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https://www.themerrillsedu.com/blog-1/2021/12/3/20-ways-for-students-to-use-canva-in-the-classroom

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Canva for Education is a powerful design tool, allowing you and your students to create visually stunning designs for any subject or age level. You and your students can create your own designs from scratch, or choose from our library of over 60,000 high quality, educational templates. The best part of all, it's absolutely FREE! So, how does this translate into the classroom? Here are 20 different ways that your students can use Canva in the classroom.

(Click on any image to jump to that section. This is NOT a paid post.)

Students can quickly and easily create videos in Canva that can be shared out beyond the platform. There are tons of templates that allow you to drag and drop media right into the video. Students can use elements right from Canva or upload their own.

Canva images can be downloaded, then uploaded into other platforms such as Flipgrid. This means students can create and design their own backdrop on Flipgrid! Backdrops act as virtual wallpaper. When students upload a backdrop on their Flipgrid video, they place themselves on top of the image. Students can move themselves around the video to place them in the proper spot. The recorded outcome will be them in front of the backdrop explaining their thinking!

A great way for students to show their thinking is by explaining their work. Have your students create a presentation that covers what your class is learning. Once they have their presentation ready to share, have them click on "Present and Record," located on the top right, then click "Go to recording studio." They will need to provide permission to use the device's camera and microphone. Now, click "Start recording!" This will give students a three second countdown before the recording process begins. Your students can now work through their presentation. One thing to note: while recording, Canva remains in presentation mode. This means the person presenting can see what slides come next, notes attached to the slides and more. The recording will only capture the Canva slides and a circle shaped webcam video of the presenter.

Once the student is ready to stop the recording, all they need to do is click "Stop Recording" from the top right side of the screen. One thing to note, students can always pause the recordings by clicking "Pause" next to the "End recording" button. Now that the student has clicked "Stop recording," the video will be uploaded to Canva's servers. Once it has been processed, students can either share the direct video link, save it for later or download the video to their device. In order to get the video over to Flipgrid, we will select "Download." The download may take a few minutes and will be saved to your downloads folder. You can find it in your downloads folder under the name of the presentation. Now it's time to head over to Flipgrid!

Log onto the Flipgrid Topic, then launch the Flipgrid Shorts Camera. Once the camera opens, click "Options" to the left of the record button. Now, click "Upload clip." Upload your downloaded Canva presentation and then click "Next," followed by "Confirm." This will share your Canva presentation on Flipgrid for others to see and comment on!

Inferencing skills require complex and critical thinking. These tasks can be daunting for students, but with the help of Canva this can be turned into a highly engaging and fun task! To help take inferencing to the next level, we created "Character Bulletin Boards." This template was designed to look like a bulletin board where characters from a story might post things that happened from a story, or memories from a chapter that the character recalled. Students use the template to add elements, text, or photos that represent what happened in the story. You can even create a template that has multiple slides for multiple characters.

When your students are ready to share their work with you, they can do so in just several clicks. First, they will need to click "Send to teacher." Next, your student(s) will need to select you (or they can select multiple teachers if you co-teach), and then click "Send." This will share the work right into your teacher dashboard.

Interested in giving this activity a try? Click here or the image to download and copy the template!

Canva is a well-known creation tool, but it can also help your students become more accountable. Student Learning Portfolios allow your students to maintain academic goals and curate learning artifacts that can be shared with their families and friends. To get started with Student Learning Portfolios on Canva, have your students select a template (like the one below). We recommend building the portfolios by months or subjects. Your first slide in the portfolio should resemble a table-of-contents. Students can hyperlink the text to different slides within the Canva presentation. This will allow them to maintain a running log of their work, but more importantly - share with others!

Similar to Student Learning Portfolios, student created websites are an easy way for your students to share (and show off!) their hard work. Have your students pick from the website templates on Canva. When they're ready to publish the site, click on "Publish as Website." This will provide the student with a shareable link. Fun fact: this URL will never change, even if your student(s) decide to edit it. If you're looking to take things to the next level, you can have several students collaborate on the same Canva file. Then, the duo / team will have a published website for the group. Want a fast / easy start to this? Use our template below! Click here or the image to get started building your own student website today!

Science Fair Projects are always exciting, but Canva can put a "new school" spin on them. Your students can design a trifold, add elements, text and even QR codes right into their Science Fair Projects. These can be shared publicly or right to the teacher. To generate a public share link, click on the three dots on the top right, then click "Share Link." Click on "Copy" to share your URL. Now students can share this link with others! Tip: you can take this link into a URL shortener (like Bit.ly) and paste it to generate a shorter URL address (which will still point to the original link). To share directly with the teacher, click "Share," then select the teacher(s) you wish to share with. This will send the Canva file to the teacher for review! Need some easy inspiration? Check out our template below! Click here or the image to get started!

One of our favorite Canva activities is "Book Bumper Stickers!" For this activity, students design a bumper sticker based on the book, character / individual, subject, etc. The design can even be downloaded and shared onto places like Flipgrid or Seesaw. Check out our template below! Click here or the image below to download it and get started!

