Molloy Course

Infusing
          Technology
                  & Creativity

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Notes about this blog entry! This mind map was created by an attendee at the NYSEC Conference.

Linda Rief created this mind map at the 2017 conference of the Connecticut Writing Project.

I Create a Creative Culture. I begin setting a creative culture the moment I meet my students in September. I achieve this with the following steps:

1. Covering the walls of my classroom in their work.
2. Maintaining shelves full of reading choices.
3. Mandating pupils bring magic markers and other art supplies daily.
4. Setting creative goals for them quarterly, culminating in a portfolio.
5. Getting them to fill notebook pages through freewrites, quickwrites, Zentangle and doodle sessions, asking for "10 Notebook pages" twice a quarter, and other ways to make the notebook a consistent element in class and in their lives.
6. Including student-samples in every lesson. Tons of them. 
7. What does this look like in the hybrid classroom: Tons of pictures on Google Classroom posts and assignments; Padlet for sharing sessions; creative assignments in every class; constant reminders of notebooks and portfolios.

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II. Teach Mind Mapping & Create ID Cards.

1. To learn mind mapping, students need direct instruction and plenty of examples. Mini-lesson #3: Mind Mapping.
2. The first assignment: ID cards. Students mind map their passions and interests.
3. Key points: study models but always innovate; art "skill" doesn't matter; create layers and drafts of your work; experiment with color; aesthetics count.
4. Grading creativity in the hybrid classroom ... I try to use formative assessment to get the best work I can out of a student by always coaching them to revise for more points (instead of "summative assessment").

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III Inspire a Love for Reading. Attending NCTE Conferences has shown me that effective English teachers can inspire a love for reading. This happens by encouraging students to read material they choose. Dragging whole classes through canon literature ... often reinforces a hatred of reading.

Once I caught the Book Love passion, I re-designed our department's summer reading assignment: Students are asked to keep a chart of what they read. Period. No mandatory reading - except in honors or AP. The question is: What should a teacher do with the chart in September?

1. Invite students to create mind maps based on summer reading, which I define as everything they read -- books, newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, etc. I want to know what they read.
2. These mind maps are stand-alone art, but they also become useful on the first essay of the year.
3. "Real readers set goals," says Penny Kittle. My kids just turn them into mind maps.
4. "Reading Goals" mind maps are often revisited throughout the yearn(especially in quick-writes) and reflected upon in the portfolio.

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IV Mind Maps for Whole-Class Literature

1. ​Teacher-centric: Create mind maps designed for student-notes atop your starter web. Then re-inforce note-taking strategies as you go through the lesson. Click here to see my student-teacher's entire Frederick Douglass unit!
2. Student-centered: Use the signposts from Notice & Note to give the students more flexibility and autonomy.

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V Notations and Innovations. Once you get this far with creativity, mind mapping, and reading love ... there's no telling what your students might accomplish. Here are some pleasant surprises I've received...