Category: Elementary School

Over the weekend, you may have noticed a few updates to Canvas:

• Sticky Navigation Menus: Now when you scroll down a Canvas page, the Course Navigation Menu remains visible.
• SpeedGrader Submission Status: You can now change the submission status of an assignment (late, missing, excused) directly in SpeedGrader (previously, you could only do that in the Gradebook).
• Gradebook Assignment Search: Now you can search the gradebook by student name and assignment name. More Gradebook search updates are coming later this month!
• Accessibility Checker Notification: Have you ever noticed the little Accessibility icon at the bottom of the Rich Content Editor? It allows you to check how accessible your content is, and now, it will have a notification alert if it finds issues. Be sure to click on it and check its suggestions before publishing.
• Microsoft Immersive Reader: This is a great tool embedded on many pages that allows people to have text read aloud to them (at faster or slower speeds), translate text, have access to a picture dictionary, and much more. Previously it was only on Canvas pages, but now it is also available in Assignments and the Syllabus. If you haven’t tried it out before, check it out, it is next to the Student View button in the upper, right corner.
• Course Notification Settings: You can adjust your notifications by course.

To keep up-to-date on upcoming Canvas updates or to view more information about these updates, visit this website: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Releases/tkb-p/canvas-release

If you would like to have a paper copy of a Canvas quiz for certain students, you can easily do that in New Quizzes. Just click the 3 dots (or TimBits) in the upper, right corner to reveal more options.

After selecting the print option, you will be able to choose the preferred text size.

One other enhancement with New Quizzes is that you can bypass the assignment details screen and get right into building question when you are designing a unit in modules. See below.

If you like these enhancements but mostly have Classic Quizzes in your course, you can begin the process of migrating them to New Quizzes with these directions.

Thanks to all who were able to join us during Canvas Camp 2021! We are happy to continue to support you with our Monday Morning Coffee Chats. Below you will find links to recordings from our August sessions.

Studio Q & A-This session covered a lot of the basics of Studio and looked at some more advanced features. The trainer also provided great ideas for how to use Studio as the teacher and how students can use it.

Canvas Q & A– In this session we talked a lot about copying course content. Toward the end, Cory gave a really great introduction to Groups.

Canvas Course Design Considerations– Here’s the session agenda. This training is great for all grade levels and also had a few good nuggets for elementary teachers.

TIS Face Off: Canvas Tips- Matt and Kaelyn face off about their favorite Canvas tips. Recording coming soon.

Last week we had our first Tech Coffee Chat centered around the Canvas Best Practice, Simplifying the Course Navigation Menu. Check out the recording and join us Monday, September 20 for tips on creating an informative, welcoming home page.

Canvas has made several adjustments and improvements to the student assignment experience. Take a look below.

If you choose “Text Entry” for the student turn-in option, student work will auto-save and they can submit directly on the page.

Scroll through the gallery below to see other assignment options.

If you feel these enhancements will not serve your students, you can toggle them off under Settings/Feature Previews.

Please make sure your 2020-2021 courses are closed. We have heard from a few students and parents that are still seeing their 2020-2021 courses. You’ll want to ensure your courses are closed or unpublished.

Navigate to https://pccsk12.instructure.com/courses or click on the “Courses” icon on the Course Navigation Menu and click “All Courses” You’ll see a list of your courses that are still published.

• If you notice any from the 2020-2021 school year in your current enrollments you will need to take action.
• If you see 20-21 published courses under Past Enrollments, that is as it should be and no action is required.

You may be able to open the course and click “Unpublish.” If you are unable to do that, please submit a tech ticket.

Also keep in mind that any manually-created courses like a counseling group, club, or media center course should be closed out if they are no longer needed. Or students that have moved up to a new building level should be removed from the course.

These closed courses will still be accessible in a view-only format to students in “Past Enrollments.”

In late August, the P-CCS Canvas Best Practices were published. https://tech.pccsk12.com/canvas-best-practices/

To help you carry out these practices, the Technology Integration Specialists plan to offer brief (20-25 minutes) sessions before school on Monday mornings. We will provide a rationale for the practice, a quick tutorial, and examples when appropriate. Be sure to bring your favorite morning beverage!

Start Times (feel free to attend at a time that works best for you):

• High School: 7:00 am Add to Calendar
• Middle School: 7:45 am Add to Calendar
• Elementary: 8:15 am Add to Calendar

Topics:

• September 13: Simplify Course Navigation
• September 20: Create a Welcoming, Informative Home Page
• September 27: Provide Clear Guidance for Absent Students
• October 4: Post Assignments Online, via Canvas
• October 11: Use Announcement Weekly
• October 18: Use Modules to Organize and Distribute Content