Canvas Guide for Parents

No, you do not need to create a Canvas account. Capistrano Valley Christian Schools automatically creates all Canvas accounts for students, parents, and teachers each summer.

1. Click on the “Parent Login” button below, or go to https://cvcs.instructure.com/login/. Type in your password.
2. If you are trying to sign in for the first time, you will also need to complete the following steps:
3. On the page linked above, click on “Forgot Password?”
4. Type in your email address (this must be the same email address that is registered with your FACTS account at CVCS) and press “Request Password.”
5. If the email address is on file with the school, Canvas will send you a password reset email. Click the link in the email that Canvas sends you.
6. Create a password for yourself and confirm, and log in again at the link in step one if necessary.

NOTE: If you do not receive a password reset email from Canvas, please message Joseph Jasper at jjasper@cvcs.org to receive assistance and cross-reference your email address in our system.

Parent Login

 

On the Dashboard, the sidebar contains a To Do list and other sections that help you know what assignments and events are coming up in all of your student's courses. The sidebar is similar to the sidebar in the Course Home Page, but the course sidebar only includes items for the specific course. By contrast, the sidebar on the Dashboard shows items from all of your student's courses combined.

1. Open Dashboard

In Global Navigation, click the Dashboard link.

2. View Sidebar Course Items

The sidebar shows various action items in all your studen'ts courses. The name of each course is shown under the title of each assignment [1]. All items from all your student's active courses display in the sidebar—not just favorited courses in the Dashboard. Course nicknames can be set in place of sidebar course codes that are long or otherwise confusing to remember which courses they represent. If you have created a nickname for a course, the nickname displays in the sidebar instead of the course code [2]. However, the original course code always displays in the course card.
 

3. View Student Sections

The sidebar helps you see what your student needs to do next and what feedback they've received across all of their courses. However, assignments that are not graded or do not require an online submission only display until the due date.

The To Do section shows up to seven items with due dates or event dates in the upcoming weeks, including ungraded quizzes, assignments that do not require a Canvas submission, and course announcements [1]. Each item in the To Do list displays the assignment name, the course name, the number of points, and the due date for the assignment. Once the due date has passed, items remain in this section for four weeks.

The Recent Feedback section shows assignments with feedback from your student's instructor or a peer during the last four weeks [2].

The View Grades button links to the Dashboard Grades page and displays grades for all active courses [3].

Manada Sidebar Items

Each section item displays an icon to differentiate between different assignment types and other items in the To Do list [1].

If a section contains more items than can be shown, you can view all to-do items using the Show All link [2]. This link directs you to the List View Dashboard.

To remove a To Do item, click the remove icon [3]. The item(s) remain removed from the list.

Note: Assignments submitted through Canvas disappear automatically from the To Do list; no-submission assignments (submitted on paper/in class) can only be removed from the list manually.

 

The Calendar is a great way to view everything your student has to do for all of their courses in one place. You can view calendar events by day, week, month, or agenda list.

1. Open Calendar

In Global Navigation, click the Calendar link.

2. View Calendar

 

The Calendar spans all courses and displays information for your student's enrolled courses and groups. In the navigation bar, you can view the calendar in Week, Month, or Agenda view [1]. The view you choose dictates the style of the calendar window [2]. By default, the calendar appears in Month view. The sidebar [3] shows a quick-view calendar, a list of your student's courses and groups, and undated items.

View Calendar List

Each personal, course, and group calendar is identified by a separate color that populates the calendar view. Associated calendar items for each course or group are displayed when selected in the calendar view [1]. By default, the first 10 course and group calendars will be selected and appear in the calendar view. To hide a calendar, click the box next to the name of the calendar [2]. Calendars that are not active within the calendar view display as faded text [3].

Note: Canvas will assign an arbitrary color for each calendar unless a custom color is chosen. Colors set in Dashboard course cards are also updated in the calendar.

3. View Calendar by Month

In the Month view, click the arrow buttons [1] to move from month to month. To view events for the current date, click the Today button [2].

To view a specific date, click the month link [3] and enter a date in the date field [4] or select a date from the calendar [5].

View Assignments and Events

Assignments are shown with an icon next to the assignment title. The icon reflects the assignment type: Discussion [1], Assignment [2], Quiz [3], or Events [4]. Non-graded items with a to-do date may be displayed in the calendar for a course. Each item on the calendar is color-coded to match the courses or calendars in the sidebar. To view full details for an assignment or event, hover over the item [5]. Calendar assignments can also be crossed out [6], which is a simple way to keep track of them. Assignments are crossed out once they have been submitted. However, assignments that have been awarded a grade but do not contain an actual submission will not be crossed out.
 

4. View Calendar by Week

To view the calendar by week, click the Week button. The Week view shows all calendar items by date and time. Note that some assignments may be due at 11:59 pm, which appear at the bottom of the calendar view.

5. View Calendar Agenda

To view all of your student's calendar items in an agenda format, click the Agenda button.

When a change is made to your student's course grades, the Grades link in Course Navigation adds a indicator representing the number of changes in a course since your last visit. The Grades page shows the details of your student's graded assignments. You can also set up notifications to know when your student's instructor(s) grades an assignment.

1. Open Grades

In Course Navigation, click the Grades link.

2. View Assignment Grade

 

 

A dot next to the assignment indicates the assignment that has been graded [1]. The indicator disappears when you navigate away or refresh the page. The score column displays the score given to the assignment [2]. On this page, you can also see if the assignment includes scoring details, comments, or rubrics.

