Part 1: Prepare Your Canvas Account

Lesson 02 of the New Online Teacher Training course will help you become familiar with Canvas. It also includes instructions on how to set up your Canvas profile and notifications.

Part 2: Prepare and Publish Your Course

Step 1: Prepare your initial lessons (Seminary only)

Lessons before school begins

Learn when school starts in your area. Unpublish the modules and lessons that fall outside your students' school semester.

To unpublish a module or lesson:

Click on the green and white checkmark icon right of the module or lesson title. This will change it into a gray negative icon

You do not need to publish or unpublish any other modules in this course!

Introductory lessons and Doctrinal Mastery lessons

This course has several introductory lessons that do not have due dates in Canvas. Each module also includes Doctrinal Mastery lessons. Introductory lessons and Doctrinal Mastery lessons that fall outside the students’ school term need to be taught while students are in school.

Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge lessons provide foundational principles that the other doctrinal mastery lessons will build on. These lessons should be taught before any other doctrinal mastery lessons.

Doctrinal Mastery Passage lessons are paired with a contextual lesson about the passage itself. The outcomes of doctrinal mastery are addressed together in the two lessons—the contextual lesson and the passage lesson. All doctrinal mastery passage lessons need to be taught while students are in school.

Doctrinal Mastery Reviews are placed in every week where there are not any passage lessons. This is to provide students with a weekly doctrinal mastery experience, even if there are no passages being studied in a given week. These lessons are designed to help students memorize the scripture references and key phrases, understand the doctrine, and apply the doctrine. To include these introductory and doctrinal mastery lessons during your school term, you will need to replace the regular lessons that are already in Canvas. Unpublish the regular lessons you will replace with introductory or doctrinal mastery lessons. Then move the introductory or doctrinal mastery lessons to their appropriate places.

To move a lesson to a new week:

Find the lesson in Modules and click on the Options icon (three vertical dots) at the end of the item. Select Move to ...
Use the dropdown menus that appear to place the lesson in the correct place in the proper module. Then press Move.
Open the lesson, then press Edit. (Discussion lessons have Edit in the Options menu.)
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, to the section titled "Assign." Under the heading "Due," enter in the new due date for the lesson.

Class Gatherings

Most Online Seminary classes meet once a week for their Class Gatherings. At your gatherings, focus on Jesus Christ. Invite your students to share how their learning experiences in Canvas are helping them become better disciples of Jesus Christ. If time permits, you may also teach from one of the lessons for that week in your gathering. If you are going to teach a lesson in your first class gathering, decide which lesson you will teach. For example, you could unpublish the lesson that's due on the day your class gathers. Then you could use the Teacher Material for that lesson to prepare for your gathering.

Step 2: Update your course homepage

Your course homepage is a great introduction to the course. The only thing it's missing is you—and information about your class gatherings.

Welcome Message

On the homepage you can upload a photo of yourself and leave a brief welcome message for your students.

To add a photo and welcome message:

On the homepage, click Edit.
Replace the text "[Replace with teacher image, name, and brief welcome message]" with a photo of yourself, your name, and a brief welcome message to your students.
Add a friendly photo of yourself by opening theInsert menu and selecting Image > Upload Image. Select the image from your computer and then select Submit. Resize your image as needed.
Type in a brief welcome message to your students. Welcome them to the class and help them get excited to learn!
Select Save and see how your photo and welcome message appear. Edit and save again as needed.

Class Gatherings

On the homepage you can also tell students when and where class gatherings will occur.

To add class gathering information:
1. On the homepage, click Edit.
2. Under the heading "Class Gatherings," enter your gathering day and time. If you will use a videoconference meeting, add the link and password, if applicable. If your gatherings will be in person, provide the location for the gathering.
3. When finished, click Save.

Your homepage is now a great introduction to your course!

Step 3: Publish your course

When your course is ready for students to enter, go to the homepage and click the Publish button!

Part 3: Welcome Your Students

Send a welcome message to your students and their parents through WISE. You may want to include any or all of the following in your message:

a brief introduction of yourself as their teacher,
information about when the class starts and when class gatherings are held,
a reminder to register and update their Church Account and mySeminary or myInstitute,
how students should contact you (Canvas Inbox is preferred),
access to or copies of the Introduction to Online materials, and
an invitation to introduce themselves in the Meet Your Class activity in the course.