Social Studies Middle School Guide

● The navigation is a vital component to ensure that students have access to the correct areas of your course. In order to maintain consistency across grade levels and schools, the navigation guidelines have been put in place. If you have something else you would like to add to the navigation of your own course, work with your Ed Tech Coach to discuss best practices and implications of adding that. ● Items such as assignments, quizzes, discussions, etc. are not included in the course navigation. Use modules to organize and share these items with students.

Training Resources ● How do I edit the course navigation?

Course Home Page (Exemplars) ● Multimedia Element

○ Adding multimedia and changing the multimedia element regularly is a great way to add interest and avoid a text-heavy class Canvas webpage. ○ The templates provided in Canvas Commons are a great place to start. ● Welcome message ○ Your home page should include the teacher’s name and a welcome message. ○ The welcome message should introduce students to you and your class and provide an overview of what they will be learning this school year, month, or term. ● Contact information ○ Use this space to describe your preferred contact method for students and parents/guardians (e.g., email address, phone number, etc.). ○ Consider the Canvas inbox and announcements as a way to communicate with students. It is a great way to send a message to the whole class and/or individual students. ○ Optional: establish offce hours - in-person or virtual. ■ You can use the Scheduler tool in Canvas to set up offce hour dates and time in which students can use to sign up. ● Disclosure Statement ○ This document is something that teachers share with students and parents at the beginning of the year and/or term. Linking this document on your course home page provides a way for students and parents/guardians to access it anytime. ● Canvas Expectations and Course Information: ○ Have a section on your home page that explains your expectations for students and how you have set up your Canvas course. This can be a video, paragraph, link to a page, and more! Get creative. ● Link to Supports: ○ Provide links to supports for students and parents. ○ Recommended links: ■ CSD Parent Connections (updated) ■ Student Canvas Support Guide ■ Observer (parent/guardian) Canvas Support Guide ■ CSD Help Desk ● Course Schedule (Exemplars)