3. View Comments/Feedback

If there are comments in your student's assignment, the assignment displays a Comment icon. To view comments, click the Comment icon [1]. If there are unread comments, an indicator is displayed [2]. Once the comments are read, the indicator disappears. Comments are organized chronologically. If there is feedback besides text comments, such as media comments, click the Feedback icon to open the submission detailsLinks to an external site. and view the other feedback [3]. To close comments, click the Close link [4].

4. View Rubric

An assignment may also include a Rubric icon [1], which means the assignment included a rubric for grading purposes. To view your student's results, click the icon. View your student's score based on the rubric [2]. To close the rubric, click the Close Rubric link [3].

The Grades page in a course displays all current grades for all course assignments. You can also view scoring details, comments, and rubrics.

Open Course

In Global Navigation, click the Courses link [1], then click the name of the course [2].

1. Open Grades

In Course Navigation, click the Grades link.

2. View Grades

From the grades page you can select the Course for which you want to view grades [1]. By default, grades are sorted chronologically by assignment due date. In the Arrange by menu [2], you can also sort by module, assignment name, or assignment group. To see the specified grades, click the Apply button [3]. Assignments that are not part of a module will be shown at the end of the assignments list in alphabetical order. You can view the name of the assignment [4], the assignment due date [5], the assignment submission date [6] the assignment status [7], the score you earned, and the total point value of the assignment [8]. You may also be able to view whether the assignment includes scoring details, comments, or rubrics [9]. You may see various grade icons in the score column indicating the type of assignment your student submitted [10]. These assignments have not been graded by their instructor. Once the assignment is graded, the icon will be replaced by your student's score.

The grades page also lets you create hypothetical or What-If grades. You can click any score field and approximate your grade for both graded assignments (if want to submit an assignment) and ungraded assignments.

To print your grades, click the Print Grades button [11].

3. View Sidebar

The grade summary shows your student's total grade [1], allows you to view any saved what-if scores [2], and allows you to show or hide all scoring details, comments, and rubrics shown in the Grades page [3]. Depending on the grade calculation for your course, your total grade may display as a point value or as a percentage.

View Current and Total Grades

The current grade is calculated by adding up the graded assignments according to their weight in the course grading scheme. This grade is calculated with the Calculate based only on graded assignments checkbox [1] selected in the sidebar. The total grade is calculated by adding all the assignments according to their weight in the course grading scheme (both graded and ungraded assignments). To view the total grade, deselect the sidebar checkbox [2]. The grade at the top of the sidebar will reflect your student's total grade.

Although Canvas has a built-in messenger app (called the “Inbox”), CVCS asks that you email your student's teachers directly using their school Google accounts (@cvcs.org) to streamline communication at the school.

If you need to find the email address of any CVCS employee, you can visit the "Our Team" page on the CVCS website.

Canvas includes a set of default notification settings you can receive for your student's courses. However, you can change the default settings by setting your notification settings.

Notifications are sent as one of four delivery types:

• Notify immediately
• Daily summary
• Weekly summary
• Notifications off
   

1. Open Notifications

In Global Navigation, click the Account link [1], then click the Notifications link [2].

2. View Account Notification Settings

On the Notification Settings page, you can manage how you receive notifications for your Canvas account and/or manage how you receive notifications for individual courses your student is taking. A banner describes the settings you are managing [1]. Another banner indicates the times when daily and weekly notifications will be delivered [2]. To dismiss a banner message, click the Close icon [3].

By default, the Settings for drop-down menu displays the Account option [4]. Account-level notification settings apply to all of your student's Canvas courses, however, any course-specific notification settings override account notification settings.

You can view your current account-level settings [5].

3. View Notification Types and Methods

Account-level notification types are listed by category [1]. There are notifications for course activities, discussions, conversations, groups, scheduling, and conferences.

You can also view your contact methods such as email addresses and push notifications for mobile devices [2].

View Notification Details

To view details for a notification, hover the cursor over the notification name [1]. View details such as the activities that trigger the notification [2].

4. Manage Email Notification Frequency

Each notification is set to a default setting. To change a notification for a contact method, locate the notification and click the icon for the contact method [1].

To receive a notification right away, select the Notify immediately option [2]. These notifications may be delayed by up to one hour in case an instructor makes additional changes, which prevents you from being spammed by multiple notifications in a short amount of time.

To receive a daily notification, select the Daily summary option [3]. The date and time of your daily notifications are posted in a banner at the top of the Notification Settings page.

To receive a weekly notification, select the Weekly summary option [4]. The date and time of your weekly notifications are posted in a banner at the top of the Notification Settings page.

If you do not want to receive a notification, select the Notifications off option [5].

Unsupported notification types display the Unsupported icon [6]. You cannot manage unsupported notifications.
 

5. Set Push Notifications

If you have enabled push notifications in the Canvas Parent mobile app on an Android device or on an iOS device, you can manage your settings in the Push Notification column. Push notifications can only be sent to your mobile device right away or not at all. Daily and weekly notification options are not supported. Some categories include limited availability for push notifications. Managing notification settings inside the Canvas Student mobile app will override settings selected in the Notification Settings page of the browser version of Canvas.

Change Student Dashboards

If you have more than one student (grades 7-12) at CVCS, a dropdown menu will appear on your Dashboard allowing you to choose which student’s Canvas account to view. To filter your dashboard by student, click the Student drop-down menu [1], then click the student's name [2]. The dashboard view displays based on your student's dashboard view.

If you have any questions that this guide does not answer, you may try searching the official Canvas Parent Guide, or reach out to the school’s Educational Technologist, Mr. Joseph Jasper at jjasper@cvcs.org.