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Since the 1970s mind mapping has been the go to source for brainstorming and planning. Before long mind maps found its way into the education field and has proven to be the next best thing for both students and teachers. Teachers only have a few months during the summer to prepare for the upcoming academic year and those who work all year have less than this. Teachers of all levels use mind maps to help lighten the work load and therefore can focus on what’s most important, the students. Mind maps are the perfect solution to help instructors organize and complete these tasks in much less time than normal. Below are top ways mind mapping help teachers to save time and be more productive.

Planning. Lesson plans are the bulk of a teacher’s responsibilities. Mind maps help teachers to brainstorm potential classroom activities, lesson plans, field trips and other projects. Mind maps will also aid in the organization and arrangement of these items.

Presentations. Chalkboards are quickly becoming a thing of the past and teachers of all levels are searching for new innovative methods to communicate and present information to their students. Mind maps with it colors, text and graphics, captures the attention of students and makes learning interesting. Interested students absorb more, learn more and ultimately perform better academically. Using mind maps teachers can easily update information, and more importantly, open and organize these mind maps into a slide show with PowerPoint.

Study Guides. Mind mapping is well known for its learning capabilities, so it should come as no surprise that teachers utilize mind maps to help students do their best learning. Mind maps allows teachers to step away from the traditional list and outline form, and provide students with a learning tool to promote thinking and innovation. Mind maps are in a compact form, and loads of information is easily organized onto one page, making the mind map perfect for printing. Improved study guides result in improved grades.

Research. Information has changed over the years and so has research methods. Mind maps give teachers an open canvas to test and explore subjects and classroom content before presenting them as lesson plans. Mind maps helps to keep all found information neatly organized, and allows the instructor to easily expand on the said mind map.

Learning Encouragement. The word encouragement is used because although school is a place of learning, it is very rare the instructors actually teach the students how to learn. Presenting mind maps to students will not only open their eyes to a different method of learning, but a more beneficial method as well. With the help of mind maps students have no choice but to be more innovative, organized and a better student overall.

As one can see there are many ways teachers can take advantage of mind maps. The uses range from brainstorming lesson plans to designing study guides. Incorporating mind maps into classroom room activities and other projects encourages group interaction and learning. Take a look at the attached mind map and feel free to print it as a quick guide to how instructors benefit from the use of mind maps.