher, your Media specialists incorporate these lessons into their curriculum with all K-5 students).
A Digital Citizenship Framework and Lessons is a TechNotes blog post by Lori Gracey providing several resources for digital citizenship lessons.
Digizen is a website that has tons of resources on digital citizenship, social networking, digital values, and more.
Google provides a Digital Citizenship and Safety Course for teachers and students. The course has five units, each with an introduction, lesson, and review, lasting a total of 23 minutes each. Topics covered include privacy, phishing and scams, online safety, searching, and online reputation.
DigCitCommit has a list of great resources. Not only that, but if you have created your own resources, you can submit them to share with others.
Google has some resources on their Be Internet Awesome site. They also list a few partners that are worth checking out. For example, PearDeck has created Be Internet Awesome interactive presentations to coordinate with Google’s lessons.
SeeSaw is a PCCS K-2 subscription and has more than 1,500 activities under the Digital Citizenship category in its Activity Library.

Google Assignments 1.3–A Closer Look

new canvas speedgrader option in google assignments

At the beginning of the year, we updated to the Google Assignment LTI 1.3 in Canvas (blog post). This provided important security updates and the new option to grade a Google Assignment using the Google Feedback Tool (that has been in place) or the Canvas Speedgrader. As you might have noticed, it has caused some subtle changes in the workflows for students and teachers. We have done our best to summarize the differences in the presentation below. Click the option to see a side-by-side comparison between the Google Feedback Tool and Canvas Speedgrader.

If you have not used Google Assignments before, it allows each student to get a copy of a Google file that is automatically organized in their Drive and shared with the teacher. Additionally, the teacher can view students progress on the assignment as they work. Here’s a tutorial to set up a Google Assignment.

If you still have questions about the workflows, please submit a tech ticket, we have done our best to test it extensively.

Google LTI Feedback compared by Kaelyn Bullock

Canvas

Trouble Syncing Canvas Grades to MiStar?

If you are running into errors with your grades passing from Canvas to MiStar, check out the resources below. First, you’ll want to make sure it is set up correctly. Most importantly, you want to check that your Assignment Groups match your MiStar Gradebook Categories.

Canvas

Podcasts in the Classroom

Podcasts are a popular medium. Perhaps you have been thinking about using podcasts in the classroom to help encourage active listening. They are useful for incorporating mindfulness, current events, and course content. Check out the collection of resources below to help you get started.

ACTION REQUIRED: Turn on Google 2-Factor Authentication

ALL P-CCS Staff must turn on two-factor authentication by September 30, 2022 for their district Google account.
If you do not turn on two-factor authentication by September 30, you will no longer be able to log in to your P-CCS’s Google workspace (Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, etc.) beginning October 1, 2022.

Directions on how to manually turn on two factor authentication

Staff don’t need to use their cell phones and personal phone numbers, although that’s certainly a choice. In the last blog post we called out a telephone alternative, backup codes, that can be used if someone prefers to not use a phone, or when one might not be available. Backup codes come in sets of ten you can generate at any time when you are already logged in to your account, which can then be printed or saved in a secure place. For how to obtain and use backup codes check out this support article.

You can establish multiple verification methods (for example, set up two or more phone numbers that can be called back as well as have the option to use backup codes). Staff can choose to use one or more district telephone numbers they have access to at work AND backup codes so that when they are in their classrooms and offices, they can opt to be called on those district lines (instead of a text, they’d click to have a phone call provide their code) and when they’re not able to answer their district phone, such as when they are away, they can opt to use a backup code (you need to have downloaded them ahead of time) if they are asked to authenticate.

Please refer to this previous blog post for even more information regarding two factor authentication.

Tips for Cross-listed Courses

Whether you are new to crosslisting or have done it for awhile, review this list to help run it as efficiently as possible. Crosslisting should only be done at the beginning of a term (prior to any student submissions so to avoid their loss).

Be Sure To:

Keep “People” hidden on the Course Navigation Menu to protect student privacy
Change the course name so students don’t get confused if their scheduled section meets at a different time
If you want to use discussions, set it up as a group discussion so students are only interacting with people in their section

Streamline Your Workflow:

You can assign things (especially quizzes) per section to customize availability times and due dates
You can sort Speedgrader submissions by section
You can sort the Gradebook by section

Canvas Crosslisting Tips by Kaelyn Bullock

Please submit a tech ticket if you have additional questions.

Canvas