New Year Canvas Course Setup Checklist - Secondary Teachers

A checklist for secondary teachers to make sure their secondary Canvas courses are set up properly for the new school year. NOTE: Students' overall class grades will be calculated out of Synergy gradebook and visible in Student/ParentVUE.

All assignments and assignment scores should be entered in Canvas.

"Cross List" Similar Classes

(combining multiple sections of the same course) If you are cross listing sections, this needs to be done before the start of term. (instructions)

Synergy Gradebook Prep - Match "Assignment Groups"

Since Synergy gradebook is going to calculate your students' final grades, it is NECESSARY to ensure your Canvas "Assignment Groups" match your Synergy "Assignment Types". See full instructions here:
- Syncing Assignments & Scores To Synergy ("Grade Passback")

Canvas Assignment Setup

Due Date: Required
Available Until Date Recommended
Assignment submissions
- 100% Digital ("Online")
- 100% Paper ("No Submission")
- Hybrid Digital or in-person ("Online") - If an assignment has the option of submitting digitally or in person, include "text entry" as a submission option and have students note in the text box that they submitted in person. This will avoid inaccurately flagging these assignments as missing.

Set up Grade Passback (GPB) in Canvas

Read both of the following KB articles carefully. Many reported "issues" stem from not understanding how GPB works.

Canvas Course Settings

Hide Overall Class Grade Settings → Course Details tab → "more options" link → "Hide totals in student grades summary" should be checked. (this is the default)
Show "Grades" in course navigationSettings → Navigation tab. If it is hidden, enable it. This will let students and parents see assignment scores at status information.
Enable "Grade Sync" in course navigation. Same as above. This will let you as a teacher see it. Students will not see it.