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Update
- First student week went so well!!! Amazing buy in from across the building of 150+ faculty members along with 1600 students among whom 1200 now have Chromebooks! I'm so happy all the hard work seems to be paying off! I have started doing a weekly blog as a way to avoid sending too many emails during the week!
- My resource Hub is getting good traffic! Despite some frustration as they get used to the new system...there is always a positive ending to every interaction. So many colleagues pulled me in their rooms...saying "Look what I did!!". When I do send emails to faculty I do a short quick version with a funny meme and then instruct them to scroll down if they want the more detailed longer version!
- Now I am using the resource hub to create assignments using LTIs...I made a Flipgrid assignment this morning and offered free coffee and donuts one morning this month for anyone who completed the assignment on time! I have a coffee maker and donuts are cheap...so we shall see if that works!
- Anyone have any other good incentive ideas I can offer my colleagues that won't break my wallet??? I thought about using Badgr to create badges and show off how to gamify...but not sure how much buy in that will get me...
@jayoder I used Badgr and badges in my Canvas training course. (I also use them for a whole series of digital pd.) I do things a little differently though, and actually send teachers a physical badge in addition to their digital Badgr one. I designed mine in Canva and then added them in Badgr. Each badge corresponds to a module. (I am way late to the party on responding, but finally have some time to "community")
@jgriggs Hooked me up with his Advertisements from #instructure con 2018 I revamped them and hung them up in all Faculty Lounges and Rest Rooms!!!
Here are our latest stats after 6 weeks! Every day I have a new teacher joining in on the fun and adding more content!
I just wanted to report that I sat at breakfast like I do every Friday at a local diner across the street from our school. And I heard colleagues who 7 weeks ago were mocking our new tech initiatives that were now having robust conversations about the things they have been doing in Canvas and how much they enjoy the system. I almost fell out of my chair. Mind you most of these teachers are much older than I am and are true digital immigrants, some were 25 year vets. It is incredible the buzz of positive energy, especially if you knew these 130+ individuals like I have for the past 13 years since I started there right out of university. Everyone has been able to find something they can use comfortably and its not a competition because everyone is able to play a different game. Its now just about collaborating, knowing your tech limits and sharing the fun things you've been doing and knowing I am there like the flash if something goes wrong or when there happens to be a glitch in the Matrix! 
I'm not sure to be honest we don't do grading periods in Canvas, our Tech dept did not want to set up grading periods. Not sure why... something about if we wanted to make a change after the grade period it would be more work to open up Canvas and our SIS to ge tthe grades synced, but I have a feeling it was self-serving.
Anyone else do grading periods and SIS syncing (We use Skyward) I'd love to see if we should explore that for next year.
K-12
Here are our stats after 10 weeks with Canvas...
I recently gave a student survey asking "What would you tell your teachers about their Canvas/Technology use so far?" I gave this survey to about 80 of our highest academic students via their IB or AP classes. a mix of Sophomores, mostly Juniors, and some seniors. The feedback was very good, but the overwhelming outcry was for 3 things...more unity in terms of how each teacher uses their Canvas page. Second, a call for organization and an end to other platforms such as Quia, Google Classroom. And lastly, notification muting, which can be overwhelming if not set properly or if teachers over use items such as announcements. As for the last one, the ball is in their court, but without an audience with the student body its hard to spread that news. Although I have been bullying my way into the Weekly news channel that all student watch weekly. I hope to offer a 'Tech Hack of the Week' segment.
On the teacher end the biggest complaint is that they don't check their notifications or that they just swipe them away as a part of their smartphone culture like I would immediately through away any letter in my mailbox that resembles a circular ad from chain retailer.
My challenge with my colleagues is to continue to be patient and to continue to offer countless opportunities for people to learn F2F, online and during monthly PD meetings. We will also be offering a book club soon using "Thinking Skills for the Digital Generation" written by 2 locals professionals, 1 of whom is a medical doctor and the other a doctor of education. Both from outside the Philadelphia/Delaware area!
I chalk all of this up to growing pains. Just like flowers we have to grow through dirt. Simple trial and error! Change is a slow process and I think we are on the right track given the amount of prep time we have been given and also give the lack of oversight at the administration level. I think its a nice recipe for an organic, yet rocky, start. However, we will ultimately have a strong finish!
Update: Things are going VERY well here. I recently looked at our analytics and the usage is incredible. We are now diving into the world of LTIs. Nearpod being on the top of the list! It seems to be the perfect triumvirate: Canvas, Chromebooks, Nearpod!
Although it appears my school may do away with my on assignment position as a tech integration specialist and return me to the classroom, which I think is premature since a lot of teachers need to the support and help as they continue to make sense of all the new tech and features within Canvas.
Take a look at our stats before we had my position (February 2018-June 2018)
Versus our stats (Aug 2018- December 2019 with my position in place)
Feel free to follow my daily journey on Twitter: @OJRTechCoach
Cheers!
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Hi @sembry ,
I actually just have it as a Canvas course in our canvas instance and each teacher is enrolled as a student with their department members as sections so I can easily assign items to specific departments and let them see it just like a kid would. Does that answer your question?
I considered sharing it to Commons, but I am still polishing it up and playing with the design constantly to find the best way to use it! And like most of us teachers I am a perfectionist 
It has been awhile, but things have continued to go so well at school. Unfortunately our Tech Dept has decided to pull the full time support I was able to give to my colleagues this year as a TOSA. But I still have 20 days left and I will use everyone of them to try and leave a legacy with my Canvas Resource Guide, before returning to the classroom full time 
.
Our usage stats have continued to soar! I have really dived deeper into Blueprints. We have been using them to push out and hand in permission slips as well as Class Election materials! More and more Teachers are grading in Canvas and I have at least 2 of our English teachers who haven't printed a paper all year due to the annotation tools in Speedgrader!
What a great year one with Canvas and all of this without a principal for most of the year. It is a true testament to the fact that teachers want tech, but they need support, time and patience! And I have found a new calling in my educational career, supporting and training teachers is now my true passion! Plus, its fun having them treat me like I'm David Blaine doing street magic all day!
I just joined Canvas and I am now in the position as several of you mentioned earlier (well, much earlier on) in the discussion...I'm a newbie to a school that has been using over the past several years. Below is a graph showing the school's usage during the previous school year - not much to talk about. So I am looking for the following resources if anyone has to share (I did not read every single post in this discussion as it was very long):
- Resources/Course to use for NEW teachers for Back to School/Teacher's Inservice
- Canvas Refresh for those teachers who are returning but might need a refresh, or if there are any new features to share
- I found @mjoaquin 's slide deck: Getting Started With Canvas SLS 2018 and I plan to look at that.
- I found the DL:Conquering Canvas on the Canvas Commons and I want to go through that myself first before sharing with teachers.
- I'd like to know where I can find the 3 hour course "Getting to Know Canvas" that @mjoaquin used.
- I am looking for @mjoaquin 's 1.5 hour Canvas Next Steps course.
- I saw @mjoaquin 's 1.5 hour Canvas is Elementary. Is there one for High School?
Now....on a separate topic, taking into account the usage below, what would be the best way to integrate Canvas properly? I am going to speak to my principal about what his expectations are for me to try and implement it. Also, being that this is my first year at the school, it's better that I have a strong positive relationship with the teachers first before encouraging or even pressuring the teachers to use Canvas. I don't want to come on too strong....
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