Whether you're explaining historical events, the sequential order of a story, or important character accomplishments, timelines are a great way to show thinking. Canva has easy-to-use timelines that are simple to edit to fit your next assignment. To view Canva's timeline templates, just search: "Timelines" in the search box.

Design thinking provides students with a creative outlet where they can tie in their learning. Infographics are a great way to show this level of thinking and Canva makes it easy! There are many Canva infographic templates that students can choose from. These templates are fully editable - everything from the text to the colors. To find infographic templates on Canva, just type "infographic" into the search bar. Here's a template that we found to help you get started! Click here or the image above to download it and get started!

This is a great way to kick off the new school year or returning from a break. Plus, it teaches your students how to use all of Canva's features! Student created classroom badges can be designed for any types of rewards that your students feel as though should be given out throughout the year. Have students use Canva's features to design their badge. Remind them that it needs to have text / what the badge is for. Some good examples include: "Tech Trainer or "CANva" (students who can teach others about Canva). Check out our template by clicking here or the image! Looking for some easy inspiration? We've got you covered! You can download our template for free! Click hereor the image above to download it!

Canva users now have the ability to draw on their slides. To start drawing, follow these steps:

1. Click on "More" from the left side panel

2. In the search bar, type "Draw". Or, you can scroll down to the bottom where you will see the Draw icon. Click it to open the next window.

3. One the next window, click "Use" to launch the draw feature.

4. Select a brush and color to start drawing!

-- Let us know if you're using any of these ideas in your classroom! Be sure to follow us on social media (@TheMerrillsEDU everywhere) and tag us! 👓👗

For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!

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20 Ways for Students to Use Canva in the Classroom - @TheMerrillsEDU

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Canva for education is 100% free for students and educators. It's a great place for students to get creative with their thinking. But, if you're not sure where to start, here are 20 different ways students can use Canva!

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Attendance is a challenge at many school districts!

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BEST Summit Presentation: Chronic Absenteeism

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BEST Summit Presentation: Chronic Absenteeism

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Delaware's presentation

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23-24 Iowa BEST Summit Attendance Presentation

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-ESOL is not an intervention, it's an extension of Core

-Building the capacity of all staff (gen ed teachers, EL teachers, admin, coaches, etc)

-IF a student does have a learning disability, they'll also have it in their first language

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-Continue to build the capacity of gen ed teachers and coaches around scaffolds and strategies to meet the needs of ELs

-"On Demand" (and in person if requested) PD around the ELP standards and Can Do Descriptors (connect with SBL)

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-Vertical alignment and differentiation

-Gifted services/meeting the needs of students identified as gifted goes beyond the 30 minutes in the TAG classroom (Gifted students are gifted all day, every day)

-ABCs of Differentiation: Advance the Content, Build the Buy-in, Create the Challenge

-Need to build the capacity of all staff in providing extension opportunities that go deeper into the standard (rather than separate "projects")

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Folder of Speaker Presentation Materials

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Folder of Speaker Presentation Materials

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-Great Canvas accessibility tips.

-AI usage for teachers tips and what Google Bard can do

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"There's No Place Like Chrome" - Tricia Louis website

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Aaron Maurer website and resources

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Dr. Ji Yeong I - meeting the needs of ELs, having high expectations for all; making sure they are enrolled in grade level courses and above

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Jennifer Bay Williams - teaching math fluency through foundational facts, derived facts, and mastery

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5 Key Beliefs beneath care-driven student motivation:

1. Credibility - my teacher is good at their job.

2. Value - This work is worth my time. It matters.

3. Effort- I can improve through smart effort  (Have to believe they can do the work)

4. Efficacy - I can succeed at this

5. Belonging - People like me do work like this

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Teach fluency through foundational, derived, and mastery of facts; building fluency through conceptual understanding

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Ensure EL students are enrolled in grade level and above courses for access and equity

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Empower, Create, Share: Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

Presentation

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CFA, CSA, and DI oh MY - Cassidy Peterson 

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CFA, CSA, and DI oh MY - Cassidy Peterson 

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Google Folder of Awesomeness

Brisk Ai (extension) Briskteaching.com  (Video) https://www.briskteaching.com/welcome-to-brisk

change the reading level

change the language

give feedback (grow/glow)

make a quiz

make a resource

make a lesson plan (time limit grade level) - gives you a standard and also a learning objective

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Providing students opportunities for voice (flexible seating, audio options), choice (Choice Boards, Blooket, explore boards, show your learning), and creativity (book creator, microbits, tall tweets-turning a Google slide into a gif)

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Top Careers (BA)

1. Software Engineer

2. Project Manager

3. Accountants

20% are 55+

1. Educators

2. Commercial Banking

3. Direct LIfe Insurance Carriers

DSM retains 70% of our students

21% move out of state.

9% move out of metro in state

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Google Folder

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~Teachers (especially at the 6-12 level) need to begin to have meaningful conversations surrounding AI and cheating. Figure out where people are so the right mindset can be in formed as a district.

