This Tech Thursday is all about Brain Mapping Websites. My students love to use these websites. I really wish I had some examples of some of the work they do on these, but they are our student accounts which I can't legally share with you. :( Boooo.
Anyways... Here are three wonderful websites that you should probably bookmark. You won't regret and your students will love you forever if you show them these fun brain mapping websites. Best part about them, you can assign students a task and they will be enjoying themselves so much while creating.... they will forget they are doing school work!!!
Up first is a website called Gliffy. This site offers a variety of shapes that students just drag and drop onto a grid background. Text boxes automatically appear on the shapes that they drop in so it is so easy to add text. The fonts of course can be edited and the shapes can change colors too. There is a quick tool for connecting the shapes. My students figured this website out in about 3 minutes. I had them start by brain mapping about themselves. They loved it! Now this is a go-to website for all of my students. Here is my quick gliffy that I made to show you how the shapes look.
Next is a website called Mindomo. This one is a little bit more technical, but I love that you can add pictures, links and emoticons to your brain map. Mindomo maps start with a template. Students have to learn the tricks to editing (like holding shift + enter to go to a new line). When you start your first Mindomo they give you tips and tricks along the way. This website offers some features that the other two don't. Students can share their Mindomo easily and use it in a presentation too! There are different themes for students to choose from for the color or they can just edit the color on the individual bubble. Here is a quick example.
The last website I have for you is my absolute favorite brain mapping website. It is called bubbl.us. It is fabulous!!! There are tons of blank templates for your students to start with. The text boxes automatically appear on the bubbles as you go. There are little arrows on the sides of the bubble that allow you to create a new bubble. Students can also grab them and slide them around the page as they go. If they click on the bubble, they can change the text size/color. The bubble color can also be changed. There is another option for students to link different bubbles together, so they can really customize to exactly what they need. Here is my quick example.
Yes... my examples are pretty basic... but you get the idea. There are so many different ways that you can use these brain mapping websites in your classroom. How could you use them in your classroom? I would love to hear your ideas.
Remember to grab the button up at the top of the post and link up below with your Tech Thursday post.
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