JAYLYN BELL

Hi friends!

This week, I decided to use a good old fashion blog post titled: “37 Canva Hacks, Best Canva Tips & Tricks for Beginners” to help me with my learning project!

I decided to try a new tool called Animoto for my screen recording & it worked very well! I was hoping to use it for my video, but the free version didn’t quite provide what I needed! I wanted to be able to speed up, edit, adjust, and add audio to my clips that I was unable to do. Instead, I decided tried something else for the first time which was make a TikTok video!

I actually really enjoyed using it because there are so many choices and ways to make your video engaging! Everything from choosing catchy music, to adding different transitions that make the video less choppy and more aesthetic, to all different kinds of texts, colors, backgrounds. I used this website from TikTok to help me learn how to edit!

1. Inserting & Aligning text to the middle of the page using the grid tool

• Text: Add Text Box
  • Dragging and adjust to the center indicated by the red lines
  • If you want to add additional text, copy and paste the original text and adjust accordingly to maintain consistent font, size, and style.
  • It may seem simple, but paying attention to these small details is important in showing the students your effort and maintaining their attention
• Examples for Use in the Classroom:
  • Text is a key component of every lesson
  • Don’t overcrowd your slide with text – it will cause your students to lose interest
  • Only put the essentials & the reminders you need to teach
    • Questions are great – they lead to further discussion and force students to think

2. Inserting a background image from stock

• Elements: Photos
  • Select “See all” to browse all stock images
  • Search for more specific graphics and pictures depending on what you are creating
    • Example: Christmas, Nature, Science, School
• Example Use in the Classroom:
  • Pictures make your presentations WAY MORE ENGAGING!
  • Many children are visual learners
  • Canva has a variety of photos, graphics, elements, cartoons, etc. and is friendly for all grades, ages, seasons, and presentations!

3. Add effects/animations to make your text pop and bring it to life!

• Select your text box
  • Top tool bar: Animate
  • Select an animation that suits your design
• Examples for Use in the Classroom:
  • Animations can make your presentations much more dynamic and lively
    • Especially for title slides

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Insert Shapes

• Elements:
  • Shapes: “see all”
  • You can use to create your design or as a background for your text
• Examples for Use in the Classroom:
  • Shapes can be used as borders for your text
  • To fill in gaps on letters
  • To highlight numbers
  • Can be layered creatively for dimension

5. Search & Insert Audio

• Elements
  • Search: “audio”
  • Can specify the mood with terms like: pop, rock, jazz, chill, upbeat, etc.
  • Top tool bar “edit”
    • Allows you to increase / decrease the fade in or out
• Examples for Classroom Use:
  • Inserting audio for “fitness breaks” during class
  • Creating more engagement during certain parts of your presentation where it fits
  • “Happy Birthday”

 

6. Drawing Designs & Messages

• Draw
  • Select Pen, Marker, or Highlighter
    • Adjust color using the circle
    • Adjust the weight with the thin/thick symbol
• Example For Classroom Use:
  • Writing your expectations for when the students enter the room in the morning on the SmartBoard
  • Allows students to come up and draw, circle, point to, and use the SmartBoard during class discussions
  • Using the highlighter during lessons to emphasize and point to what you are referring to

7. Insert Polls & Quizzes

• Elements
  • Polls & Quizzes
  • Select “see all” for more options
• Example Questions to use in the classroom:
  • Who is the premier of Saskatchewan?
  • Which of the following are considered adjectives?
  • Which of the following is NOT part of an animal cell?
  • What subject do you enjoy most?
  • What is your favourite part of winter?

8. Insert Graphs & Charts

• Elements
  • Graphs & Charts – “see all”
    • Line
    • Bar
    • Scatter
    • Pie
    • Infographic
    • Area
• Examples for Classroom Use:
  • Input math activity data for students to see
  • Show the students trend lines, patterns, etc.
  • Use different colors to compare

9. Create Holiday Cards / Invitations

• Elements
  • Search “Christmas”
• Examples for Use in the Classroom:
  • Show students inspiration for different holidays and events like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Mother’s/Father’s day
  • Keep your presentations festive and relative to the time of year!

Welcome back everyone!

Picking up from where we left off last week, I am going to show you the sweet new tool called “Magic Write” that is basically your brain/schedules new best friend 🙂

Maybe you’ve exhausted the materials that Canva supplies and you still aren’t finding exactly what you’re hoping for. This is where Magic Write comes in …

Also known as your Personal AI assistant there to help you with anything you could possibly want to create/plan/organize.

It could be anything from a lesson plan, to a presentation, to a worksheet, to a exit slip, to an activity. Whatever you may need help with or an idea on – it’s got you covered!

