Post Lesson Page

Post Lesson Page

Materialize a lesson on Canvas as a draft page using the school's lesson template. The teacher either brings lesson content already worked out (often via plan-lesson first) or just describes the lesson in chat — this skill renders it through the template, previews each slot, and creates the draft.

This skill never publishes pages. Every page lands in Canvas as a draft (published: false). The teacher reviews the draft in Canvas and clicks Publish themselves when ready. This is a hard policy — don't try to flip the published flag, and don't describe what the skill does as "publishing."

When to use

A teacher has a lesson ready to put on Canvas as a draft page. Common phrasings:

• "Post a lesson on the water cycle for DSGN 9"

• "Create a Canvas page for tomorrow's class about prototyping"

• "Draft a lesson page — Week 3 of FSV 117, intro to user testing"

• "I need a lesson page on parallel circuits"

• "Take the UbD plan we just worked out and post it" (handoff from plan-lesson)

When NOT to use

• The teacher wants to think through the lesson pedagogically before deciding what to teach (Stage 1 objectives, evidence, learning activities) — that's plan-lesson (UbD framework). They can hand off here when ready to post.

• Multi-class units / modules. That's plan-module.

• Assessments / quizzes / projects. That's plan-assessment.

• Just editing existing content. Use edit_page_content directly via the canvas-mcp tools, or see "Updating an existing lesson" below.

Prerequisites

• canvas-mcp v0.3.16 or later installed and configured (needs title_format on list_page_templates).

• A school config with a lesson page template (Franklin: bundled by default; other schools: set SCHOOL_CONFIG to point at your own).

Workflow

1. Confirm the basics

Handoff case: If the teacher arrived here from plan-lesson, the UbD brief already has the title, course, objectives, essential question, and intended activities. Confirm the course briefly and skip the rest of step 1 — proceed to step 2.

Otherwise, before generating any content, confirm with the teacher:

• Which Canvas course? If they named a course by code or fragment (e.g., "DSGN 9"), call list_courses and confirm the match. If they passed a numeric course_id, you can skip the lookup but mention which course you're targeting so they can catch a typo.

• What's the lesson title? If they gave a topic ("the water cycle"), propose a working title ("The Water Cycle") and let them adjust.

• Anything else they specifically want included? A guest speaker, a particular reading, a discussion prompt — note these so they land in the right slot.

Don't ask about things you can figure out yourself or that don't matter at this stage. Specifically: don't ask about module placement yet (we'll handle it after the draft is created), don't ask about publishing — the MCP creates the page as a draft and the teacher publishes manually — don't ask about HTML structure (the template handles it).

2. Discover the lesson template

Call list_page_templates and find the entry named lesson. Read its:

• slots — these are the named content holes you'll need to fill. Every slot has a description telling you what content goes there.

• sections — optional sections with default-include/omit states. You can override via include_sections / omit_sections on the create_page call.

• title_format — when set, the school has a specific title convention for lesson pages (e.g., "Lesson: {name}"). Render the final page title to this format, filling each {var} placeholder. When title_format is null, propose your own title from the lesson topic.

If no lesson template exists in the school config, fall back: tell the teacher "no lesson template configured — I'll create a generic page instead" and use template: "default" or template: "none". Continue the workflow as best you can.

3. Consider competency + module alignment

If the teacher just came from plan-lesson (the UbD planning skill): the Stage 1 objectives, essential question, enduring understanding, and competency targets are already established. Use them directly to shape slot content — don't re-derive. Skip ahead to step 4.

Otherwise, call list_competencies. If a framework is configured (e.g., Franklin's TD Competencies, or another school's framework), spend a moment thinking about which 1–3 competencies this lesson naturally targets. Most lessons have a clear competency frame, and surfacing it makes the page genuinely more useful.

This is a thinking step, not a content step (yet). You're using the competency frame to inform what goes into each slot — especially to (the skills slot) and tasks (the activity slot). A watershed lesson naturally targets Knowledge-Based Reasoning (applying geography concepts) and Systems Thinking (understanding the interconnected water cycle). Knowing this, you'd phrase the to slot's skills with that lens, and design tasks that actually exercise those competencies rather than something tangential.

