What is a “Principal’s Corner” and why do you need one?
Authors: @KCTesterman @Chasina @bfirestone @Mark_Sluzky @JaimeJackson @kelleylozicki
As a leader, it is essential to model “high-tech leadership,” which means understanding and using the tools that you are expecting from your staff. It is about developing the capacity, capability, and culture of effective tech usage in your buildings. Too often, we are managers of people and resources and don’t have the opportunity to be instructional leaders - Canvas helps save time and increase productivity and communication.
Here are some reasons why you might want your own “Hub” in your Canvas LMS:
1. Consistent and Timely Communication: A "Principal's Corner" can be a central location for global and school-wide announcements, updates, and news. It allows the principal or other school administrators to communicate important information to students, parents, and staff in a consistent and organized manner. Using Canvas yourself gives everyone a common digital language, and even more than that, stakeholders can have the HUB translated into their native language. Here are some examples of home pages. If you’re interested in creating your own using a step-by-step guide, try this document that explains how to make a home page along with some examples to use and customize. You could also watch this video to learn more about the "why" and see applications of these concepts.
*Thanks to Mecklenberg County Public Schools for these designs.
2. Centralized Location: Keeping your information in a centralized location creates a digital ecosystem for your school. No longer will there be a need for printing packets or standing in line at the copier, or even the recurring email, “Where do I find X again?” The response will just be, “It’s in the Canvas course.” The beauty of this is that it is centralized and consistent. If I collect documents normally in a bin or a cubby, now, I can do it through Canvas. This is one of my favorites. Let’s say my staff traditionally turns in a sheet that shows they’ve completed the testing course for proctoring or they turn in graduation lists. If a site-based leader adds an assignment, now teachers turn it in through a link, and leaders can quickly glance down the “gradebook” to see who hasn’t turned it in. From there, the leader or an Admin Assistant (you can make them a TA) can then use the “Message Students Who” option that will send those who didn’t turn it in (and only those) an individual message, and I only have to type one message. What a time-saver! And everyone gets the same message.
3. Transparency: You can send announcements, choose “to whom,” add video, text, and embed items all within the same message. You can give robust feedback that is TIMELY. This is fabulous for supervision and observations, collecting certificates for continuing education or blood-born pathogens, etc. You can view important info without being a teacher in the course. We create roles for Principals to have view access. Don’t worry, you can have a role as a principal to VIEW courses and not “mess anything up.” Principals can see the whole lesson AND the student work AND the teacher's feedback. Even though principals might be “stuck” in their offices a lot, all the school things are still happening, and they just need a link to be a part of it.
If you've made it to the bottom of this blog, BRAVO! Here’s a Supervision/Observation Checklist that you can also use to guide your conversations using Canvas.
We hope these give you some ideas for your own Principal's Corner or Hub. If you have other ideas, drop them below. We are a community of sharers!