~Empower teachers to have conversations with students about AI and AI can be a meaningful collaborator for them in life.

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13 Teachers attended the national conference

Teacher folder

FYI Iowa Online PLC

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ITEC GeoCaching

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Angie's notes from ITEC sessions

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Last time, we looked at this video of Caroline Ong in her Geometry class going on a "math is beautiful" tangent with her students.

I labeled this as an example of a strategy we're currently contemplating: An Apologist Winsome and Sure. Head here for a brief explanation of what the heck I mean by those words. They mean a LOT to me in the realm of cultivating student motivation. A LOT.

This time, I want to talk about Jackson Pollock.

Wait... Jackson Pollock?

Yes. This is a standard example of a Jackson Pollock painting:

Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1949

It's one of the pieces that a non-artsy person would probably respond with, "Wait, why is that art!?"

But here's what I see:

It's bold.

It's counter-cultural - this thing was made in 1949, about the same time cookie-cutter communities like Levittown were becoming popular.

It's energetic.

It's got this "made-on-the-fly" feel to it (Jackson called it an "action painting").

These descriptors, to me, have a lot in common with what Caroline Ong is doing in her classroom with what I call the Rainbow of Why.

The Rainbow of Why

What follows is a diagram I use when visiting with teachers to illustrate just how many ways there are in the research for coming to Value something.

Please note: Doug Anderson of Utah is the first person that ever called this thing a "Rainbow of Why." I owe Doug a debt of gratitude for this lovely language.

There are a few main points I want to make about this Rainbow of Why:

You'll move students best toward Value when you intentionally use all the colors. In American education, we tend to paint way too frequently with utility - when and how is this lesson useful - and relevance - how is this lesson relevant to my particular self; overuse of these two colors trains some of our students into becoming unhelpfully self-focused.

This is a painter's palette for a reason - I want you to view Value cultivation as a creative work, an exploratory work, a beautiful work; not a have-to, a get-to; not a job, but rather a joy.

And finally, I want you to paint with these colors like Jackson Pollock; be bold, be counter-cultural, be energetic, be okay with "on-the-fly" action painting.

More to come.

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The Rainbow of Why: Go Jackson Pollock with Those Colors - Dave Stuart Jr.

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Last time, we looked at this video of Caroline Ong in her Geometry class going on a "math is beautiful" tangent with her students. I labeled this as an example of a strategy we're currently contemplating: An Apologist Winsome and Sure. Head here for a brief explanation of what the heck I mean by those [...]

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Vaping Prevention - iSTEP (Iowa Students for Tobacco Education & Prevention)

Chapter of 3+ students starting in 7th grade

Implement social media and street marketing events

My Life My Quit - free program to help youth stop vaping

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Led by students and supported by adults, ISTEP is a statewide movement made up of young people who want to step up and take action against tobacco

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Lemonade Tycoon

When life hands you lemons, start a lemonade stand! Lemonade Tycoon is the main game within Banzai Junior. It lets students experiment with making business decisions and facing dilemmas: do you go to the water park, or do you work another day at the lemonade stand?

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Financial Literacy for Elementary Students | Banzai

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Banzai online courses include games & activities perfect for children in elementary school. Finally, financial literacy for kids is fun and free! (Ages 8-12)

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The Wait Until 8th pledge empowers parents to rally together to delay giving children a smartphone until at least 8th grade. Banding together helps decrease the pressure to have a phone at an early age. Ten years old is the average age children get their first smartphone. You can change this!

More than 50,000 parents have said yes to waiting on the smartphone for their families. This is making a tremendous difference in communities across the country!

Smartphones are distracting and potentially dangerous for children yet are widespread in elementary and middle school because of unrealistic social pressure and expectations to have one.

These devices are quickly changing childhood for children. Playing outdoors, spending time with friends, reading books and hanging out with family is happening a lot less to make room for hours of snap chatting, instagramming, and catching up on YouTube.

Parents feel powerless in this uphill battle and need community support to help delay the ever-evolving presence of the smartphone in the classroom, social arena and family dinner table. Link arms with other parents to wait until at least eighth grade for a smartphone!

The Wait Until 8th pledge encourages parents to delay the smartphone. If you need to get in touch before 8th grade, we have some great basic phones and watches featured here. If you would like your child to have a basic phone or watch to call and text only, you still can sign the pledge! Theses basic options avoid many of the distractions and dangers of the smartphone.

Childhood is too short to waste on a smartphone. Take the pledge today!

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The Wait Until 8th pledge empowers parents to rally together to delay giving children a smartphone until at least 8th grade.

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1. Return to basics using ASCA templates

1. annual calendar

2. yearly action plan

3. Closing the gap action plan

4. annual administrator counselor agreement/meeting

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1. Share Suicide Info Gathering Tool with all counselors and administrators

2. Make a plan for how concerns will be documented in a consistent way

3. Encourage counselors to create an annual calendar and set a data-based goal