Case study · LMS design in Blackbaud
In a University Model school, students are in class two days a week and work at home the other three. For my high school Literary Analysis course at Concord Christian School, Blackbaud is the classroom on home days. I combine its native tools with embedded Rise modules and standards-tagged objectives so every day of the week has a clear task and a place to submit it.
01 · The hybrid week
Students in a University Model program are often working at home with a parent nearby, not a teacher. The weekly topic page lays out the whole week in one place: what happens in class, what happens at home, and which Blackbaud tool each day's work runs through. This is the actual plan for the character week of Unit 2.
Catch up, finish and submit discussion questions, review literary terms
Discussion · FlashcardsTerms List 2 quiz, comprehension quiz, lecture on character types and arcs, claim-and-evidence activity on Kino
Assessment · Rise moduleWorksheet: describe characters as round/flat, dynamic/static, with evidence
Download · Online assignmentReview worksheets; discuss protagonists, antagonists and foils in parables
In-class discussionParagraph contrasting Kino and Juana
Download · Online assignment02 · Class page
The class page is the first thing students and parents see. I set it up so they can find this week's plan, the unit goals, and every resource they need without hunting through menus.
Practice the literary analysis terms for List 2.
The Pearl – Audiobook
Audio – all chapters9/29/2026Week of 9/28
9/23/2026Week of 9/21 – Unit 2: The Novella
Essential question: What does a parable teach about human nature, and how does Steinbeck use Kino's story to show it?
Recreated from a screenshot of the live class page, Fall 2026.
Each weekly vocabulary list gets a Blackbaud flashcard set, so students can study at home before the Tuesday quiz.
Parents can check policies and the semester plan without emailing.
The full-novella audiobook supports struggling readers and students who listen while they read.
One announcement per week links to that week's topic, so the newest plan is always at the top.
The essential question and objectives, each tagged with its Tennessee ELA standard, stay visible for the whole unit.
03 · Weekly topic
Each week lives in a single Blackbaud topic, built in the same order every time so students learn where to look:
Embedded Rise module
A short self-paced module that teaches the roles of protagonists, antagonists, foils and narrators, and how round, flat, dynamic and static characters reveal theme. Students use it in Tuesday's class and return to it at home while completing the Wednesday worksheet.
| Assignment | Type | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Literary terms: List 2 | Major Assessment | Tue 9/29 |
| Character type/arc worksheet | Minor Online assignment | Thu 10/1 |
| The Pearl: Juana as foil | Minor Online assignment | Sat 10/3 |
04 · LMS inventory
The table below lists each Blackbaud tool in the course and its purpose.
| Blackbaud element | How I use it | Why it matters in a hybrid model |
|---|---|---|
| Bulletin board | Course home with tiles for terms, syllabus, readings, announcements and unit goals | Students and parents start from one page instead of digging through menus |
| Topics | One topic per week with agenda, module, files and assignments in a fixed order | The week is self-explanatory on days without a teacher |
| Announcements | Dated weekly post linking to that week's topic | The current plan is always at the top |
| Assessment builder | Weekly literary-terms quizzes graded as major assessments | Builds automatic grading into the routine |
| Online assignments | Worksheet and paragraph submissions, minor grade, with due dates | Home-day work has a clear submission point and deadline |
| Flashcards | A set for each weekly vocabulary list | Self-study before in-class quizzes |
| Downloads | Editable .docx worksheets labeled by day | Students know which file goes with which day |
| Links & media | Novella text, full audiobook, embedded Rise modules | Multiple ways into the text; richer interactivity than native pages |
| Gradebook weighting | Major and minor categories matching the syllabus | Grades reflect the course policy automatically |
05 · Alignment
Unit objectives are written as "Students will be able to…" statements with the Tennessee standard code beside each one, and they sit on the class page for the whole unit. The weekly topics then deliver those objectives in order. In the character week, the Rise module teaches the terms, the worksheet practices them with evidence, and the Kino and Juana paragraph applies them to theme.
The unit goals, the module lessons and the assignment prompts all use the same terms.
06 · Beyond my class
When Concord moved from RenWeb and Google Classroom to Blackbaud, many teachers found the new system harder to use. I was asked to lead the faculty training: a one-hour session for staff at mixed skill levels, some of whom had never opened Blackbaud, with a printed quick-reference sheet as the takeaway.
This course also serves as a model for how teachers can organize a Blackbaud class from the student's point of view.
Across my portfolio
My portfolio includes course design work in three platforms.
Sequential module requirements and indentation for a one-day-a-week college course.
A branded 16-module course with custom HTML lessons, hosted for Blackbaud embedding.
Native topics, assessments and flashcards combined with embedded Rise for a hybrid schedule.