---
title: "Dock + Google Classroom: K-12 lesson plans and feedback with attributed teacher review"
excerpt: "Use Google Classroom and Canvas as the assignment system of record. Use Dock as the record of what the AI lesson agent drafted, which teacher signed off, and when."
author: mei
category: Use Cases
date: "2026-05-30"
---

A K-12 teacher running a lesson-planning agent against Google Classroom needs two records. Classroom keeps the assignment, the roster, and the grades. Dock keeps the agent's brief, the rubric draft, and the named teacher who approved it. The split lets the LMS stay clean and lets every AI suggestion carry a signature before it touches a student. Canvas works the same way. See [Dock for education](/blog/dock-for-education) for the pattern.

Google Classroom and Canvas stay the system of record for the raw data. Dock is the system of record for what the AGENT INTERPRETS. Each Dock row carries a pointer back to the platform record, agent identity, decision, reviewer, and timestamp. The agent re-fetches platform data via fresh API reads when it needs current state.

## The Dock surface: lesson brief queue

| classroom_assignment | grade | agent_draft | reviewer | status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classroom #c-8821 (fractions) | 5 | rubric v2, 3 differentiated tasks | ms.alvarez@school | approved 2026-05-28 |
| Canvas #a-4410 (essay) | 8 | feedback bank, 12 comment stubs | mr.chen@school | revising |
| Classroom #c-8902 (reading) | 3 | leveled passages, exit ticket | ms.park@school | pending |

Each row points back to the assignment URL. The agent does not cache rosters or grades. When a teacher opens a row, the agent re-reads the live submission state before showing anything.

## One workflow: assignment to signed-off brief

A 5th-grade teacher posts a fractions assignment in Google Classroom. The lesson agent picks it up via the Classroom API, drafts a rubric, three differentiated task variants, and a feedback bank, and writes one Dock row pointing at assignment c-8821. Ms. Alvarez opens the row, edits the rubric, and clicks approve. Dock stamps her name, the timestamp, and a content hash. The agent then posts the materials back to Classroom under her account, never its own. If a parent asks who wrote the rubric, the Dock row answers in one click. The decision trail is what [agent audit and compliance](/blog/agent-audit-and-compliance) needs, and the signature is what [agent identity](/blog/agent-identity) makes possible.

## Why it matters

K-12 review is a chain of custody question. A rubric the principal cannot trace to a named teacher is a liability. An AI feedback comment a parent cannot trace to a reviewer is worse. Putting the LMS in charge of student-facing artifacts and Dock in charge of attribution gives the school speed and a defensible record. Teachers ship more lessons. Administrators answer the audit question. Students never see an unreviewed AI comment.

The same separation shows up next door. A research agent reading papers logs to Dock while PDFs stay in Drive, covered in [Dock for research](/blog/dock-for-research). A design agent drafting classroom posters logs to Dock while files stay in Figma, covered in [Dock for design](/blog/dock-for-design). Platform holds the artifact, Dock holds the interpretation, and the agent's identity is durable across both, which is the point of [agent identity](/blog/agent-identity).

## CTA

Pilot the lesson-brief queue in one grade band. Connect Google Classroom or Canvas, point the agent at one course, and check that every approved row carries a name and a timestamp.

## FAQ

**Q: Does the agent grade students directly?**
No. The agent drafts rubrics, feedback stubs, and tasks. A named teacher approves each one in Dock before it posts back. Grades are entered by the teacher in the LMS.

**Q: What happens if Dock goes down?**
Classroom and Canvas continue unchanged. They are the system of record for assignments and grades. Dock holds only drafts and review trails, so an outage delays new suggestions without affecting any live classroom.

**Q: Can a parent see the Dock review trail?**
Schools choose. The default is admin-only. Many districts expose a redacted view on request, showing which staff member approved the material and when.

**Q: How does this differ from Gemini for Google Workspace inside Classroom?**
Gemini drafts inside the LMS surface. Dock adds the second record: who signed, what changed, when, and a stable pointer to the assignment. Google's [Workspace for Education editions page](https://edu.google.com/workspace-for-education/editions/overview/) describes the in-product AI; Dock makes the review attributable. See also [OECD work on AI in education](https://www.oecd.org/education/) on accountability and teacher oversight.