New Gradebook In Canvas: No Reason to Panic

New Gradebook coming to Canvas in January

Let's get started.

1. No Need to Panic: The new gradebook does include many advanced features, but given that it is not our primary gradebook, we don't need to worry about many of these features.

Changes that impact us:

2. The Sync Button Moves from the Right to the Left:  In the old Canvas Gradebook you would click on "Export" (found on the right-hand side of your screen) and then PTP-Pennridge School District to send grades from Canvas to PTP. In the new Canvas Gradebook, the button has moved to the left and is found under the "Actions" tab. The video below demonstrates this new placement. 

3. Remove Late Labels: In the new Canvas Gradebook, teachers can remove late labels that automatically get applied to work submitted after a due date. This is great because late labels do transfer from Canvas to PTP and often caused confusion when an absent student took a quiz after the rest of the class. The video below demonstrates how to remove such labels and how you can apply labels yourself.

4. Sorting Options: In the new Canvas Gradebook, teachers have many options for arranging assignments. Below is an image that shows the options which include, alphabetical, by module, by date, and by assignment type. 

5. January 18, 2020: This is the day that the new Canvas Gradebook will be automatically in place for all Canvas users. If you want to get ahead of the curve, you can turn the new Gradebook on now. Go to your Course Navigation and Click on Settings. Next, select Feature Options and turn on the New Gradebook. 

There are many other features of the new Canvas Gradebook. If you would like to see a full-video overview click here. For the complete set of guides click here. For our purposes, the information above is likely enough. 

Focus of the Week: Canvas Assignments

This Friday Five is the second in a series of follow-ups on topics covered and discussed on our Oct 14 Professional Learning Day. This edition's focus is on Assignments in Canvas. 

1. Review of the Basics

Assignments....

• Are flexible and include quizzes, graded discussions, and work that is collected on paper or electronically. 
• When collected in Canvas, can include video, audio, text entries, or Word or Google Docs files.
• Automatically appear on a student's calendar and to-do list when they include a due date.
• Can be added to a Module for easy organization.

2. What are the assigning options for an Assignment in Canvas?

Assignments can be assigned to an individual student(s), an entire section of a course, or to an entire course (all sections).

3. If I want to passback an assignment grade from Canvas to PowerTeacherPro (PTP) but want to give different due dates to different sections of the same course, what do I do?

In this scenario, you will want to Duplicate your assignment and assign each copy to an individual section. This will allow you to pass each assignment back to PTP with unique due dates. Duplicating an assignment is easy. Here are the directions. Once you have enough copies, assign one to each section by selecting just one period from the "Assign to" field as shown below.

4. How do I create reminders for long-term assignment in Canvas?

There are two ways you can do this. You can either create a repeating Event that serves as a reminder or you can "stretch" a single event on the calendar-see below.

5. My students struggle creating their own document to complete an Assignment. Can I provide an individual document to each student directly in Canvas?

Yes, you can do this by creating a Cloud-Based assignment using either Google Docs or Office 365. Here are the directions for Team Google and here are the direcitons for Team Office 365. 

Focus of the Week: Communication in Canvas

During our October professional learning day, I had the opportunity to meet with many of you for an "Hour on Canvas." The next few editions of the Friday Five will focus on questions and discussions from those sessions. 

Question:  What are the differences between Announcements, Calendar Events, and the In-Box?

1. Announcements: Announcements allow teachers to communicate with students about course activities and post interesting course-related topics. Announcements are designed to allow instructors to broadcast information to all members of a course or to all members of sections within a course. Annoucements provide flexibility becasue teachers can delay the posting of an announcement. Teachers can allow students to reply and/or "like" Announcements. Announcement notifications appear on both the Course Card and in the To-Do List for students.

2. Calendar Events: A Calendar Event is an item that is placed on a class calendar. It provides information to students. They are best used as reminders and non-graded items. Unlike Assignments, Calendar Events do not create a column in the gradebook. Unlike Annoucements, students will not see a Calendar Event notification on their course card; however, the information will appear on the student's course calendar and To-Do list. 

