If you’ve been following along with me on twitter, you might know that I was lamenting over not having a classroom to decorate this year. And, I mean, my last classroom was pretty adorable, if I may say so myself. I LOVE the color teal (or aqua, or turquoise) and I love patterns, so I went with that theme for my room at my first school.
So, this year, with no room to decorate (okay, one of my rooms has some decoration, but it’s still up from last year!) I had to go all out on my syllabus. If you saw my sneak peek on twitter, you’ll know that my syllabus also embraces teal and pattern. I like it much better than my school-color themed choice from last year. (PS, both years I used Piktochart‘s free version to create them – for me, Piktochart is easy to use, easy to get used to, fun to use, and their staff has been wonderful to work with!)
Last year, I had a few syllabus issues:
I realized, too late, that even with my ThingLink tags, my syllabus did not give all the information that I wanted it to. I had to make a second, text-based page with additional info. Not my favorite course of action, as I worked so hard to make the visuals great.
The second issue was for parents. While I made the parents sign the bottom of the syllabus, they never saw the additional links that I added! I want to be as transparent with students and parents as possible, so I knew I needed to fix that. I didn’t want to rely on students to share that additional information (including necessary materials, what the heck proficiency is, and ways to follow me on social media.)
This year, I decide to make the graphics work better for me, to break up the text into sections, and instead of just being there to, well, be an “infographic.” I really love the result! I sacrificed some visual simplicity for it to be exactly what I needed, but I might also have reduced the need for extra links!
Okay, okay, enough typing and onto what you came for!
Here is page 1 of my syllabus:
and here is page 2:
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share them with me in the comments or on twitter.
PS: I’ve been asked by a lot of people if they can have an editable version of this sucker. Man, oh man, do I wish it was editable. I’m currently trying to decide if it’s feasible to make an editable version; stayed tuned!
This is fantastic!!
Which template did you use? A free or pro? Maybe we can start from there…
I actually started with the “create your own,” because none of the templates were quite what I wanted. And I only use the free version, at least for right now!
Do you print this, or is this something that is delivered electronically?
I print sheets to go home for parents to read over and sign, but I put them up electronically as well. We use Schoology, so I post them there for reference, and we usually do a syllabus scavenger hunt there.
Awesome!
Thank you so much!
Did you post this on the web? or did you make copies? I’m trying to create one for my website but I’m unable to download it to the site? any ideas
With the free version, I download as a .jpg, but also post the link to our class Schoology page. There is a download button at the top of the Piktochart editor.
I want to take your class!
Thanks! I’m hoping that it excites students as much as it excites teachers!
This looks fantastic. Good job! However, now I’m feeling the need to re-do some of materials and classes start in one week. Aaaaaagh! Thanks for the share!
This is beautiful!!! 🙂
Thanks you!
Beautiful!!!! I love the layout and the information is so inclusive!!! Thanks for sharing. You’ve inspired me to try this for my students and parents instead of the Word document that I usually post online.
I’m so glad that you feel inspired! I hope that it goes well for you, and be sure to share your finished product!
Just found this! Using your basic “template” and applying it for my classes! Love this so much! Thanks for the resource!
You’re so welcome – I hope your syllabus works for you and your students!