To continue what I saying, a concept map is a simple attractive tool for organizing and representing one’s thoughts and information. I was introduced to Webspiration and immediately I fell in love with it. Being an educator, several thoughts of incorporating this technology into teaching and learning raced through my mind.
As far back as my memory can take me, I used semantic maps in the classroom for activating prior knowledge in creative writing. My children enjoyed them and they have proven to be effective for struggling readers and visual/spatial learners. One reason for this is the fact that motivation is one of the key factors of learning and by using the maps the children were stimulated and were better able to understand the content of the lessons.
Webspiration is multidimensional and can be even more effective than the semantic maps we use in the classroom. Through proper scaffolding, the students can organize their thoughts, revise and edit their own work and assist in revising the work of their peers. Imagine the depth of learning that would emerge from this simple activity! It is excellent for teachers because we can use the tool to assess students thus moving away from the typical paper and pencil assessments.
We all can attest to the difficulty of content area teaching and as I mentioned previously Wespiration is excellent to enhance these lessons. Use them to define concepts, such as the water cycle or the Spanish influence in Trinidad, even the learning of a second language or area of solids in mathematics. The list can go on and on and as educators use your imagination. The sky is the limit and make use of these opportunities!
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