3. In-Box Conversations: In-Box Conversations are Canvas' version of email. Teachers can communicate with an entire Course, an entire Section, or a Group within a course. Teachers (and students) can compose messages from their In-Box found in the green account navigation strip. One of the strongest features of Conversations is that you can send one message to a group of students, but each student gets an individual message.

4. Message Students Who: Teachers can send an In-Box Conversation to students directly from their Canvas gradebooks. Simply click on the triangle to the right of the assignment title and select your  criteria.

Question: How do teachers and students control their notifications on communications in Canvas?

5. Notifications: Each user, regardless of role, can control how and how often Canvas notifies them of activities in their courses. Notification preferences can be defined by going to Account and then Notifications. As a teacher, you likely want to have Conversations set to arrive in your pennridge.org email RIGHT AWAY. Remember, you can reply to a Canvas message directly from your Outlook email. People who use a Canvas App can also set notifications within the App settings. Remember, when using a Canvas App search for Pennridge via pennridge.instructure.com.

Five PTP Tips

This Week Features Five Tips Regarding PowerTeacher Pro. 

Click on any image to see it larger!

1. How do I see averages for assignments in the scoresheet of PowerTeacher Pro? 

To see the Mean, Medium, and Mode of assignments, go into the scoresheet of PowerTeacher Pro by clicking on Grading in your blue navigation strip and then selecting "Scoresheet". Next, click on the gear icon on
the right and select 
"Show Metrics".  The averages will now display. 

2. How can I rearrange the columns in my scoresheet so I see the most recent assignment first?

Follow the same steps as above, but instead of selecting "Show Metrics," select "Show Most Recent Assignment First."

3. Can I hide district created categories if I don't use them?

Yes. You must go to "Grading" in your blue navigation strip and then select "Categories." Next click on the pencil icon next to the category you want to hide. Finally, select Inactive and Save. 

4. How do I weight categories?

Here are directions and below is a video demonstration. 

5. Are the directions different for syncing grades from Canvas to PTP then last year?

Yes, you must follow different steps than ithe past. Here are the directions. 

Back to School Reminders and Updates!

This edition offers five reminders to help you, your students, and your eyes. 

Bonus: Remember the grade pass back process from Canvas to PowerSchool has changed with our switch to PTP. Here are the directions. Check OTS for info on upcoming PLT sessions (District Hour) on this process. 

Outlook

1. Do you need to update your Outlook Signature?

• Open Outlook (make sure you are using the App Version, which is found in your start window and titled "Outlook 2016")

• Choose File in the top Left and Scroll to Options

• Select Mail and Signatures (See image)

• Remember your signature should include your building, your position, your phone number and extension, and any other information you feel would be helpful

• If you use the web version of Outlook, you will also need to change your signature on that version of Outlook

Changes in VPN: Global Connect

2. Students no longer have to initiate VPN to access their U:Drives

With the launch of Global Connect, students, when using a district laptop, are always connected to our network, whether they are in or out of school. This change ends the need for students to set-up aVPN session to access their U:Drive at home. 

3. Benefits of using Global Connect as a Teacher

Unlike students, teachers and other staff members using a district laptop do have to initiate a VPN session when out of the district. Whenever using your laptop outside of the district, please consider connecting to the VPN while working  When you are connected to the VPN, you will be able to use any of the functions of your machine just as if you are at school, such as:

• Accessing the U: Drive
• Using Microsoft Outlook, including sending e-mails, managing your calendar, and viewing your to-do lists.
• Using the Follow Me Printers, including the ability to print the night before and release the document right when you walk in the building the next morning.

To initiate a VPN session,  open Global Connect and simply type in remote.pennridge.org (only the first time). Next, select Connect.  You will be prompted to enter your username and password.  Remember you only need to do this when on an off-campus Wifi network and you want full access to network drives, etc.  This can be helpful at workshops, out of district conferences, etc.

Are your eyes tired???

https://www.publicdomainpictures.net

4. Resize your Display

Since your computer was re-imaged over the summer, you may have noticed that everything seems smaller.  To change this, please follow this 1-2 minute process!  

