Episode Details

If you woke up to a cyber attack that knocked out Canvas and left you scrambling, this episode of The Secondary Teacher Podcast has exactly what you need. Host Khristen Massic dives straight into what to do when you have to plan lesson plans without technology when Canvas is down. You don’t get theory or platitudes—you get real talk and next-steps for teaching when the digital rug is yanked out from under you, especially if you’re a secondary teacher staring down multiple preps and a blank screen.

Most teachers have been told, “just put it all online.” Now, suddenly, none of that stuff is accessible—courses, assignments, the whole gradebook, poof! It’s easy to feel like you did something wrong or you’re the only one unprepared, but Khristen Massic isn’t having any of it. She makes it crystal clear: this isn’t on you. The system failed. And pretending to rebuild your entire Canvas content overnight? That’s a rookie mistake she’s here to help you avoid.

So what do you do today, when all your assignments, instructions, and grades are trapped in cyberspace? Host Khristen Massic keeps it grounded: simplify. Instead of panicking and trying to Frankenstein your online world back together, she suggests embracing a few simple, low-tech moves. If students can work on something, let them keep going old-school, share whatever directions you’ve got saved on Google Drive or even print out a copy. And if you don’t have it? Khristen says to level with your students—honesty calms the room a hell of a lot faster than frantic busywork.

She recalls her own rookie moment: running a computer-based robotics class when the power cut out for four hours. Sitting in a dark room, the class devolved into a passionate debate about Lord of the Rings accents. Meanwhile, other teachers just rolled right into review games and classroom discussions. The lesson? You don’t need a high-tech backup plan; you just need a few analog tricks ready to roll when things go south.

Khristen then takes on the hardest stress points: how to grade and how to handle final assessments when Canvas is down. If your district’s student information system syncs with Canvas, your current grades might be safe. Everything else? Time to get scrappy—try Google Forms or email submissions, not elegant but functional. For final assessments, ditch the rebuild. She shares three battle-tested backup options: student self-assessment interviews, choice-based essays with rubrics, or live demonstrations and presentations, especially for hands-on classes. Each of these lets you keep grading real and human, even when the tech fails.

If you’re used to the safety net of auto-grading and instant uploads, this can feel overwhelming. But as Khristen points out, middle and high school teachers are no strangers to chaos. The teachers who pull this off aren’t necessarily the techiest—they’re the ones who give themselves permission to simplify and stay present with their kids, even if that means repeating a lesson plan or focusing on a single discussion.

This one’s for the multi-prep secondary classroom teachers who’ve spent years building digital empires and suddenly find themselves back at square one. You’re not less prepared. You’re just adapting (again), and you’re in damn good company.

Listen, if the only thing you accomplish today is keeping the room steady and giving your students a way to show their work, that’s a win. Host Khristen Massic ends with the message every teacher needs when the system goes haywire: show up, be honest, simplify, repeat. That’s how you get through days like this with your sanity—and your work-life balance—intact.

Let the internet stay down—you’re still in control of your classroom.

Grab the Secondary Teacher Systems Toolkit here: https://khristenmassic.thrivecart.com/systemstoolkit/?ref=pod

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