How to Use Canva for Teachers Beyond the Classroom
Whether you’ve been figuring out how to use Canva throughout your career as a teacher or you’re just now hearing about this amazing tool, it’s time to explore how you can use it beyond the classroom.
As educators, we are accustomed to thinking of our classroom as our world, where lesson plans and grading papers consume much of our creative energy. But what happens when you’re ready to take your talents beyond the four walls of the school?
Making the leap from the classroom to a new career or side business is both thrilling and a bit intimidating. It’s a time when you need all the help (and tools and resources!) you can get. In my own experience, using Canva has been a game-changer, smoothly blending into every step as I transitioned from teaching to building my own brand.
If you haven’t heard about Canva, it is a graphic design platform known for its easy-to-use design features. It’s a great support for teachers aiming to make their mark outside the classroom. Canva has so many tools for teachers and educators, whether you’re still working inside the classroom or are getting ready to start a new career path.
As someone who has integrated Canva into every aspect of my professional pivot, I’m excited to share how this tool can serve as a powerful tool for innovation, entrepreneurship, and other creative ventures.
5 Ways Teachers Can Use Canva Outside of the Classroom
You may already know how to use Canva in the classroom. But if you’re transitioning to a more flexible education career, then it’s time to explore five ways that Canva can boost your journey into new careers and business endeavors beyond the classroom.
Turn Your Lessons Into Digital Gold: Develop and Sell Educational Products
Have you ever considered converting your lesson plans and thematic units into professional, marketable products? Canva is the perfect software to transform your teaching content that once lived solely in your classroom into valuable digital resources for others to use.
Through Canva’s vast array of design elements, you can turn simple educational concepts into attractive digital products from downloadable workbooks, polished presentations, and even educational games and flashcards. You can leverage your educational expertise to craft and sell compelling learning materials on Teachers Pay Teachers and other platforms.
Amplify Your Voice - Online!: Launch Your Online Presence
One of the best ways teachers can use Canva beyond the classroom is by creating all the assets you need to launch your new career.
Establishing a digital presence is key to sharing your expertise and engaging with a wider audience. Canva is instrumental in this process, providing an extensive selection of templates that elevate your online content – whether it’s stunning graphics for a blog, attractive thumbnails for a YouTube channel, or social media posts that resonate with your audience.
My digital presence owes much to the compelling graphics I create with Canva. When I share a blog post or a tweet, it's often the Canva-crafted image that captures attention first. After all, it's not just about what you say but how visually appealing your message is. Canva’s rich library of graphics and photos allows me to crystallize complex ideas into clear, engaging visual posts that resonate with my audience.
If you’re an educator looking to make a splash online, remember that your content paired with Canva’s visual appeal can create a digital presence that stands out and speaks volumes.
Design Your Freelance Journey: Dive into Freelancing Jobs for Teachers
Have you considered using your natural creativity and communication skills you have as a teacher to pursue a freelance venture?
With Canva for teachers beyond the classroom, you can offer services like graphic design, presentation creation, or even educational consulting with a professional edge. Don’t want to sell your own educational materials? Work as a freelancer for other educators helping them sell their work!
The best part is that Canva enables you to produce materials that compete with those designed in more sophisticated software, but with less hassle and more creativity. This could be your gateway to a lucrative business or side hustle, allowing you to capitalize on your skills. With Canva’s help, you can turn your eye for aesthetics and order into a profitable service.
Brand Yourself for Success: Personal Branding with Canva
In a world where personal branding can make or break your career transition, Canva can be used to design a standout portfolio, a unique resume, and business cards that speak volumes and set you apart in the professional world. All of these tools can help you as you pursue opportunities beyond the classroom, such as in education writing, education consulting, curriculum design, or even starting your own education business.
My experience with Canva’s Brand Kit for my online teaching business has been transformative, providing a unified suite of colors, fonts, and logos that ensures a consistent look across all materials. This coherence is vital; it's what makes your brand memorable. Whether I am designing a presentation or updating my website, my brand elements are always one click away, giving my work a sleek, professional edge and saving me time.
If you’re a teacher branching out as an education business owner, remember that your brand is your introduction before you utter a single word. Use Canva for teachers to make your first impression as powerful as the knowledge you share.
Merchandise Your Message: Create Custom Merchandise
Your unique teaching slogans, educational quotes, or custom artwork can turn into a line of merchandise. Canva’s design capabilities allow you to create designs for t-shirts, mugs, and posters which you can sell on platforms like Etsy or your personal web store. This not only creates an additional income stream but also extends your brand reach.
With Canva's intuitive tools, I was able to craft shirts that captured the spirit of my brand. The process was not just about creating merchandise but about creating a cherished keepsake for our online classroom community.
Ready to start your education journey beyond the classroom?
Embracing change can be daunting, but with tools like Canva, it becomes an exciting journey of possibility. If you want to extend your reach beyond the classroom, know that Canva is more than a teaching aid—it's a bridge to new opportunities.
I invite you to join the Educator Forever Network, where we support each other on our journeys beyond the classroom. Through the Network, you’ll get access to our signature course, private jobs board, and our supportive community… which has already empowered thousands of educators just like you to transform their careers and lives.
As part of your membership, you’ll also enjoy exclusive career, mindset, and skills-related workshops, including our Canva workshops, designed to empower you as you explore these new paths. Sign up here to start your journey!
About the Author
As the founder and lead instructor of Tutor Tots Online, Allison Williams is at the forefront of virtual education, specializing in creating engaging learning experiences for early learners and homeschoolers. Her dedication to this craft was sparked during a pivotal shift in the pandemic when she discovered a newfound passion for virtual teaching. Allison lives by the idea that learning should be as enjoyable as it is educational—a philosophy that shines through her work and resonates with her students.
Allison also serves as a business mentor in Educator Forever's Grow Your Education Business Accelerator Course where she takes pleasure in helping other entrepreneurs grow their own education businesses. Based in Atlanta, she balances her professional endeavors with personal joys, including playing tennis, attending concerts and plays, and spending time with family.