Last Updated on October 26, 2022 by Stephanie
When I started on my blog journey this year, I discovered a POWERFUL tool that I’ve added to my arsenal: Canva. Holy crap is this thing a powerhouse of awesome. For my blog stuff, I use it to create my pins, Instagram posts (btw, don’t forget to follow me if you don’t already: @creatingtimeforlife), and more. After learning of its power and ease, I then turned it loose on everything in my classroom as well! The best part: as an educator, you can use all the awesome features for free! Canva for educators is FREE.
So this post is going to go through a few things for you if you want to start a Canva journey. I’m going to give you a basic tour of what Canva is, what things you can use Canva for, and how to get it FREE as an educator!
What is Canva?
Canva is essentially a web-based creation tool. I have to say creation in general because it can create so many different things such as videos, slide shows, .pdfs, transparent graphics, and so much more! I’m sharing it here because you can get things done so EASILY in Canva that it will help you get those creative things off your to-do lists quickly.
One great thing about Canva is that the basic tool is free for everyone and really does include a lot of different things. If you like what you’re hearing, you should go check it out!
I personally use it both on the web as well as on my iPad via their app. When I purchased my new iMac, I also grabbed the desktop app for it as well. The screenshots I’m sharing come from their Mac app.
Home Page
The screenshot below shows you the home page and you can see just from there all the awesome stuff Canva has to offer. Along the left-hand side, there’s a menu where you can access all of your designs, you can share things with others (hello teamwork!), can view templates others have created, and more!
You can see just a few of the different things you can create in the middle of the page including things for Google Classroom, Presentations, Posters, Worksheets, and more. Depending on the type of account you have, different templates will show up automatically. For example, in Canva for educators, things like Google Classroom Headers, Posters, and worksheets show up.
Templates Galore – Even More With Your Free Canva for Educators Account!
I cannot emphasize how much the template library on Canva is INSANE. Seriously, there are so many fantastic templates that you can choose from! When I clicked on the Worksheet option above, seriously check out everything that came up for templates:
In the first picture that was just a bunch of general templates. In the second picture, I narrowed it down to only music worksheets. The small cap in the corner of a template means that it is only available to accounts for education. Remember though, you can get this free Canva account and access all of these in addition to all the free things!
Elements, Photos, and Fonts, Oh My!
The great part about templates is that you can use the template for your base idea and make the changes you need for what works for you! I don’t think I ever use a template as is. You can change the font, the colors, the pictures, and essentially everything about it.
Elements include things like frames, shapes, graphics, and everything to make your creation look appealing. Check out this shot of what pops up under the elements section.
You can customize EVERYTHING! Uploading your own graphics and photos is also possible if there is something unique you need. Since I’m our school’s webmaster and I use Canva to create some of our web graphics, I’ve uploaded our school logo and even created a color palette that matches our website!
Sharing and Downloading
When you are done creating something amazing, then you can share them! You can also create a team of educators to share and edit with! If you are someone who shares things on social media, you can connect those accounts and publish directly to them from Canva. The possibilities are endless!
What Can I Use Canva For My Classroom?
With my Free Canva for Educators subscription, I mostly do web graphics and worksheets for the kiddos. Here is a small gallery of some things I created this year on Canva:
As you can see, these are all very different designs! There are so many unique options that can help you create so much. If you were to just look through the different templates, your mind will be blown! One of the great things about Canva for educators is how easy it is to go digital with my worksheets and presentations. That is one thing I highly recommend in my post about things teachers can do over summer break to help make their next year amazing!
How To Get Canva Free For Educators
I stumbled upon this realization myself and have shared it with several of my colleagues to their great surprise. As I mentioned in the beginning, I use Canva a lot for this site and for creating my Instagram and Pinterest graphics. I pay for my Canva Pro subscription for the site, and will continue to do so for that!
One day I went to create something for our website at school and thought, “I should just use Canva for this.” To my surprise, when I logged in on my Chromebook at school to get an account, I saw the free for Educators and signed myself up. All of the awesome pro features that I loved using in Canva Pro were available under my school account! AHHH!
When you create an account for the first time, click on that educator button and provide your school email address. My approval happened almost instantly, and I was ready to go.
Final Thoughts
Canva really is a powerhouse for people who like creating content. Making worksheets, newsletters, handouts, and presentations has never been as fun or easy as with Canva. The best is that Canva can be used with all of its excellent pro features for free!
Sign up today and get excited! Tell me about what you created in the comments below.
