Canvas LMS

Canvas is the official Learning Management System (LMS) for Shakopee Public Schools. Canvas is primarily used at grades 6-12, with some elementary teachers using it for assessments and Shakopee Online. Teachers at the secondary level do have expectations for using Canvas is the tool for sharing information about their class, posting materials, and a...

Canvas for Parents

Canvas  is Shakopee's Learning Management System. Teachers use Canvas to post announcements, deliver materials, and collect digital work from students. Students to submit assignments, take quizzes, participate in discussion boards, access resources, and track their to-do list. Canvas is used in grades 6-12, Shakopee Online, and some elementary class...

Canvas Setup Checklist

For the 2022-2023 school year, all secondary staff are required to utilize the course template. It is automatically installed upon creation of your course so you no longer need to import that template from Commons. You must complete the section titled "Required Setup" in order for your grades to calculate properly.  Once you have completed the requi...

Canvas Grading Tips & Tricks

Canvas is the official in-progress Gradebook for Shakopee Schools. Final grades for each quarter are posted on Infinite Campus. Read the information below to learn some of the nuances of the gradebook and how to effectively grade students. Assignment Settings Assignment Groups Make sure you have created assignment groups that you need and weight the...

Grade Guardian

What is it? Grade Guardian is a service used to monitor and support students academically within Canvas. Grade Guardian is only available to Shakopee staff for grades 6-12 and is not available for students or parents. Using analytics for each course a student is enrolled in, Grade Guardian sorts and color-codes students based on their academic perfo...

Google Assignments in Canvas

What are Google Assignments in Canvas? Google Assignments is a new method for creating assignments in Canvas using Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Using it will automatically create a copy of whatever document you want students to have. They can edit the document in Google Drive and the teacher can view and comment on their work in-progress. Students can ...

Canvas Studio

What is Canvas Studio? Canvas Studio is a tool built into Canvas that allows you to create video-based discussions and quizzes. You can use Studio to record videos of your computer screen, use your webcam, or both. You then can embed those within pages in Canvas. Why is this a great tool?  Canvas Studio is a great tool because it allows you to creat...

Canvas Module Requirements

What are module requirements? You can require students to complete the defined requirements within the module before the module will be marked complete. You can require students to complete all requirements in the module, or have them choose one item to fulfill a specific requirement. Why use module requirements? You might want students to work thro...

Canvas Sections

What are Canvas Sections? Canvas Sections are lists of students that can be used to assign assignments, quizzes, and discussions. Why use Sections? Because you can create your own Sections in your course, you could create a list of students that get accommodations for their tests and/or assignments. This allows you to quickly assign content to a sub...

Canvas Groups

What are Groups? Canvas Groups are a means to creating groups for collaborative work in long-term projects. Students are given a workspace that is almost like a mini-course that they can add files to, create Pages in, and it also lets them submit an assignment as a group. They are best used for long-term collaborative projects as they do take some t...

Canvas Collaborations

What is it? Collaborations are a quick way for an instructor to create Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides and share them with student Groups. Documents created in Collaborations are automatically shared with the students in a group and the instructor without the need for creating an Assignment or typing in email addresses to share via Drive. Why use it...

Create a Canvas Section for Incompletes

In order to extend course access to a Canvas course for just those students with incompletes once a term ends, you will need to create an Incompletes section. Please avoid changing the end date of your course. When a course is extended beyond the term end date ALL students can continue to participate in the course and the course will continue to sho...

Connected Learning Day (CoLD) Required Setup

If a Connected Learning Day is announced by the district, secondary teachers should create and post an independent assignment in Canvas for students to complete.  Before a CoLD Day 1. Find your CoLD Home Page. By default, you should already have the CoLD Home Page template in your courses. Click on Pages>All Pages to find it.  2. Edit your CoLD H...

Distance Learning Setup (Secondary)

To prepare for the possibility of Distance Learning, secondary teachers have two items they will want to complete in advance. Teachers should import the NEW Home Page Template and setup their Google Meets in the methods described below.  Written Directions - Template Setup 1. Go to Canvas Commons and import one of the home page templates pictured be...

Hide/Post Grades in Canvas

By default, when you enter a grade for an assignment, quiz, or discussion in Canvas, students will immediately be able to see the grade they earned as well as any teachers comments and SpeedGrader feedback. But, sometimes you want to wait until you have students in front of you so they can see their scores at the same time or perhaps you have a larg...

Unicheck

What is Unicheck? Unicheck is a tool that reviews student submissions to Canvas and provides teachers a plagiarism report to show how much of the student's work was plagiarized, cited correctly, or potentially copied from a classmate. Why use it? Unicheck can give teachers peace of mind that students are not submitting someone else's work but more i...

View Grades of Dropped Students in Canvas

If a student was automatically dropped from your Canvas course because of a schedule change, you can still view the grades they received on all assignments.  Click on People Click on the 3 dots in the upper right Click on View Prior Enrollments You'll see a list of students. Click on a student's grade percentage to see all their grades....

Canvas Updates: Spring 2023 Edition

Canvas has periodic updates throughout the school year and some of them are easy to miss. Below are a few highlights of features that hopefully will make using Canvas easier and save you time in the grading process. If you are curious to learn more about Canvas updates, check out their Release Notes page and check out their Product Roadmap to see wh...