Ever feel like you need a magic wand to turn your mountain of paper worksheets into sleek, interactive digital lessons? Well, grab your wizarding hat because Canva and TeacherMade can be your charmed duo! Let’s dive into how these tools can transform your teaching game!

Canva and TeacherMade Offer Free Access; Canva Pro Costs Money But Not for Educators

Canva and TeacherMade have free unlimited use versions for anyone to access. Like TeacherMade, the Canva Pro version costs money for an annual subscription. But since 2019, Canva has made its Pro version available to educators for free!! And as of the Summer of 2024, there are hundreds of thousands of ready-to-go educational resources in Canva, too. This makes it much more useful for busy educators.

The Canva Pro version is a versatile graphic design platform that allows you to create visually appealing materials effortlessly. PDFs and paper activities can be plain and boring, but with Canva, you can transform them into beautiful, engaging content, giving your materials a much-needed facelift.

Here’s why Canva is an excellent choice for educators:

1. Ease of Use: Canva’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for anyone to create stunning designs and its new AI capabilities make the tool even better!
2. Customizable Templates: With thousands of templates available, teachers can quickly create worksheets that fit their classroom theme and lesson objectives– or just choose from the 100,000s already made.
3. Rich Media Options: Incorporate images, icons, and charts to make your worksheets more engaging and informative. Educators have never had access to graphics like this for free!!
4. Collaborative Features: Canva allows for collaboration, making it easy for teaching teams and PLCs to work together on creating their instructional materials.

Make Your Canva Creations Interactive with TeacherMade

Once you’ve designed your materials in Canva, the next step is to make them interactive and autograded using TeacherMade. Think clickable answers, fillable blanks, and instant feedback for your students. No more copies, paper cuts or misplaced sheets—just seamless, engaging learning experiences! 

What educator doesn’t want to turn a boring document into a dynamic, interactive activity that provides immediate feedback to students and is automatically graded? Though TeacherMade Pro has an annual subscription price of $79, the Free version can be used for short answers and multiple choice item types– the most common ones!! You’ll find lots of pre-made Canva sheets that will work for you.

Step 1: Design Your Worksheet in Canva or Choose a Ready-to-go Template

Start by designing your worksheet in Canva. Use Canva’s extensive library of templates and design elements to create materials that are not only educational but also visually appealing. 

Step 2: Export Your Worksheet

Once your design is complete, export your worksheet from Canva. You can download it as a PDF or a PNG image file, depending on your preference. You can also export it to your Google Drive– and since TeacherMade now connects to Google Drive, too, this may be fastest. 

Step 3: Upload to TeacherMade

Log into your TeacherMade account and upload your Canva-designed worksheet or select it from your Drive. TeacherMade supports various file formats, so you can easily upload your worksheet as a PDF or PNG, which is the format that Canva exports as.

Step 4: Add Interactive Elements

In TeacherMade, you can transform your Canva materials into fillable, interactive activities. With 25 + question types, you have many options including multiple-choice, short answer, matching and hot spot questions. There are a multitude of math options for interactivity, and you can also add multimedia elements such as audio and video, or embed Phet simulations to enhance the learning experience.

Step 5: Set Up Autograding

TeacherMade’s autograding feature is a game-changer for educators. Add the correct answers for your questions and TeacherMade will automatically grade students’ responses. 

As students work, they can check their responses, providing immediate feedback. This not only helps students understand and learn from their mistakes instantly but also saves you countless hours on grading. This instant feedback loop is crucial for reinforcing learning objectives and ensuring students stay engaged and motivated.

Benefits for Educators

Accessibility and Cost-Effectiveness

Both Canva and TeacherMade are accessible online and ideal for teachers and students. The seamless integration between these tools means you can quickly turn static materials into dynamic, engaging content, saving time and energy. TeacherMade offers various plans at unbeatable price points, ensuring educators have access to necessary resources without breaking the bank. (Remember: there’s an unlimited free version of TeacherMade if you’re only doing fill-in-the-blanks and multiple choice.)

Customization and Control

With Canva, you have complete control over the look and feel of your converted documents. Want to add some pizzazz? Go ahead! No more plain old scanned-in paper worksheets; you can easily spice them up and turn them into visually engaging, interactive content. TeacherMade lets you decide how interactive your worksheets need to be, whether it’s a simple drag-and-drop activity or a comprehensive auto-graded quiz. Your classroom, your rules.

Engagement and Interactivity 

There is zero doubt that digital interactivity can boost student engagement. Kids today are digital natives, and traditional paper worksheets are boring and outdated. By converting any materials into TeacherMade’s interactive digital activities, you meet students where they are—online. How better to compete with video games than by making learning just as interactive and engaging? Plus, the instant feedback and interactive elements keep students motivated and involved in their learning process. Students engage more deeply with the curriculum when they get instant feedback via the ‘Check My Answers’ button. Turn learning loss into gains.

Integrations and Multiple Assignment Methods

TeacherMade Pro integrates smoothly with several platforms, making it easy to assign your interactive activities Whether you use Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Canvas, or Schoology, you can effortlessly assign activities directly from TeacherMade. These integrations streamline the student login process; students don’t need TeacherMade accounts– they just need to click on TeacherMade activity links assigned to them by their teachers.

• Google Classroom: Assign activities directly to your students with a few clicks, and their results are automatically synced with your gradebook.
• Microsoft Teams: Create and distribute assignments within Teams, providing a cohesive learning environment.
• Canvas and Schoology: Integrate your interactive worksheets with these popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) to streamline your teaching workflow.
• Clever and ClassLink: Teachers can utilize SSO ensuring a seamless log in to access their assignments quickly.

Real-World Examples

Teachers across various subjects have successfully integrated Canva and TeacherMade into their classrooms. For instance, a high school history teacher designed a worksheet on the American Revolution using Canva. She then uploaded the worksheet to TeacherMade, adding interactive elements such as timeline matching and video explanations. The result was a highly engaging and informative activity that her students loved.

Similarly, an elementary school math teacher used Canva to create a colorful, interactive activity on fractions. By uploading it to TeacherMade and adding interactive fraction problems, the students received immediate feedback on their answers, helping them grasp the concept more effectively.

Engaging, Effective, Time-Saving Materials

Incorporating Canva and TeacherMade into your teaching toolkit can significantly enhance your classroom experience. By leveraging Canva’s design capabilities and TeacherMade’s interactive and autograding features, you can create engaging, effective, and time-saving educational materials. Say goodbye to paper clutter and your boring view-only materials and hello to a more efficient, interactive classroom. Your students (and your sanity) will thank you! If you haven’t tried Canva and TeacherMade together, it’s time to bring your curriculum into the digital age!