Pick 1–3 competencies, not all 9. The alignment is meaningful only if the lesson genuinely targets them. Don't shoehorn. If the teacher wants a deeper pedagogical pass (essential questions, transfer goals, formative evidence design), suggest running plan-lesson first.

If the teacher is working from a module-level unit plan (e.g., they ran plan-module with the backwards-design path, or shared a UbD-style unit plan), look for the lesson's connection to that bigger picture:

• Which essential question does this lesson advance? A lesson should help students wrestle with at least one of the module's open-ended inquiry questions.

• Which enduring understanding does it build toward? Lessons accumulate toward the module's big-idea takeaways — name which one(s).

• Which content + skill objectives is it teaching toward? Often 1–3 per lesson, not all of them.

Ask the teacher: "Is this lesson part of a module you've already designed? If so, which essential question / enduring understanding does it advance?" If they have that context, fold it into the to slot framing (e.g., <p>Through this lesson, students explore the question: "How do natural systems organize across landscapes?"</p> followed by the can-do statements). If they don't have a unit plan, that's fine — skip this and use just the competency framing.

In step 6 (preview), surface the suggested competency alignment AND any unit-plan connections you noted. Ask whether to call them out explicitly in the lesson or keep them woven into the content.

If list_competencies returns configured: false (no framework set), still ask about unit-plan context — competencies and unit plans are separate concerns.

4. Generate content for each slot

For each slot in the template, generate appropriate HTML content. Match the slot's description from list_page_templates. Keep each slot focused — a slot is one section of the page, not a whole lesson.

Quality bar:

• Concrete, classroom-ready. "Students will diagram a local watershed" beats "Students will learn about watersheds."

• Use real student work patterns. Reference accessible materials, give clear directions. If you don't know what tools/platforms the class uses, ask.

• HTML, not markdown. The template body is HTML; produce <p>, <ul>, <li>, etc. directly.

• Don't pad. Empty slots are fine if they'd genuinely be empty in a real lesson. Don't fill discussion with a generic prompt unless the teacher asked for a discussion.

• No fake links. If you're referencing a resource, either use a real URL the teacher provided or leave it as plain text for them to fill in.

5. Handle optional sections smartly

Sections marked default: "omit" in the template (typically discussion) should stay omitted unless the teacher mentioned a discussion, debate, or forum prompt. When they did, pass include_sections: ["discussion"] and fill the corresponding slot.

Sections marked default: "include" (typically assessment) stay on unless the lesson is purely formative with no separate graded Canvas artifact. When the lesson has no graded assignment tied to it — and the formative check lives entirely in-class (exit ticket on paper, peer review, observation) — omit the assessment accordion via omit_sections: ["assessment"]. An empty assessment slot reads as a broken link to students; an omitted accordion reads as "no related assessment, by design."

Don't ask the teacher about optional sections by name — let their words drive the choice. If they mentioned "tomorrow we'll debate the impact of dams" → discussion section on. If they said "this is purely an intro lesson, no graded work" → assessment section off. If they pointed at an existing Canvas quiz / assignment to link → assessment section on, fill the slot with the link.

6. Preview before creating the draft

Show the teacher a brief outline of what each slot will contain, plus the suggested competency alignment if you identified one in step 3:

Lesson page draft — "The Water Cycle"

• About: Watershed geography + evapotranspiration cycle
• To: Diagram a local watershed, explain evapotranspiration
• Concepts: Watershed, evapotranspiration, runoff, precipitation
• Resources: USGS watershed tool, [reading TBD]
• Tasks: Map your home watershed (worksheet), share with class
• Discussion: (omitted — not requested)
• Assessment: Friday quiz link (placeholder)

Suggested competency focus: Knowledge-Based Reasoning + Systems Thinking.
Want me to call these out explicitly in the lesson, or keep them woven into the content?

Ready to create this as a draft in Canvas?

Wait for approval or revision requests. If the teacher asks for changes, iterate on the affected slots without regenerating everything.

