In a previous blog post I expressed how surprised I was that the students in my classes had not embraced Canvas in the way that I had imagined: Students who say, "just tell me what to memorise," and how to serve them​Yesterday, having spent another d...

I love learning, *really* love learning: if I could avoid my classes and sneak into the back of colleagues' rooms to listen to lessons on classical civilisation, Russian grammar, and theoretical physics all day long, that would be heaven.As it is, I ...

I was directed to Versal last week by a tweet from @alicekeeler. Versal is a free course generator that allows you to develop a number of interactive learning activities using 'gadgets'.The software is very straightforward to use. Sign up is simple (...

All our students have planners to write their homework into.  We usually put some school-specific information into the front few pages of their planners.  I've made a couple of pages explaining students how to use Canvas.  Here's the PDF and DOCX ver...

I can't technically tie this to Canvas, but it has been so much fun that I wanted to share it with you.  I've been playing with Google Cardboard and Cardboard Camera over the last few months.  With Cardboard Camera (a free app for Android), you can c...

Differentiated instruction allows teachers to tailor study to a student's needs and/or interests. Nothing is more frustrating than having to watch a student who has easily mastered the material not be challenged as he/she waits for others to grasp th...

If we want our students to be well-prepared for an assessment, the way that we practice in class should closely mirror the format of the test itself.Why, then, are we still using paper review sheets?Don't get me wrong: there are some students who pre...

Looking for ways to increase teacher collaboration in your school?Lucky for us Canvas is a perfect tool to increase teacher collaboration within and across disciplines! Here are a few ideas!1. Develop a teacher course housing Professional Development...

Now that the opening act of the 2015-2016 school year is past and parent-teacher-(student) conferences are among us, I thought I’d share some thoughts stemming from August and September. I, like many guys out there, think in compartmentalized boxes; ...

My biggest health issue once school starts is always how much time I actually spend working during the average week! Lots of research shows that, after 50 hours of work, one's productivity pretty much plateaus. However, I often find myself needing to...

I'm writing this from the point of view of the person who gets all the emails and work orders about things in Canvas. I'm also the one that does Canvas training for employees.The "Groundhog Day" effect - There will be times in which you will swear th...

One of the best things about my job is I get to connect with lots of teachers! At HBUHSD I am so fortunate to work with some of the finest teachers around. Not only that, I've been able to connect with even more teachers on Twitter and when I am teac...

So this may be contrary to what many educators will be writing about in response to this question. I won't be filling up the space with curriculum ideas, work flow design, Canvas tips or even notes for collaborating with colleagues. My 5 Things will ...

Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie, who's not ready holler I. Even though we are never really "ready" starting the school year, in a healthy way, is easier than multiplying by five. Speaking of five here are five ways you can make your school more fun than...

Canvas Community, thanks for encouraging me to think about the beginning of the school year. Here is my list of things I did in the last few weeks to ensure a positive start to the academic year. -KL1. Take the time to reflect/daydream about curricul...

#1 Remember Murphy’s LawAnything that can go wrong will go wrong. Well, Murphy’s Law was confirmed at Mendez Fundamental today. Bottom line, the network was down. When teachers see that the trusted network is down, they venture out into the unknown. ...

Successful implementation of Canvas in first grade!

This white paper discusses how a reliable and secure infrastructure can help your K12 school or District support greater student achievement with digital learning.We are in the middle of a six year iPad deployment to our middle and high school studen...