We put a few questions to Toni upon the launch of his new book (available here) and he was kind enough to give us some answers:
Toni, many of our members will already be
familiar with your work, but for those who are not, can you give us a quick
overview of your background?
For many years now, I’ve been an enthusiastic
proponent of the use of mind maps in education. It started with my personal use
of mind maps, followed by using mind maps with my students, and has led to my present
ambition to encourage widespread use of mind maps in schools at all levels –
kindergarten through graduate.
I have a very diverse background, consisting of
training in environmental chemistry and international business, as well as
experience in academia, business consulting, and environmental policy. This
wide range of interests is a direct result of my lifelong-learning mind set.
I’m constantly trying to learn more so that I can grow my knowledge and skills,
and, in turn, contribute my own ideas.
Mind mapping has played an integral role in my life for
over a decade, stemming from my initial discovery of the technique while in
business school. For me, mind mapping offers measurable benefits over plain text
and linear thinking in that it helps me improve my thinking, learning, and
communicating of ideas.
What motivated you to put together your
new book, Mind Mapping for Kids?
As a college professor, I’ve often
seen students struggle in school mainly because they were never taught how to
learn. Frustrated and overwhelmed with the volume of material being thrown at
them, many of them give up on true understanding and resort to memorization to
make it through their classes. By experimenting with mind maps in my own classroom
starting in 2004, I discovered that many of my students found them extremely helpful
in making sense of material. In 2010, encouraged by the success of my students,
I published my first book, Concise Learning (aka How to Study with Mind Maps), to
help other students learn how to use the mind mapping method used in my
classrooms.
Two reasons prompted me to write Mind Mapping for Kids: How Elementary School
Students Can Use Mind Maps to Improve Reading Comprehension and Critical
Thinking: (1) Inquiries from parents and teachers in elementary schools
asking for tips on using mind maps in primary education and (2) my toddler. By devoting
my last two years to learning about reading comprehension, I came to realize that
mind maps can be very effective in helping children understand what they’re
reading, even at the beginning levels.
What are the key areas of focus in the
new book?
MMFK helps elementary school students develop
higher-level thinking and improve their reading comprehension using mind maps
and eight reading
comprehension strategies.
Part I of the book discusses the fundamentals of mind
mapping for teachers and students. Part II demonstrates how to use mind maps
and the eight reading comprehension strategies to help students develop
higher-level thinking and better comprehend what they’re reading. Part III
provides 20 examples of mind mapping uses in school and at home.
Who do you think would benefit the most
from reading the book?
My intention with MMFK is to provide a comprehensive
resource for parents and teachers on how to introduce mind maps to their kids
and students and how to use mind maps to improve reading comprehension. These
younger students are, therefore, the focus of MMFK, but students in higher
grades can also benefit from mind mapping and can read the book on their own.
Tell us how you have used Biggerplate as
an extension of the book?
MMFK contains over 50 mind maps, and I’ve shared 12 of
them on Biggerplate, my favorite mind map sharing site and community of mind
mappers.
Here are the links to the 12 MMFK maps shared on
Biggerplate: Learn
to Write Letters and Numbers with Mind Maps, Mind
Mapping Tips, Electronic
Mapping vs. Paper Mapping, Gagne’s
9 Events of Instruction, Managing
Information with Mind Maps, The 3
Little Pigs, Class
Planning with Mind Maps, Young
Scientists, 8
Reading Comprehension Strategies: VIP ACCESS, 8
Reading Comprehension Strategies Combined, Mind
Maps in Elementary School Classrooms, and Tips
on Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies.
When and where is the book available to
buy?
MMFK is now available on Amazon
and iBooks.
To encourage students, teachers, and parents to try
mind mapping, I’m offering a special incentive: over
$25,000 in prizes.
Anything else we should know?
I hope that my two books will successfully motivate
more teachers to introduce map mapping in schools, both at the elementary and
college levels, because I know that mind maps can help students become better
learners. If I can reach one student a day, that’s reward enough for me. With
your help, we can reach many more and expand our worldwide mind
mapping community. Thank you for your support!