5. Adjust the Display in your Gradebook

One of the advantages of PowerTeacher Pro is that you can adjust the size of the gradebook display. The image below shows how to resize your gradebook display in your PTP gradebook.

Welcome Back Friday Five!

Start of the Year Edition of the Friday Five

1. Start of the Year Checklists:  Most directions for Canvas Start of the Year can be found on your level's checklist. The middle school checklist is here and the high school checklist can be found here. Of course, email me, Cara Gurysh at cgurysh@pennridge.org with any questions or for assistance.

2. Grade Passback/PTP: With the conversion to PowerTeacher Pro there are new set-up steps that must be followed if you want to utilize grade passback. The directions can be found here. Keep in mind that you must set up your grading Categories in PTP first.

3. PowerSchool/Canvas: Canvas and PowerSchool "speak" to each other each night. If a student's schedule changes, it takes 24 hours for the change to be reflected in Canvas. This means if a student is placed into your period 2 class on Monday during period 1, the student will not have your course until Tuesday. If for some reason the course does not appear the next day, please contact Cara Gurysh at cgurysh@pennridge.org.

4. LockDown Browser: We have the LockDown Browser available for all staff and students 6-12. This browser creates a secure testing environment in Canvas. Using it is simple. Here are the directions. NOTE: The directions reference LockDown Monitor, we do not have this camera feature.  Look for sessions on the browser soon.

5. PUBLISH Your Courses: Don't forget that students will not be able to see your courses until you hit Publish from your course homepage.

Bonus: Parent Observer Account Directions can be found under the Parents Tab on each school's website.  A teacher can generate a pairing code for a parent if needed. Here are directions.

Last month's Friday Five hopefully eased some concerns you had about next year. This edition will assist you in preparing for 19-20 by offering some tips and reminders regarding wrapping up the year in Canvas:

1. You will have editing access to your current (Year Long; Semester 2) courses until June 30th. 

Remember you will NOT lose content, After June 30th, you will need to move it to another course to edit it. 

2. After June 30th, your PowerSchool courses will turn to “read only.” This means all of the content stays, but you won't be able to edit anything in the course. You are able to move content into a new course and regain full editing capabilities in that new course!

3. If you would like to work on your courses prior to the 19-20 PowerSchool roll-over (late July), you may move any of your content into a new course shell (click here for directions on creating a course shell and here for directions on how to copy content from a Canvas Course into that shell). I suggest you select "Remove all Dates" when copying. Once the PowerSchool roll-over occurs, you will have your official courses for the year and can import content into those courses from either a shell course or your 18-19 courses. 

4. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding Canvas year end! Thank you all for your hard work with Canvas this year. 

5. There is a lot of tech information coming out. Below are links to general information that has been sent so far.

1. Single Sign-On Information
2. PowerSchool Roll-Over Info
3. End of Year Tech Annoucement
4. Teacher Laptop Collection Form
5. HS EOY Tech Support
6. MS EOY Tech Support

If you have not done so, please make sure that you have signed up for June PD sessions in OTS by the end of the day Friday, 6/14.

Yes, Your Work WILL NOT Be Lost

This Friday Five helps answer some FAQs from the last few weeks. 

Happy Reading.

Don't forget to look for the Easter Egg.

Questions:

1. "Will I have to re-create everything I have put in Canvas this year, next year?"

NO! You will be able to copy all of the material from your courses this year into the PowerSchool created shells for the 19-20 School Year. The shells will be available once PowerSchool is rolled over from this school year to next school year. This typically happens in mid-July. 


2. "Where did my assignment go? I lost it when I deleted the date from the calendar?"

If you delete an assignment (quiz, discussion, etc.) from the calendar, you are deleting the item. If you just want to remove an item with a due date from the calendar, but preserve the item, edit the item and remove the due date or unpublish it. The item will then be saved, but won't be visible on students' calendars. 

3. "I accidentally deleted a (Quiz, Discussion, Assignment, Page). How do I get it back?"

Go to the home page of the course that you lost the item in. Add /undelete to the URL for the course. A list of deleted items will appear and select "Restore" for the item that you want to recover. (Kudos to Jon Edwards, HS English, for being the first to figure this out!)

