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IF you are an educator you should RUN to your Computer to sign up for a Canva Education Account. Since going back into the classroom, I can’t imagine life without Canva. As a teacher I use it everyday, as a business owner I use it everyday and my students use it almost everyday!
(PSSST – even if you aren’t a teacher, you should still fetch a FREE Canva account, you won’t regret it)
I started using Canva for my business about 5 years ago – It is one of the few tools that I use daily. Building Marketing Materials, Designing Training Manuals, sublimation designs and creating promotional materials is just a few of the tasks I accomplish on Canva. In the 5 years I have used it, every time they update the tool it gets better. It is a great tool!
In this article, I am going to share 3 reasons why you should consider bringing Canva into your classroom.
It builds graphic design skills with students
When I went back into the classroom this year, I started using Canva to build materials for my classroom. Items such as classroom currency, posters, lesson plans and planners were just a few of the items I was creating for school. For the first time in my teaching career my students had their own devices and I was thrilled to be able to utilize a digital classroom.
Right before school started I was told I had to teach art to my homeroom. Don’t get me wrong, I am creative but I can’t even draw a stick figure. I had NO idea what I was going to do … then I realized that my students had access to Canva. GAME CHANGER!
I realized that instead of traditional paper and pen art, I could teach Graphic Art. So I started teaching my 5th grade students Art. I created my classroom, invited my students and started teaching short lessons on using Canva. Before you know it, my students were wanting to do more and more on the tool and I realized I was underutilizing it.
By mid-year, I not only had my homeroom using Canva, I had all of the rest of the teachers on my team using Canva and the entire 5th grade class using to create a variety of projects. What started as teaching art to my homeroom quickly became an indispensable tool we use several times a week. The biggest win, all of my 5th graders have SOLID graphic design skills they can take with them and use the rest of their life.
From Font Combinations to working with photos – my students have a great foundation in graphic design. In a future article I will talk about ideas you can use to bring Canva in your classroom!
It makes learning interactive and fun
My students LOVE Canva. If we get free time, they will often choose to create their own designs in the classroom. We have used it for getting to know you activities, projects, thank you cards, T-shirt designs, reviews and everyday assignments. The students can work on their own project or join a group to collaborate on larger projects.
When asked to create photos for college week, my students created awesome posters of “what they want to be when they grow up” in Canva. Not only were they fun and creative, my counselor was able to easily access them to print for the school.
At the beginning of the year about 90% of my students created optional Celebrate Freedom Projects to in honor of our yearly Celebrate Freedom Week. The designs were so well done, we had a difficult time selecting a winner. This was a chance for them to show their patriotism, use their creativity and celebrate our country.
It’s FREE
Last but not least, Canva is FREE for Teachers and students. YES – YOU read that correctly. Canva is so amazing, they offer it free to students and teachers. I have a free teacher account I use in my classroom and a paid account I use for my personal business. I love Canva so much I still PAY for the tool even with my free account.
Looking forward to next year
Even though our year is not done yet, I am already looking forward to next year. What I was able to do with Canva this year in my class, just scratches the surface of what we can do in the classroom. I am already planning how I can better utilize it my classroom and how to share it with my school to start them working in Canva even younger. In addition, I am working on creating Canva templates and instructions I can share with other teachers to make their lives easier in the classroom.
If you want a FREE copy of my Canva Get to know me Template, make sure you click below to Access my Teacher Tools Library!
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Until next time – STAY PAWSITIVE!
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