For each course you are assigned to, familiarize yourself with the Teacher Resource Guide (TRG). 

Resources vary depending on the course type, subject, and grade level. Examples of resources are scope and sequence, course pacing guide, and technical requirements. 

Search your course resources for a course overview - a document to help you plan your unit content, projects, and materials.

Hybrid courses will house a detailed project based learning guide with a breakdown of daily activities and materials, accommodations for struggling learners and modifications based on school modality.

K-5 Teachers will find a lesson support guide which will give ideas for extension activities for beyond the school day, or as a small group or intervention activity for teachers and support staff. 

The teacher graded items location document will guide you to the location of questions that will require your hand in grading throughout the course.

Commons is a learning object repository that enables educators to find, import, and share resources. A digital library full of educational content, Commons allows Canvas users to share learning resources with other users as well as import learning resources into a Canvas course.

Canvas Commons must be enabled by Canvas. And is visible, if enabled, in Global Navigation. 

Adding Content to Canvas Commons

Importing Favorited Canvas Commons Content

Input from existing users is a very important part of how Instructure (Canvas) prioritizes work on new and existing features and fixing bugs. 

Instructure looks at data from the support team, feedback from Customer Success Managers (CSMs), and from the Community directly.

The attendance (Roll Call) tool is available for taking attendance for Canvas courses. The attendance tool can be used for online or face-to-face courses. 

This tool can be used to track physical attendance, the submission of assignments as noted in the gradebook, or even to track PBIS expectations in class. Teachers can set a deduction percentage for late assignments and opt to send a running grade related to attendance to the gradebook. Badges can be created and managed to personalize attendance expectations.

Reports can be easily configured and downloaded to a CSV file for records, conferences, IEP or 504 meetings or PLC’s. 

This tool must be first enabled at an account level. 

Taking Attendance Using the Roll Call Tool

Creating a Seating Chart Using the Roll Call Tool

Creating an Attendance Report Using the Roll Call Tool

Creating and Managing Badges in the Roll Call Tool

Add a Page

Edit a Page

Set a Front Page

The Card View Dashboard displays course cards for all your favorite active courses. Course Cards can help you organize your courses by adding a nickname or customizing the color, which is synced with the color shown for the course in the Calendar.

If Canvas Elementary view is enabled, you can adjust your dashboard to a more simplified Homeroom View that provides subject tiles and important dates set by the instructor. 

Dashboard Modifications

Elementary Homeroom View

Assignment settings can be modified by selecting the assignment title and Edit. You can modify settings such as point value, submission type, allowed attempts and due dates. 

Module Settings allow for the adjustment of prerequisites, module requirements, and sequence control.

Assignment Weights can be modified or removed in the assignments tab. 

Manage Assignment Settings

Manage Module Settings

Edit Assignment Group Weights

Gradebook filters allow users to adjust gradebook views by module, assignment groups, status, submissions and start and end date. 

Modify gradebook settings like arrangement rules, status colors and visibility options.

Add an Assignment Attempt

Re-Open an Assignment Attempt

Within Modules, you can view the progress of your students in relation to the whole course. 

Module progress is determined by the students completing required elements in the module. If you do not set up any requirements, you will be unable to track student progress within the module.

New Analytics is an LTI tool that can be enabled at an account level to provide information like student performance and course grade data. 

*NOTE: Some Data within New Analytics is not available for StrongMind delivered content. See the article in Learn More to determine functionality.

When creating or editing an assignment, you can assign it to a specific course section. You can also set different due dates or availability dates for a section than those you have set for the rest of the class. 

Only the section(s) specified in the assignment details can view the assignment.

Create a Course Section

Add a User to a Section

Attaching Assignments to a Course Section

All Canvas users have access to Course Pacing. Use Course Pacing to define a pace in which student’s complete assignments. This allows students with different start dates to have the same time frame in which they will need to complete assignments. Once enabled and run, pacing will be indicated in Canvas course calendars and can be easily modified by dragging and dropping within the calendar tool.

Users on an Instance of StrongMind’s Canvas will have access to the Distribute Due Dates custom LTI tool. This tool allows your school administrator to set blackout dates and term dates and then run Distribute Due Dates for courses. This tool will automatically distribute the assignments evenly throughout the term, ignoring weekends and set blackout dates. 

Note: These tools cannot be enabled together.   

Course Pacing

Distribute Due Dates

StrongMind and Canvas offer many features to assist students of varying needs. 

All courses have Read Speaker TTS which allows for text to be read aloud and/or translated into multiple languages. 

Teachers and students have opportunities to upload video or audio recordings in Canvas Inbox, and SpeedGrader allows for media rich grading notes. 

All lessons follow a Design for Purpose structure which utilizes color psychology to build associations and more efficiently make connections., 

The StrongMind Special Education Implementation Guide lists a wide variety of modifications and accommodations for different learning needs.

Special Education Implementation Guide

Read Speaker Text-to-Speech Tool

Design for Purpose

Recording and Adding Audio to Canvas Messages

Recording a Video in Canvas Messages