Cross-Listing Your Canvas Courses

Canvas crosslisting tips

As we approach the new school year, those of you who are teaching multiple sections of the same course might consider cross-listing in Canvas. Cross-listing allows you to move section enrollments from individual courses and combine them into one course. This feature is helpful for instructors who teach several sections of the same course and only want to manage course data in one location. So if you are a teacher that has multiple sections of one course or an elementary specialist that has many different sections, cross listing may be a great option for you and a big time saver. However, this action should only be done before a semester starts. Canvas recommends it be done before a course is published. If it is done after a course is published and notably student work has been submitted, that student work will be lost. Review the slideshow below carefully to help you decide if you want to do it.

Please review this slideshow carefully to review the pros and cons. The slideshow also walks you through the steps to cross-list your courses. Please note that teachers have the ability to cross-list courses but do not have the option to de-crosslist. To de-crosslist sections or for further assistance with cross-listing, submit a tech ticket.

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

Canvas Updates Summary

Canvas update summary

In case you missed it, here’s a round up of some of the best Canvas updates to be aware of:

Technology Checklist for Summer Break!

summer break tech to-do

It’s almost Summer Break! We hope you enjoy all things summer, but as you close out your classrooms for the year, please ensure these technology items are also taken care of.

Classroom Technology

  • Please comply with the directions of your principal and main office to turn in or secure all classroom technology equipment such as document cameras, microphones, interactive pens, and remotes.
  • Please also secure or take home all District-assigned devices (laptop, Chromebook, iPad, etc.), as well as all personally-owned devices. Please consider plugging in and updating your District Laptop prior to the start of PD in the fall (sometimes updates can take an hour or two if your device is off all summer) – see this blog post about Suggested Laptop Maintenance for reference.
  • Power off projectors/IFPs, sound amps, and desktop computers. Unplug any lamps, power strips, etc. You may leave district printers and copiers plugged in and powered on.
  • If you have a cart of devices, ensure that all devices are plugged in, the cart is locked and plugged in.
  • Follow the care suggestions for classroom audio

Canvas

Rest assured, you really don’t need to do anything to your Canvas page. It will roll over to Past Enrollments and you will be able to copy the content into your new course shell in the fall. If you’d like options and considerations that you may wish to think about for next year, view this blog post.

After June 14, 2023 students will no longer be able to submit or edit any work. Teachers will have until Friday June 16, 2023 to finalize any grades.

Clever

Staff and Students will have access to all clever resources throughout the summer. Clever syncing will be on pause starting on Monday June 12, 2023 giving student’s access to their 22-23 teacher’s pages and links until around mid-August when syncing will resume for the 23-24 school year. If you’re interested in learning how to make the most of Clever in your classroom, consider looking at training and ideas here.

IXL

PCCS’s digital subscription for K-5 elementary students will continue throughout the summer. Students will have access to their NWEA skill plans (which were just updated with any spring scores) all summer. Students will have access to any current teacher starred skills through around mid-August. Students in 5th grade currently will lose access around mid-August when syncing begins for the 23-24 school year as they will then be recognized as 6th graders.

Other District Provided Subscriptions

For the most part if it is a district provided subscription the district will handle any archiving and rostering needs for you. For example, WeVideo, Newsela, BrainPOP/BrainPOPjr, Seesaw for Schools, – there is no action required on your part. If you have manually created classes for things like Epic, Seesaw (grades 3-12 who do not have the Seesaw for Schools subscription), SplashLearn, etc. You may want to archive/delete old classes.

Sharing Digital Content

Whether you are separating from service, working on curriculum, or you are teaching different classes next year there are several options for sharing digital content with colleagues.

Need SCHECH credits?

Leaving the District?

Your TIS team is available all summer to support you – simply put in a tech request at helpdesk.pccsk12.com for technology integration!

SORA news

Two noteworthy Sora news items.

  1. SORA SWEET READS RETURNS! Summer reading, oh my!  OverDrive’s annual reading program, Sora Sweet Reads, is designed for schools to encourage students to keep reading all year long. This collection of free and simultaneous use juvenile and young adult ebooks (and select audiobooks) will be available to participating schools and prominently displayed in Sora so it’s easy for students to find their next sweet read. On May 15th all school partners who have opted in (and we have) will receive a sweet new curation on their Sora Explore page full of 57 new titles for all ages K-12. The collection this year boasts 34 juvenile titles, 10 young adult titles and 13 general adult-level titles. The collection will be live for 10 weeks from May 15 through Aug. 28 and all titles are simultaneous-use. This means students will all have access immediately and at the same time. Ready to check out the titles? Head over to the Sora Sweet Reads website to view the titles before they go live in our Wayne County shared collection on May 15 and to download some resources as well.                                                                                                              Sora Elementary ReadsSora Sweet ReadsSora Reads HS
  2. The Sora app’s multilingual interface now is available in two additional languages, Korean and Portuguese (Brazilian) with more languages being added. The Sora interface already includes Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish language options. As a reminder, students can update Sora’s display language from the welcome screen or from Language settings in the app’s main menu.                                Sora language changes

When students update their language settings, Sora’s ebook reader, audiobook player, and app interface automatically display in the selected language. Sora will remember your language settings across sessions.

