I Made A Vision Board – and I Liked It!

“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” – George Washington Carver

Goal Setting and the Power of Visualization

Since the end of last year, I’ve been trying to decide how to close out 2017 and invite 2018 in. I’ve never made “resolutions”, but I frequently do goal setting (usually quarterly). As I’ve perused the internet, I’ve noticed the increase of conversations around vision boards (I actually think my first introduction was from a Gabrielle Union magazine article). And according to Oprah, vision boards helped her become the billionaire that we know and love. This year, I thought – let’s try it.

But here’s the problem…..I’m not very crafty….lol. Just thinking about cutting and gluing gave me the heebie-jeebies! But, hey! I’m a techie girl…..so why not use a tech tool to create my vision board?

Choosing the Right Tool

I absolutely love Canva! If you’ve never used Canva before, here’s a quick breakdown. Canva is an online graphic design platform. It offers free access to a wide assortment of design tools and options, as well as premium options for paying customers. Students can use Canva as a go-to creation tool for class projects, you can use these design tools to bring a little something “extra” to your course resources, class website, or social media presence. There are great graph templates built in, too, which could be great tools to help math and science classes display data; plus, students could use chart templates like the Venn diagram tool to help illustrate what they’ve learned in class. Canva has already created teaching materials that can provide you more inspiration.

I use it for almost any type of image that I need to be created. So, long story short…..it was the perfect tool to create my vision board.

Narrowing the Focus

Creating the vision board really helped me focus on what was really important this year: connecting in the amazing communities I’m a part of, reading more with a focus on YA fiction so my daughter and I can read and discuss together, blogging and sharing more, and just being a better me (physically, emotionally, and spiritually). This year is dedicated to health, prosperity, joy, connectedness, and empowerment (hence the superman pose image).

Encouraging Others

As an instructional technology coordinator, my colleagues and I work with all of the teachers in our district. Three years ago we instituted a monthly technology academy (Digital Transformation Academy), where we work with the latest tools, share resources, and we ask them to share what they’ve learned with their school colleagues. After I worked on my vision project, I thought this would be a great way to introduce Canva to our teachers. So they created their vision board during our time together.

Here are some of the feedback responses I received:
“Learning about and practicing with Canva was awesome! I can’t wait to take Canva back so my students can create their vision board. Plus, they can use it to create a profile of themselves.”
“I really enjoyed learning about vision boards using Canva.”
“Using Canva was extremely beneficial. Creating my vision board really helped me reflect and focus.”

I’ve also printed out my vision board because we talked about the importance of it being visible. In order to remain inspired, I decided to put my vision board above my desk. This was my very first time doing a vision board and I thoroughly enjoyed it – I’ll definitely be doing it again next year!

Do you have a vision board? Have you created one or thought of creating one digitally? If so, what’s on it? Let us know in the comments below!

Carla Jefferson
ITC at Darlington County School District
Apple Distinguished Educator
Google Certified Trainer/Innovator
South Carolina, USA

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