4. "I need to give a student another attempt on a quiz. Is there a way to give another chance to just one student?"

The easist way is to go to "Moderate This Quiz" when in the editting area of the quiz.Then click on the Pencil icon next to the student's entry. From here you will be able to add an extra attempt. Here are complete direcitons. 


5. "Why should I go to 21st Century Learning Night?

Because it is the biggest celebration of learning in the district. Each year over 800 people attend to see examples of innovative teaching and learning that happens everyday within our district. With over 50 teacher exhibits, you are sure to be amazed and inspired by what you see. The first five people to email me a smiling emoji will get a Canvas prize. For more information about the event, check out the webiste.  

21stCLN is on Tuesday, May 28 from 6:30-8:30 at Pennridge High School. 

Speed Up Speedgrader with Annotate Pro

Do you every feel like this when providing feedback to your students?

You keep providing the same comment student after student.

This edition of the Friday Five introduces a Google Chrome Extension that allows you to more easily provide meaningful feedback on work collected in Canvas. The extension is called Annotate Pro. (Note: This extension is a "freemium" tool. This means it has a bunch of features that are free and others you can pay for. I am only highlighting free features.)


1. What is Annotate Pro?

Annotate Pro is a free extension that allows users to create comment banks that can be used when providing feedback in Speedgrader, Discussions and on Rubrics in Canvas. It can also be used with Google Docs and Word, but this post will focus on Canvas. 

2. How does it work? 

The 2 minute video below demonstrates the use of Annotate Pro in Speedgrader.

3. Can I create my own comments?

Yes, each user can create their own library of comments. Comments can include text and links to supplemental resources. You can even download your comments so you can share them with a colleague. 

4. Will this tool limit personalization of comments for students?

When providing feedback, you often are providing similar comments to students. Once you place a saved comment on a student's work, you can still edit the comment and add additional, specific information. You do not loose your ability to create custom comments while utilizing Annotate Pro.

5. How do I add an extension to Chrome?

1. Go to the Chrome Store
2. Search for Annotate Pro
3. Click Add to Chrome
4. Accept Permissions
5. The Extension will now run when in Google Docs or Canvas

Please contact me at cgurysh@pennridge.org if you would like help exploring this tool.

Reminder- 21st Century Learning Night is Tuesday, May 28.

More info can be found here. 

Duplicating in Canvas- One Teacher's Practice

The last edition of the Friday Five featured ways to duplicate items in Canvas. To follow-up I have asked high school English teacher, Carol Ressler, to share how she is using the process in her classes. 

This year, Carol teamed up with Physical Education teacher, Roberta Simmons for Peer Coaching. Roberta teaches the high school's cyber PE course. Roberta has shared some strategies she employs for her online class and Carol is adapting them for her face-to-face courses.

CG: How do you leverage the module structure in Canvas to organize your courses?

CR: Although I had been using the Module structure to organize my course content for my students, I wasn’t really leveraging the modules for instructional purposes.  Through working with Roberta, I developed a means to implement self-paced tutorials revolving around various topics.

Module Template-Click to see larger

CG:  Could you briefly describe how you are using module duplication to improve your workflow?

CR: The module duplication feature allows me to quickly replicate the structure of the weekly tutorial.    I have a module that is a “template.” (Shown Above)  I then duplicate the template and edit the copy and due dates as I see fit to create a “new” module. (Shown Below)  My initial effort to create an instructional module took about an hour until I was satisfied with flow and content of the module. The second week I did this, it only took me 10 minutes to edit the duplicated module structure for the entire week.   In addition, I can also import this template into other courses I teach.  Next year, I will have all of these instructional modules created.  I will just have to edit due dates/times from year to year.

Instructional Module-Click to see larger

CG: How do you think your module structure benefits students?

CR: My students benefit from this instructional practice in several ways.   The students who are proficient in the skill are able to complete the task without “waiting” for the remainder of the class to catch up.   Students who are not proficient are able to read teacher feedback and re-submit the task until the point where they demonstrate mastery.  Once students receive constructive feedback, they are talking through the concepts with other students.  On-task interaction and peer-to-peer instruction is increasing. 

