I was introduced to Canva in summer 2019 when I supported American students on their student abroad package here in Scotland. It was particularly useful to make event posters and schedules with engaging event visuals and Scottish pictures plus they were easy to make and share or collaborate with colleagues. I didn't realise then how useful it would become in my ELT classroom or business!

I taught myself the basics but used only poster templates. I was a complete novice at graphic design and had no idea of the endless helpful tools Canva can provide.

Fast forward three years to the start of my freelancing career and I started to realise the importance of socials and the usefulness of Canva for this. Joining Insta and creating a FB group I needed visually engaging content. Remembering how easy Canva is for these, I joined up and explored digital designing.
I expanded my design templates for Linked In, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and learned how using the scheduling feature of Pro I could add my designs for future publication.

I then took a Canva course to increase my skills further and gain more know how that was relevant to teaching or training. When I was explaining this to my freelance peers, they asked me for help with their socials and material designs I made a few tutorial videos to help and the idea of delivering my own Canva for ELT Professionals was born! Today, I use Canva every day for various tasks – I have a couple of free accounts for specific projects and my own Pro account for Hayward ELT Training (although Pro is not necessary for everything). One day I might be designing socials for the charities I work with, and another day it is infographics for an ELT lesson or a video for my You Tube channel. In my free time I might spend some time designing personal items such as birthday greetings to friends. I love how versatile Canva is!

I have delivered my course – Canva for ELT Professionals, a few times this year and the feedback has been incredibly positive. I take all that credit but it is also because Canva is a fantastic tool for ELT Professionals – so my job is easy in that respect!! I now eat, drink and sleep Canva!

I am a trainer on Trinity Cert Tesol courses and Trinity Dip Tesol. I also deliver my own training: Canva for ELT Professionals. You can email me at: clare@hayward-ELT-training.com or look out for my socials with news on up coming Canva for ELT courses or webinars (there is a regular free webinar about Canva for ELT too!)