Five of Our Favorite Teacher Channels

Top teachers on Skillshare teach a whole suite of classes, rather than just teaching just once or twice- we call this catalogue of classes a “Channel.” Your Skillshare Channel should represent who you are as a teacher and showcase the skills potential students can learn. Through thoughtful merchandising and class planning you can craft your ideal Channel. Think about what you want students to associate your class catalog with. For example, do you want to offer an inspirational take on pencil sketching, or a more serious approach to poster design? We picked five of our favorite Channels to jumpstart your inspiration and help you design the best channel possible.

Jake Bartlett is a great example of a teacher with a  channel focused on distinct subcategories within his area of expertise, motion graphics. Jake has established himself as a motion graphics expert within the community, through his channel that provides a comprehensive and in-depth educational experience for his students. Jake’s channel covers a variety of different topics; from a class that teaches students how to animate with light, to another that teaches students how to animate their hand lettering, all of his classes center around animation.

Class cover images are a great opportunity to show off your channel’s personality. Students scan the site to see classes that catch their eye before watching the first video lesson, making class cover images a key part of increasing your overall channel growth. Hayden Aube’s iconic and highly saturated cover images have a recognizable look, making his classes easy to spot on the site. His cover images are also approachable and fun, enticing vector beginners to take a peek at his class catalogue.    

A well designed and attention-grabbing channel starts with your profile. A description is shown on the Overview tab to give potential students a snapshot of  you and what they can expect from your channel. In Jamie Bartlett’s teacher profile, she shares some background about her design experience as well as a few fun facts about herself. Crafting an engaging teacher profile helps students connect with you as a teacher and serves to establish your credibility on the platform.

While consistency is a core piece in building an amazing channel, diversifying your classes helps to keep your classes creative and innovative. Gabrielle DeCesaris’ Channel includes a variety of different class types. She publishes fundamentals classes, like her Color Workshop class, and also shares more project-focused classes, like Sketching Realistic Eyes.  Offering these different class types provides a more engaging class catalogue that appeals to a wider audience of students. We recommend exploring different class types as you build your curriculum!

Building an active student community across your classes is another key part of a healthy channel! To inspire her community, Amarilys comments on student projects and offers insightful feedback and encouragement. Keep in mind, can also use your Channel Discussions feature to announce new classes, offer feedback, or get your students talking.

When you develop a consistent, comprehensive channel, you’ll likely attract new students and keep them coming back for more. We encourage you to build a channel that aligns well with your target student, your class content, and most importantly, you!