My Journey to Canvas

[isiah_williams]

My first year teaching I was a High School math teacher.  I was at an alternative school for pregnant teens.  Many of the students were not in attendance but wanted to be.  We had rolling admission at my school so I didn't know how many kids I would teaching from day to day and very little notice of who would leave.  We had attendance issues.  My students couldn't get to school because of health issues, appointments, or they had to stay home with their children.  I first started developing an online curriculum through using Wikispaces.  It worked! My students were able access all my material.  The problem was getting work turned in!  We had limited email space in my district and many of students were sending huge files.  I was trying to eliminate paper.  However, at the end of the semester most students would come class with a book full of completed work.  That's frustrating near of the year with grades on the line.  I did home visits for some kids and used Skype for others, but because of their medical issue it was hard to get in touch with them.  With the introduction to Canvas in my district it has made it so much easier for my students to retrieve and submit work, contact, and get feedback.  With incorporation of Google Apps, I can upload all of my docs so students can submit work.  I am an Engineering Teacher now, I still love using it.  Now I'm looking forward to the day that Canvas can interact with CAD files with fluidity.