Mind maps are brainstorming diagrams that start from a single idea or image and branch out.  For visual learners, mind mapping is an effective way of taking notes.  You can learn how to use mind maps for note taking from this article.  If you want to see examples of mind maps, look at Tony Buzan’s book Mind Mapping for Children.

These ideas for helping visual learners succeed will not be new to experienced teachers. Read it to remind yourself to include teaching strategies for students who benefit from visual clues.

Here’s a checklist approach to figuring out your learning style.  It covers eight learning styles on one page – short and to the point.  Just another path for looking at how different people learn.

Here are good activities lists for auditory learners, visual learners, kinesthetic learners and tactile learners.  I like the name of this excellent website – Learning Abled Kids.  Its goal is to provide support and resources to homeschooling families who have to deal with learning issues.  The information is very helpful, whether you are a homeschooler or a public school advocate.

I have gone to numerous workshops on learning style and diversified teaching.  I think about it a lot because I know that I will be a better teacher if I understand how my students learn best.  Learning Styles Online has concise, clear descriptions of several learning styles and good suggestions for adapting how you teach and learn to each style.  I particularly like the Free Learning Styles Inventory Test.  It helps you recognize your own learning style.  Just reading the questions gives you food for thought.

There are many websites devoted to this to topic.  I will try to suggest ones I find interesting.

In his August newsletter, Marvin Marshall reminds us that recent research on memory emphasizes making connections over rote learning.  This is what he wrote about how to put that into practice.

Start by explaining the learning to yourself first–as if you were teaching it to someone who was unfamiliar with the concept. By using this self-talk approach, you will clarify and consolidate your own understanding. You can then relate it more easily to what your students have already learned.

After the teaching, emphasize to review the learning in SHORT SEGMENTS. There are no known upper limits on how much human beings can learn, but there are significant limits on how much we can remember at one learning session–SUCH AS WHEN CRAMMING.

Have students practice early (after the learning) and often.  This can start before the end of the period in some reflection activity before students leave.  If the connections between subject matter and students are
relevant and personal to them, and if the learning is rehearsed several times, the learned material becomes part of long term memory.

If any of your students are obsessed with The Hunger Games series (and now nose deep into Mockingjay), check out this list of similar books.

WARNING:  If you are not familiar with The Hunger Games, read it before suggesting it to students.  It is an excellent book, but the topic is very dark.  I don’t recommend it for young readers.

Here’s a list of books for the first day of school.  I like the theme and illustrations in Sumi’s First Day of School Ever, which is a story about a young Korean girl who is just starting to learn English.  If you want to read to older elementary school kids, look at the ideas offered by Education World.  Since I love dressing up, I like the idea of wearing a bathrobe and slippers to read Miss Malarkey Doesn’t Live in Room 10.

I love this YouTube of what you can do with Diet Coke and Mentos.  I know there’s a science lesson somewhere, but mainly I just love the passion behind it.  If we could all just be similarly crazy now and then!

There are many different opinions on the value of spelling bees, but you can’t help but admire the 14-year-old girl who won the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee.  Anamika Veeramani is poised, polite and confident.  She is clear about her love of spelling, but also clear that she has many other interests.  Take a look at this interview.  She doesn’t lose her cool even when asked silly questions.

When I read the short bios of all the Spelling Bee finalists, I was impressed by the diversity of their interests.  I was also impressed by the words they had to spell in the final round.

Just for fun, check out the winning words for the past 85 years.

By the way, a stromuhr is an instrument that measures the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery.