The Infographic Syllabus Template

The idea of turning a syllabus in to an infographic has been around for at least several years. This year my colleague made one for herself in a not-free, not-collaborative, tool, so even though we normally share all of our materials, there was no easy way for her to share her version with me. I did a bit of searching for templates, but I mostly found links to paid services. So, I challenged myself to create one from scratch in a Google Drawing. 

Lots of people have asked for a template version, so here you go. It's free.  Course Syllabus Infographic Template

The preview from the link above will look a lot like the image to the right. You'll notice on both that there are some arrows pointing onto the canvas. Those are the directions I added to help you recreate your own version of an infographic syllabus. You'll need to click "use template" to see the directions in the side boxes. Once your syllabus is complete you can move them off the canvas or delete them. 

Several people asked how long this took to make. I'd estimate I spent 3-4 hours on it, but I started from nothing. You get to start from a template! Along the way I got better at using some of the tools in Google Drawings that I wasn't real familiar with, so there was some learning curve too. 

Some tips: 

• Word art is your friend when it comes to infographics. By using word art instead of regular text boxes you can get the size and position of your words just right.
• Drop shadows are the best. I'm addicted to them. Almost everything looks better with a drop shadow. Use it on shapes and titles. 
• Choose 4-5 fonts and reuse them consistently. 2-3 fancy fonts for titles, and 1-2 easy to read fonts for sentence length text. 
• Pick your accent color and be consistent. My school colors are burgundy and gold, so this worked for me. You can change the colors in the template. Look for the paint bucket.
• Don't try to print it out. That being said, if you find a great way to print it that isn't expensive let me know. 
• You can embed the final product on a blog or a website. I put mine on my class blog here. 

If you thought this was cool you'll probably like this post about my favorite things in my classroom. 

If you're interested in the grading categories featured in this template you'll like this post about how my team creates performance based grading. 

And if you teach in a 1:1 school you may need my book. Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning.