How to Support Students During Virtual Learning
As parents, it is important to monitor your child's academic progress, especially during this time of virtual instruction. Below you will find resources for how to check your child's grades in both Skyward and Canvas. Be aware that while many teachers use Canvas as the way to distribute and receive work from students, Skyward is the official gradebook for OCPS. However, both Canvas and Skyward have important information for parents.
Canvas
Parents should check in on Canvas at least once a week. Though, it is suggested that you check in at the beginning, middle, and end of the week in order to keep on top of your student's performance.
- Check Announcements for each course to make sure your child hasn't overlooked or forgotten anything important.
- Check Modules to see what work has been assigned that week. Have your student
show you where they submitted their assignment.
- Check Calendar to see what due dates are upcoming.
- The best way to contact a teacher is through their school email or their Canvas inbox. To access the Canvas inbox, log into your parent Canvas account and select "Inbox" from the left sidebar. From here, you can send a message directly to a parent via Canvas.
Instructions on how to access your child's Canvas course can be found here.
Skyward
Skyward is the official gradebook for OCPS. You will need to create a parent account in order to access Skyward. Instructions on how to access Skyward's parent portal can be found here. A video tutorial on how to see and understand grades in Skyward can be found here.
Student Hacks You Should Know
Students sometimes know how to manipulate their grades on Skyward and Canvas. Be aware that the best way to avoid seeing incorrect grades is to have a parent account where you can access grades directly instead of relying on your student to show you their grades (which they may or may not have altered).
In Canvas, students will sometimes submit blank documents to assignments in order to clear the "missing" icon. This keeps parents from knowing if an assignment has really been completed or not. The best way to avoid having students "pretend" to submit their work is to ask them to open the documents they have submitted. This way, you can see their actual work and not just a note in Canvas showing the assignment has been submitted.