If I already have an account as a teacher, how do I pair with my own child to observe his/her classes?

[sally_waite]

If I already have an account as a teacher, how do I pair with my own child to observe his/her classes?

[KristinL]

Hi!

You have a couple of options!

I have colleagues who also have children in the building. They actually prefer to have two separate accounts (one for teaching, one for parenting!), for their roles in Canvas. They use their official school email for their teacher account, and they use a personal email for their observer account. The most common feedback is that they can separate work life from home life a lot easier. They can sign in to Canvas Teacher and Canvas Parent using the appropriate login credentials and set notifications in a way that works best for them and their family!

If you'd like to keep your accounts "merged", you can use your teacher account to also observe your child. When you click Account then Settings, do you see an Observing tab? If yes, you can follow the directions in this guide: How do I link a student to my user account as an observer? If not, let me know. There is a way to do it, but it's hidden. I'll send you the workaround in a private message because it can also be used by students to observe other students.

[alex_podchaski]

Is there a setting that we have to change, or is is a real workaround? We are having this problem as well with faculty and staff who want to follow their students with their school account. I have not been able to find a setting as the admin to change ability for teachers to be observers, but I may be missing something. Please reach out when you get a chance. Thanks!

[KristinL]

Hi Alex -

There isn't a setting that can be changed from the Admin level. Teachers CAN be Observers too, but each user needs to do a tiny bit of work to make it possible. There is a work-around (which I can message you directly), but it can definitely add some confusion to the dashboard. Luckily, teachers can color-code, nickname, and reorganize their course cards as necessary. 

[becky10]

I'd love to know this work around. This is going to affect many people at our school too. Thank you

[amber_downey]

Can I get the workaround too on how to add my own child to my teacher account?  Thanks!

[arriyana]

it ok

[jcrouch2]

Kristen,

Could you please send me the instructions for setting this up? We have some teachers at our school that want to have their accounts set up this way.

Thanks!

[TiffanyS2]

Could you send me the work around to be able to add my child to my teacher account?  I don't want to have to log in and out of them.  Thank you!

[apacanovsky]

Can I please get a copy of the workaround, too? Thank you!

[LauraHastings]

I do not have the "observer" option in my Teacher account, how do I set it up to observe my own child? Thank you.

[Alsewell74]

Can I get the workaround?  I am a special education teacher who has a couple of kids doing Canvas.  They are on my caseload, so I need to observe them.

[akpete]

I am a teacher that would like to know how to work around the system so that I can pair with my child on Canvas. I currently do not have the Observer tab as an option.

Thanks for your help! 

[akpete]

The response to this question said "it ok." I'm looking for the hidden way to be able to do this. 

[TCarbonneau]

Is it possible to get the hidden solution sent to me? I am trying to pair paras with students, but am unsure how to do this when the paras already have accounts. 

[Stef_retired]

You'll need to contact the Canvas admin for your school to request that they enable this on your behalf.

[garrett_william]

Kristin, thank you for your insights. I know you posted the solution awhile ago. Can you share it with me as well with a DM. Thanks so much!

[atomlin119]

Could you send me the work around as well?

Thank you!

[tracyr1]

Please send me a work around too

[amber_downey]

Has anyone received the work around and want to share?  I posted months ago and haven't received any kind of reply.

[KristinL]

@amber_downey  -- Sorry I missed you. Messages are a completely manual process. I'll send you a DM shortly.

[kimmeyd]

I would love to see the work around.  This could work well for some of our teaching support staff.  Thank you so much.

[garrett_william]

Where you able to find the solution. I am interested in knowing it as well. Thanks!

[KristinL]

Hi @garrett_william - I just sent you a DM. 🙂

[akpete]

I received the following information from a colleague: "You have to work with the teacher of the course. It can be a bit of a slog to talk with each teacher to add you but it pays off in the long run. Ideally they would add you as a TA. Observer is the minimum requirement." It worked for me, hopefully it will work for you too! 

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

At this time, local Canvas Administrators all should have the process for allowing Teachers to also be Observers. If you find this thread and are wondering about how to accomplish this, please reach out to your local Canvas Support. How do I get help with Canvas as an instructor?