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Mind Map Tony Buzan Uses for Teaching

Info update from thinkbuzan: 7 Mind Mapping Uses for Teaching

By ThinkBuzan - Friday, 18 June 2010

We will get straight to the point: as a teacher, you don't have much time and you want to know when you will use Mind Map Tony Buzan and why. Take a look at these 7 uses of Mind Mapping, and see how you could improve your planning, preparation and lesson delivery without hassle or wasting time.

1) Lesson Preparation

Teaching preparation can amount to files full of plans and documents, as a single lesson's preparation alone can generate reams of notes. By using Mind Mapping to plan your teaching, you can reduce the amount of notes you take into clear, concise plans which are easy to follow. With iMindMap, the Mind Mapping software tool, you can make organising teaching plans even easier, as you can access all of your notes, files and education website links from within one Mind Map.

2) Delivering Lessons

Mind Maps are ideal for teaching and presenting concepts in the classroom as they provide a useful focus for students, delivering an overview of the topic without superfluous information. Perfect for introducing a new subject in a way which is accessible and easy to follow, Mind Maps are an excellent way to present concepts and ideas. Now, with the advent of iMindMap's award winning Presentation Mode, you can be sure to keep your students engaged and amazed as your branches smoothly animate to show your next point.

3) Curriculum Planning

Teaching today hinges around well-organised curriculum planning. With new curriculum initiatives, briefs, objectives and aims, it can all become overwhelming. But with Mind Mapping you can plan your year in sequence, prioritising key topics and adding deadlines as necessary. iMindMap makes this process even more hassle-free through integration with Office software programmes, such as Microsoft Word and Excel. Plus, the iMindMap Ultimate Project Management system gives you even more control over your annual plans, as you can add tasks, completion rates and deadlines to keep on top of your teaching schedule at all times.

4) Creating Handouts

Mind Maps are the ideal teaching tool for classroom handouts, as the inherent colour, images and visually appealing layout of a Mind Map engages students instantly. Mind Maps provide subject overviews succinctly, making even the most complex topic easy to understand and interesting. They are especially useful for visual learners, such as dyslexic students, who can feel frustrated and demotivated when being given information in linear, monochromatic format. With iMindMap, teaching handouts can be shared in a number of digital formats (including image, PDF and web page) and printed in a variety of ways.

5) Encouraging Discussion and Independent Thought

The Cambridge Primary Review recently assessed that classroom interaction and listening to students was key for generating independent thought, a quality looked for by examiners and future employers. Mind Mapping is the perfect collaborative tool for class discussions, as the nature of the Mind Map encourages students to forge links between topics as well as forming their own ideas and opinions. With iMindMap, this teaching process is made smoother than ever with Audio Notes to record class discussions as they happen and assign individual viewpoints to each branch.

6) Student Assessment

It is important to assess knowledge at the beginning of a topic and after to monitor your students understanding. Mind Mapping is a key tool for this concept, of preview and review/pre and post learning. Mind Maps encourages students to express ideas, from special needs and highly gifted students, and provides an accurate barometer of topic adoption.

7) Self-Evaluation

With frequent teacher inspections and reviews, it is important to constantly self-assess and evaluate your teaching style and preparation. Mind Mapping allows you to assess your current abilities (for example, in areas such as lesson delivery, handouts, interaction etc.) and then goal set what you would like to achieve within a week, a month, a year. This powerful form of self-evaluation will allow you to keep improving and meeting your teaching target objectives.

Interested in Mind Mapping? You can get a FREE trial of iMindMap, the only Mind Mapping software from Tony Buzan, the inventor of Mind Maps.

Source: www.thinkbuzan.com