If the teacher wants competencies called out explicitly, add a short paragraph at the end of the to slot referencing them by name (e.g., <p>This lesson exercises <strong>Knowledge-Based Reasoning</strong> and <strong>Systems Thinking</strong> through the watershed mapping task.</p>). If they want them kept implicit, the slot content stays as you generated it — the competency lens already shaped it.

If no competency framework was configured (step 3 was skipped), omit the "Suggested competency focus" line from the preview.

7. Create the draft in Canvas

Build the final title by applying the lesson template's title_format (from step 2). For Franklin's "Lesson: {name}", that means substituting {name} with the lesson's working title. When title_format is null, use the working title verbatim.

Call create_page with:

create_page(
  course_identifier: "<course code or id>",
  title: "<title rendered per title_format>",
  template: "lesson",
  slots: { about: "...", to: "...", concepts: "...", ... },
  include_sections: [...],  // only if the teacher wanted a default-omit section
  omit_sections: [...]      // only if the teacher wanted to drop a default-include section
)

The page is created as a draft (published: false — enforced by the MCP). Confirm to the teacher:

Created draft lesson page The Water Cycle in DSGN 9. It's saved as a draft — open it in Canvas at , review, and click Publish when you're ready.

If create_page returns template_applied: null, surface that — it means the school config didn't load and no template was applied.

Never tell the teacher you "published" the page. It's a draft until they publish it manually in Canvas.

8. Post-creation follow-ups

After the draft is created, offer 1–3 useful next steps based on the lesson's context. Don't dump every possible option — pick what's actually relevant:

• Module placement — if the teacher mentioned a module in step 1 ("add it to Week 3," "right after the prototyping lesson"), or if there's an obvious natural home (this is Module 4's intro lesson and the lesson title makes that clear), call list_modules(course_identifier, include_items: true) and ask whether to drop it into a specific position. If they didn't mention module placement and there's no obvious home, don't push — they'll drag it where they want in the Canvas UI.

• Build materials — if the lesson's tasks slot references specific materials that don't exist yet (hook image pairs, case cards, exit-ticket slips, handouts), offer to draft them in chat. Don't write files; output as chat the teacher can copy.

• Link a related quiz — if the assessment accordion is on but the slot has a placeholder for "future Canvas quiz," offer to run post-quiz to make the actual graded quiz object now.

• Link to a parent unit page — if the lesson belongs to an existing module's outcomes page, offer to add a back-link in the to slot.

Phrase the offers as a short list, not a wall of text. Two or three options is plenty:

A couple of things I can do next if useful:

• Drop it into Module 2 (just after the SCAMPER lesson) — say where.
• Draft the three hook-image pair descriptions + 6 case-card stems so the lesson's ready to run.

Want either?

Skip the offers entirely if the lesson is genuinely complete and the teacher's next step is obvious (publish + teach).

Updating an existing lesson

If the teacher says "add a discussion to that lesson page" or "rewrite the tasks section" — use edit_page_content with the template machinery, NOT create_page:

edit_page_content(
  course_identifier: ...,
  page_url: "<existing-slug>",
  template: "lesson",
  slots: { ...all slots, with the changes... },
  include_sections: ["discussion"],   // if adding the discussion accordion
)

You must provide all slots in the rebuild, not just the changed ones — the MCP doesn't preserve previous slot content from the on-Canvas HTML. If you generated the lesson earlier in this conversation, you already have all the slot content. If you didn't, call get_page_content first and reconstruct the slot values from what's visible, OR ask the teacher what content should stay vs. change.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Don't use create_page to update an existing lesson — it creates a duplicate with a -2 slug.

• Don't fill slots with template-like prose ("Here, students will learn about X") — the template provides the chrome; slots get the actual content.

• Don't hardcode Franklin competencies / structure in your output. Use list_competencies / list_page_templates to discover what the school provides. Other schools using this skill should get equally relevant output.

• Never publish. The MCP forces published: false; don't try to flip it, don't suggest you have, and don't tell the teacher you "published" anything. Teachers publish manually in Canvas after reviewing the draft.

• Don't make up Canvas URLs. If you reference a "syllabus" or "module 3," use the actual Canvas URLs from list_modules / get_course_details — not constructed paths.