CG: What tips do you have for someone who wants to implement your technique?

CR: The module feature does not allow you to duplicate if the module contains a quiz or LTI (ex: Google Cloud-Based or 365 Cloud-Based) assignment, so make sure your template does not contain them.  When you edit the duplicated template, you can simply add in a quiz in this “new” module.

CG: What do you hope to try next to further leverage the capabilities of Modules in Canvas?

CR: After I refine this practice a bit more, I hope to eventually use the Mastery Paths function of Canvas to create a more individualized learning experience.   Students who need more detailed instruction or additional practice will be directed towards activities that meet their needs, and students who demonstrate proficiency can work on a activities that provides a greater challenge or extend their learning.

SAVE THE DATE: 21st Century Learning Night is 5/28/19. Watch your email for more information. 

Copying in Canvas: Assignment, Module,Event, Assignment, From Commons

Scribe At Work

Recently, teachers have been asking about copying items within a Canvas Course. Duplicating quizzes, assignments, and modules helps improve teacher workflow. This week's Friday Five features ways to copy different items within a single course in Canvas. 

How to Copy....

1. A Quiz- Do you need to copy a quiz to make a differentiated version?  The steps found here explain how to copy a quiz within a course. The same process can be used for copying into another course, just make sure to start in the course you would like the quiz copy to be in. 

2. A Module- Perhaps you would like to duplicate a module structure or a complete module. You can duplicate a module (if it does not contain a quiz or LTI assignment) by simply clicking on (1) the three dots to the left of a module title and then selecting (2) Duplicate. Here are full directions.

3. A Calendar Event- Are you having a special event in your class over multiple days? Create the event once and then use the Duplicate feature (found under More Options) to repeat the event for a subsequent number of days. You can even have Canvas automatically number the events for you.Here are full directions. 

4. An Assignment or A Discussion- Just like we saw with Modules, you can easily duplicate an assignment or discussion by clicking on the three dots next to the assignment and then selecting duplicate.

5. A Resource from Commons-  If you have explored Commons in the past, you saw that to fully preview a resource, you had to import it into a shell class. To make this easier you can now preview items in Commons before you copy them into a course. Here are full directions on how to do this and below is an example of how you can preview an assignment that was shared. Curious about Commons? Here is information on what Commons is and describes how it can be used to share items to other teachers in Pennridge.

End of Semester/End Of Quarter

It is time for our annual post on the semester switch. This post has important information on the End of Q2 and the First Semester. If you have any questions about copying materials for semester two, please contact me. I will be happy to set up an appointment with you.

1. Grading For Q2:  All teachers will be able to continue to grade Quarter 2 work in Canvas until February 8th. While you will be able to grade work from Q2 until February 8th, please keep your level's grading timeline in mind. If you teach a full-year course and collected something with a Q2 due date, but plan on using the assignment as a Q3 grade, make sure to change the due date to a date within Q3 so that you can still grade and provide feedback on the assignment and push it to the appropriate quarter in PowerSchool. You can change the due date after you have collected the work. 

2. Turn-Off Sync for Old Assignments: To avoid any confusion, make sure to go into your Assignments in Canvas and de-select the SIS icon indicated in the picture below. This will prevent any grade changes made in PowerSchool from being over-ridden if you run a sync from Canvas. 

Click on Image to See Larger

3. Copy Course Materials: If you teach the same course second semester, you can easily copy all of your Semester 1 content to your new course. Here are directions on how to do this. Reminders:

• If you used announcements, don't copy these
• Select "Remove All Dates" so you start with undated content
• Anything you copy will be copied in the same state that is in the original course (i.e., published or unpublished - you can always unpublish before or after copying)

4. Publish Your Semester 2 Courses: You must publish your second semester courses just like you did semester one. Here are directions.

5. Start of the Year Checklists: The High School and Middle School Start of the Year Checklists are great resources for the new semester

Have you and your students updated Chrome recently? Here are directions on how to make sure you are running the most recent version.