Please note: Changing Sora’s display language does not change the language of the books your students can borrow. If you’re interested in specific language content to support these new interface languages or others? Looking for books to support your native speakers and language learners alike? Check out the languages and learning tile on the Resource Center, where you can find recommended reading lists for ebooks and audiobooks in these languages – and more!

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The online Sora app was designed around the modern student reading experience. This app, developed and curated by Overdrive, empowers students to discover and enjoy ebooks and audiobooks, for both leisure and class-assigned reading. ALL STUDENTS in all of our district’s schools AND ALL STAFF can log into our Sora page using their Google Accounts at http://links.pccsk12.com/sora and begin checking out ebooks!

Once logged in, students and staff are able to “borrow” ebooks and audiobooks from a selection of thousands of titles available in their school, district and/or Wayne county library collections. Check out this 2 minute video for how to access the app via the Google apps launcher (aka waffle) as well as how to add a library collection (only need to do that once per year).

10 Tips to Teaching with Chromebooks

In this presentation by John R. Sowash you can learn

  • Tab Tricks and tips
  • Virtual Desks
  • Keyboard Shortcuts (with free printables)
  • Tips for the Bookmark Bar/Bookmarks
  • Screen capture and record tips
  • Touchscreen Tips
  • Accessability Features
  • Extensions, Apps and More!

Click HERE to access the slidedeck!

BrainPOP: April Teachers’ Lounge

With Earth Month upon us, April’s newsletter features topics ranging from Humans and the Environment to Wangari Maathai, environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Use these movies and more as a launching pad for discussion with your students about caring for our planet.

April is also Poetry Month and Financial Literacy Month, so enjoy their collections of related topics in this edition of the Teachers’ Lounge.

Also in this month’s newsletter:

  • Enter the BrainPOP Science Earth Month Giveaway to win a $100 gift card for supplies and swag just for you.
  • Immersive Reader on BrainPOP Jr. Quizzes

Click HERE to get to the full BrainPop teacher lounge!

April Teachers Lounge

Canva Create- Highlights of New Features Coming to Canva

On March 23, Canva held an event called Canva Create. The purpose of the event was to showcase some of the newest features and announcements coming to Canva. Please note that some of the features announced are still in BETA mode. This means that the public can provide feedback to Canva if there are inconsistencies or stability issues with the newest features. Below are just some examples of what was provided at Canva Create. To learn about these tools and MUCH more, click here.

Magic Design– Upload an image into Canva, and Canva will preview different mediums and ideas for you.

Magic Edit– Use AI to replace part of an image inside of a design with a virtual brush.

Translate– You or your students can now translate over 100 languages into Canva Designs

Illuminate DNA Updates – Item Banks

Illuminate DnA has recently made some updates making item banks even more useful to you! Explore this slidedeck to see the updates:

If you’re unfamiliar – Illuminate DnA is an Online Achievement System built on Assessments, Data and Learning Tools, as well as Special Education Systems. Staff access illuminate by logging into MistarQ and clicking on Menu >Analysis >Mistar-DnA. Through Illuminate DnA staff can enter test scores, pull questions from item banks to create assessments, and use the data inside Illuminate to monitor student progress. Need more help with Illuminate DnA? Check out these resources from Jonathan Flukes, Dir. Of Data, Assess. Research & Evals.

Reminders for Semester 2/ Quarter 3 Canvas Courses

Publishing Canvas Courses

As a reminder, please publish your Semester 2/ Quarter 3 courses in Canvas.

  • Students only have access to Published courses.  If a course is Unpublished they will not see it on their dashboard. Please note that you if you publish a course you cannot unpublish a course after you have assigned something to a student.
  • Reminder: It is a contractual obligation to have your course published and an absent support page available to students/families.

Reminder: Customizing Your Canvas Dashboard

As the new semester has begun, some courses may look like they’re not on canvas, when really they’re just not on the Dashboard. Students and staff can all customize the dashboard to show only the courses they wish to see. To customize the teacher or student dashboard to show certain courses please see the graphic below:

Dashboard

 

 

Navigating Professional Development with Canvas Catalog

Need to know how to enroll in a course? Want to remember what courses you took in previous years? Want a record of PD for yourself? View the PCCS Canvas Catalog Guide to get all your catalog questions answered!