Simply select the “magic write” option from the left side of the toolbar

You will then be asked to enter in what you are hoping to create or need help composing!

I have created an Instagram Reel you can watch by scanning this code to see the steps!

*ps. I know it’s not perfect, but it already took me too many tries LOL – my skills still need work!!

** Side note: I found another handy tool via Instagram from a teacher named Amy McMahon this week called Magic School (check it out if you need help putting ideas into lesson plans, differentiating, writing assessments/feedback, and communicating more clearly) ***

This week, I discovered maybe the best resource so far – I wish I had found it even sooner!

Canva itself actually has a “Design School” with a course called TEACHER ESSENTIALS !!

I don’t think there’s a better place to learn about Canva than Canva itself… lol

Let’s dive right into it …

Kickstart Lesson Planning:

• STEP 1: OPEN CANVA & SELECT TEMPLATES FROM THE LEFT MENU BAR

• STEP 2: BROWSE THE RANGE OF RESOURCES SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR TEACHERS
  • You can select specific: grades, subjects, and resource types to narrow your search
  • The video below also shows you exactly how to get there!

• I created this video with the help of Screencastify which allowed me to show my screen while recording my voice so I could talk you through exactly what I was doing.
• I then clipped my recordings in the editor and saved the entire video as an mp4.
• After that, I opened YouTube and selected the “Create” button that looks like a video camera with a + (shown in top left of photo).

• • I then selected “upload video” and dragged my mp4 into the box.
  • It will then prompt you to answer detail, audience, and visibility questions

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• • • It then chose to allow only users with the link to have access to viewing rather than making my video public.

• STEP 3: CHOOSE YOUR LESSON PLAN
  • I have provided examples from Grade’s 3 & 8 in the video below for different types of math lessons and worksheets!

• STEP 4: EDIT & TAILOR THE DESIGN TO MEET YOUR NEEDS/PREFERENCES
  • In this video, I show you how to change color schemes, add elements, and make the presentation your own!
  • As a trick, you can visit Canva Color Palettes and find the one you like best!

• The fonts I mentioned were from this TikTok:

@gyladigitals

Did you know that Canva has SECRET FONTS? I’ve rounded up some unique ones that you can use for your next project. Check out this list below: 1. Magazine letters 2. Pink Bubble Gum 3. Neon letters 4. Fluffy letters 5. Bamboo alphabet letters 6. Ice Cream Cone letters 7. @Cocomomo 8. Set:nAFENR3S-dk 9. Tropical letter watercolor illustration Try them out and let me know what you think. 🤗 If you also know some secret Canva fonts, share them in comments section. 🌻 #canva #tipsandhacks #canvasecretfonts #fonts #canvatips #canvahacks #digitalproducts #digitalproductseller #graphicdesign #canvacreator

♬ Shake It Off – Platinum Party

• Next week, I will continue using Canva Design School to show you how to edit lessons you’ve previously created outside of Canva (as pdfs, jpegs, etc.) to enhance their design!

I really enjoyed my learning process on Canva this week, the videos were easy to follow along with, the steps were descriptive and specific. They also did a great job of explaining when and why you may want to use these resources.

I found my process of using Screencastify to be quite simple and super helpful in my explanation of how to access the resources I was trying to describe. In many ways, it can be easier to say and show you how to do things rather than try to type and explain it! It provides a very basic way to make a simple video of your computer screen which is helpful in giving instructions.

It also allows the option for you to have your camera on but I chose not to for the purpose of this video. Once your video is created, you can crop your screen in the editor to capture only the necessary parts you’d like to share. This allows you to hide your top toolbar and the tabs opened up top without having to close anything out. For my next video creation, I would like to add music and possibly some effects so I think I will try to create an Instagram reel instead!

SAMR MODEL

The other great part about this tool is that you could use it to record digital lessons for your students ahead of time. If they are tasked with learning something on their computer, instead of directly teaching them how, you could have them actually using their computers to watch the video and follow along with you as they go! In my current pre-intern experience, every student has their own computer and they all use a program called Edsby that allows them to upload their assignments for grading and to keep the parents in the loop about what they’re working on. There are many times where the students run into different issues when downloading, uploading, and saving their work from different programs. This would be a perfect opportunity to have tutorial videos uploaded on how to complete these tasks rather than answering the same question 35 times (haha).

I know many students (including myself) tend to be visual learners and sometimes need to see things multiple times in order to properly understand. If you create a video lesson, they will be able to watch as many times as they want (even at home!). This is also beneficial if students need to catch up from missing class.

It also provides the option of choice, where you may have students who would rather be shown how to do it directly, which you can do with them as well. Some students also find it easier to use technology rather than write down the steps and then try to follow them – an example of a modification and substitution in the classroom as discussed in our article during class!