Doin' It Right?

[ssimpso4]

Context

Not only does Daft Punk have a song called Doin' It Right, it features (and this is not a lie) an artist known as Panda Bear. Have a listen to the irresistible track on YouTube. 

Now that that lyric is stuck in your head, let's consider the parallels between a successful club DJ and a successful Canvas trainer, coach, and/or teacher:

Like the song says, "Doing it right. Everybody will be dancing." That about sums it up, no? If a DJ can't get folks onto and keep them on the dance floor, they're going to quickly find him or herself without any gigs.

The same could be said for those of us in K-12 who are working diligently to drive blended learning implementation via Canvas-usage at our schools and in our institutions. Whether you're an instructional leader, a Canvas trainer, a professional learning leader, or a classroom teacher, if you can't get professionals and/or students 'dancing' in Canvas, you might quickly find yourself being asked some version of, "Why are we spending $ on this system if most teachers aren't using it and students report they don't like it?"

Blog Challenge

In the Comments section below, post an example of evidence that illustrates that you're Doin' It Right in your classroom, department, or school. You'll enjoy making your comment even more if you are listening to the track while you type.

We'll all learn from each other in the process!

[ssimpso4]

I'll start. Recently, we've been able to push our way into discussions with our HR Dept (among others) about how they might leverage Canvas for their own purposes. While this is obviously supplemental to our core efforts to drive blending learning in K-12 classrooms, it's an indicator that the larger system is catching up with the Instructional Technology Department in my district. 

I'll share some other examples over time. Who else?

[laurakgibbs]

I LOVE THIS CHALLENGE!

Doin' it right
Everybody will be writing
And we'll be feeling it right
Everybody'll be creating
And be doin' it right
Everybody will be writing
When we're feeling all right
Everybody'll be creating tonight

And for an illustration, here are my students writing and creating, and I'm pinning it all at Pinterest:

Online Course: Indian Epics 

Online Course: MythFolklore 

Pinterest embedded in Canvas:

[ssimpso4]

YES! Alternative lyrics are highly encouraged and appreciated!

[laurakgibbs]

And here is my school doin' it right: our Canvas admin who has done an amazing job during our transition year this year received a well-earned staff award this week: GO,  @kevin1 ‌!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tweet from yesterday:

[ssimpso4]

I think I recognize that guy (on the left)!

[laurakgibbs]

Okay, you made me do it: Hell's Club... where Daft Punk are DJs 🙂

HELL'S CLUB. PART 2.ANOTHER NIGHT. 

[awilliams]

I'm pretty proud of our Resource Center for Faculty course (It's open to the public so feel free to check it out). We're not K-12, but there's nothing that HE specific to the concept. Here's a shot of the front page. Shout out to https://community.canvaslms.com/community/answers/partnerships/cidi-labs?sr=search&searchId=8ec70f5a... for the tools that made the complex design accessible, mobile-friendly, and in general just super simple to create and update.

[Chris_Hofer]

[nbiddinger-c]

We are preparing to "Do It Right" by providing templates for our content area folks - no image or lyrics, but love seeing what will be put up next.

[kona]

It's not K12 specific, but I think we definitely do it right with our Canvas Instructor Training!

[mjoaquin]

One of the things I think we are doing right is our online training for our teachers. We do provide F2F training, but this course is open all year for teachers. The teachers earn badges for basically creating their course and content. Then in the advanced badges, they earn for going deeper and long term usage. This helps me see who is actively using Canvas. We are in year one of use. 

[mjoaquin]

Another is that we have gotten the HR department to agree to putting the District Handbook in Canvas! This is a huge win as it means taking the Handbook from a dry PDF to an interactive course, allowing for a more clear understanding of the handbook by all staff. It also gives Canvas way more exposure! 

[laurakgibbs]

Those badges look great,  @mjoaquin ‌! My school has focused on all face to face training instead of online, but I'm guessing that after this big rollout year they will be looking to develop some online options as well, so I am pinging  @keeganlong-whee ‌ on this. 

I like the sound of Canvas Conqueror ha ha. 🙂

[mjoaquin]

Thanks laurakgibbs‌! Canvas Conqueror is my personal favorite too!  I am happy to share things if you need anything! 

[jhough]

Love the song and the idea! Great start to a Monday morning!

One thing that showed we're doin' it right is when I have one teacher I've been working with all year excited about her quizzes! She's been one of the hesitant but willing 1:1 tech adopters all year. She doesn't think she's "techy." We started off really basic, I showed her how to create pages and assignments. We moved into downloading PDFs with Notability (although, it's not really needed now!). This last week, we spent time creating quizzes with multiple dropdowns and images that she learned how to find from Google then upload to Canvas. Now, she's sold on SpeedGrader and using the grade pass back with Skyward. She's starting to see how it can save her time. She's getting really fancy! It's fun to watch her get so excited and be so proud! I loved that look when I was in the classroom and my students would finally get something that had been challenging them and they would get so excited. It's fun to see it in the teachers I work with now!

Now, she's really interested in embedding things and making her course more dynamic and exciting for her students. She is one of my "bright spots," and I hope to take her experience and spread the love! 

Have a great Monday, everyone!

[laurakgibbs]

That sounds so great,  @jhough ‌! I get that same experience with students, where sometimes they start out very tentative and unconfident, and then by the end of the semester they are excited and proud about what they have done. It is the end of the semester now and I am watching some of them give themselves well-earned pats on the back in their final blog posts. And excitement like that is infectious: seeing one person face their fears and come through to the other side is inspiring. 🙂

[jhough]

It is totally inspiring! It helps when you run into the "Naysayer Wall," you know? It's most definitely infectious! 

[ssimpso4]

Adam, thanks very much for sharing this course. It's given me some things to chew on in regard to the need for a single course that hosts such varied resources. Two questions: 1) how much do faculty at your institution use the course and/or how do they report they use it and 2) how did you build in the course search function?

Cheers,

Steve

[ssimpso4]

Nancy, templates are definitely evidence of 'doin it right'! You can check out an example of a template we developed 15 months ago: Generic BL Lesson Template 

Thanks, Nancy!

[ssimpso4]

Kona, similar to what I thought when looking at Adam's post, I'm struck by how these sites provide a lot of a value to two primary audiences for on-demand Canvas learning. I'm excited to take a closer look at these courses, so many thanks for sharing!

[ssimpso4]

Misty, as I've previously shared with you, I love the tiered levels of badges! Any plans for Tier III badges next year? :smileylaugh:

[ssimpso4]

Another great idea, which I'm stealing!

[ssimpso4]

Jennifer, thanks for individualizing how you coach teachers to utilize Canvas. This teacher is going to love Quizzes.Next!

[mjoaquin]

Maybe....We are probably going to focus on moving the majority into those level 2 badges for now! And getting our reluctant learners to earn the level 1 badges!