In 2009 I created a graduate level course entitles Mind Mapping. The purpose of this course was to provide practicing teachers with the knowledge, skills and strategies to differentiate instruction for their learners when presenting content. Mind maps use symbols and colors to emphasis purpose, memory, and connections of content. I have also used this technique in my 684 Effective Instruction Class to help students gain a deeper understanding of Chapters 3-6.

According to Buzan (2011) "A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance."

The following is an example from the website http://www.tonybuzan.com/about/mind-mapping/

 I have included two mind maps that were created by students in a different section of the ED680 Mind Mapping Course.

The map below was created to use during the teaching of the "h" family to first graders. As you can see the symbols and words along with the strategic placement of content help differentiate the sounds that can be produced as well as ways to remember the content. This map was created in a weekend course during the spring semester of 2012.

The second mind map was created by an English 10 teacher from a local charter school when taking the course in 2011. She identified the types of literature her students would experience in her course along with the definitions of each genre. Diane's report back was that this particular strategy really helped the students understand and contrast the types of genre presented in this unit.

The following maps were created in the Effective Instruction Summer Course of 2013. Students were assigned 4 chapters to read from the course text. Each student was assigned a chapter in which they were to play the role of an expert regarding the content.

When students came to class, they were put into their expert groups to discuss their focus chapter. Next, each student was to create a mind map to illustrate their deeper understanding of the content. The mind map would be used to share with other students to help provide deeper understanding of the content.

An expert from each chapter was put together in a new group. Information would be exchanged and then a large map of all four chapters would be created. Each large map was displayed around the room so that students could compare information and ways to represent content to deepen their understanding of the text.

This jigsaw strategy with mind mapping allows students to reinforce their learning through collaboration, creation of symbols to represent meaning, and opportunity to see how others perceived the material.