It’s change of semester time, so we high school teachers are reverting back to start up mode. It’s time to begin again, which is a nice thing to do in the dark days of winter.
Last August, on my old blog, I shared the digital syllabus I was using for my classes. I had a number of people ask for a template but was too busy to make one up. Well, now I have a bit of extra time (actually I’m avoiding marking exams), so I’m reposting this idea with a link to the template I used. A syllabus is a very individual thing, as we all have different information to give to our students, but if you’re interested, you can use this as a starting point and adapt it and make it your own.
Why do I use a digital syllabus? I want to use much less paper, so the information is going on line, on our course website. If there is someone who doesn’t have internet access, I will print it off for them. Secondly, I wanted to create a syllabus that they will actually read, not just shove to the back of their binders, as I know they have in the past. We all know that this generation is much more likely to read it if it’s on a screen!
I’ve included pics of the syllabus I use (minus the personal info) followed by a link to the template. If you use it, I’d love to see what you come up with!
Click here for access to the editable template:
Template for Digital Syllabus
If you want to keep the fonts the same, you can download KG Second Chances Solid (Kimberly Geswein) and Hello TypeHype (Hello Literacy). You can get them for free, as long as it’s just for personal use.
If you’re planning for the first few days back, you might want to check out this freebie too: The Ideal School Project is an engaging way to dive into skill building with your students! And, you can avoid the typical boring first day by trying out my Back-to-School Stations.
This is a really generous offer! A lot of hard work went into making this, so thank you! I can't wait to re-do my course outlines next year!
Thanks, Shey!
Your syllabus is amazing. I am jealous you didn't do this in September so I could steal it!
Brynn Allison
The Literary Maven
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Hi Jackie! I referenced this post in my blog about my new syllabus for this coming year. You said you'd like to see what others came up with so I wanted to share with you! Thank you so much for the free template and awesome idea! I do not think I could have created such an awesome syllabus without your help & generosity! http://learninglovingteaching.weebly.com/blog/new-rules-new-syllabus
Thank you! I just finished tweaking your template for my class. You rock!
Thanks, Shari!!
Thank you for this awesome syllabus template! I'm in the process of tweaking the template for my class, I want to use the pie chart to display the percentages for my 4 categories of grades. Is there a way to change the pie chart to represent 45%, 35%, 10% and 10%?
Hi, Ericka! When you open the template in power point, you can click on the pie chart to edit it. You could also delete it an dust start a new one from scratch. I hope that helps.
Hi Jackie, I love this and am trying to download it. I keep getting Whoops! There was a problem loading this page. Is there a work around or am I doing something wrong? Thanks for your help.
I"m not sure….it's working here. Send me your email to [email protected] and I will email it to you.
Thank you so much!! I have been looking for a template, and you have generously shared one that looks great and is easy to edit. I really appreciate it!
This is awesome! I can't want to use it.
This is awesome! I can't want to use it.
Thank you so much for your great work 🙂
Thank you so very much for sharing!!! 🙂
Hi, Jackie:
I like your idea. I, too, want to use less paper this year. Can you tell me how you made sure students and parents read your syllabus? How did you present it to your classes? How did parents and students "sign" the syllabus?
Thank you.
Chenee
Hi, Chenee. I don't do anything other than go over it in class and at meet the teacher night. I have played with the idea of sending home a form that both students and parents sign; however, I know that I have mindlessly signed the many pieces of paper that get sent home to parents at the beginning of the year, so I'm not sure that's the best option. The Literary Maven uses a syllabus scavenger hunt that will certainly get the students going over it: http://www.theliterarymaven.com/2015/07/the-literary-maven-goes-back-to-school.html
Good luck!
Extremely helpful! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Thank you! This helped me get started!
SO glad to hear it!