Education is about finding the balance between inspiration and organization – acquiring knowledge and structuring it so that ensures academic success. Mind maps for teachers and students are a popular method for achieving both outcomes. Better yet, mind map templates for education can make the process even faster and more productive. In this post, we’ll explore the best mind map templates for education in MindMeister.
If knowledge is a steep that few may climb, and duty is a path that all must tread, then a (mind) map is surely an essential for navigating the learning journey. There are many benefits of mind mapping for education: studies have found that mind maps can improve memory by 10-15 percent, others go even higher and estimate improvements of up to 32 percent. If you’re an educator, mind maps can help you inspire your students to achieve their goals and realize their learning potential.
Despite this, there are always ways to optimize. With simple, effective mind map templates from MindMeister, you can make the mind mapping process much faster, saving you time and energy to focus on what’s important: your students.
The Benefits of Mind Map Templates for Education
For educators everywhere, from early years practitioners to high school teachers to university lecturers, it’s often the work outside the classroom that becomes the most time consuming. Even if you already use digital mind maps to create lesson plans, map out resources and delegate group projects, creating new mind maps from scratch can eat time that would be better applied elsewhere.
If this sounds familiar, mind map templates for education could be game-changing for your everyday work. As you’ll probably need to plan several lessons per day, certain aspects of your preparation process will probably be consistent – and a template could save you significant time across the course of a school year. Likewise, you might want to change things up every now and then: in these cases, a template allows you to explore concepts by guiding you through each stage of a new educational technique.
By saving you time and providing you structure, mind map templates for education can help you provide better lessons to your students with less effort. Sounds good? Let’s find out how.
Already mind mapping? Our Templates Page has fresh templates for even the most experienced educators.
Can My Students Mind Map Too?
Of course! Mind mapping is an incredibly popular method on both sides of the classroom. Although this post focuses on the best mind map templates for educators, we’ve included some good starting points for student mind maps below.
The Best Mind Map Templates for Educators
Although there are many different types of mind maps used by MindMeister educational users worldwide, we thought we’d focus on the mind map templates best-suited to educators. Specifically, we’ll be looking at syllabus planning templates, lesson plan templates and the 7“E” Method, explaining the key MindMeister features that help you to get the best out of each one.
Want to Get Started?
It’s easy to make a new mind map from a template: simply go to My Maps in MindMeister, or click New from template when creating a map to get started. Alternatively, you can visit the templates page to choose a template from whichever category suits your needs.
Syllabus Planning Template
Open the Course Syllabus Template in MindMeister.
The start of a new term can be a daunting prospect for educators, often with more questions than answers. What do my students need to know? How do I deliver all the information that’s needed without overwhelming them? How do I challenge the brighter students but ensure no one is left behind?
A well planned syllabus can map the way from start to finish for classes of all ages, abilities and sizes – and it all starts with a solid template.
MindMeister’s syllabus planning mind map template is the perfect launchpad to start a successful term. You can include all the topics you want to cover throughout the coming learning period – the template even provides space for reading lists, attendance rolls, software requirements, grading policies and more.
The advantage of a digital format, opposed to a paper-based syllabus, is that it creates a perfect opportunity to provide transparency for your students. If they can see what’s coming over the course of the semester or school year, they’re more likely to buy into the bigger picture of what your class should achieve. For younger students, creating an openly-accessible syllabus plan is also a useful way to communicate goals with parents or guardians.
Here are our tips for using the syllabus planning template with MindMeister.
- Be Concise. This template is designed as an overview. You can add more detail about each part of the course in the lesson plans (these even have their own templates – see below). You can create a new mind map from any topic in the template, which will be linked to the original syllabus plan automatically.
- Be Transparent. Sharing your syllabus with your mind map is a good opportunity to invite comments and suggestions about your schedule. Use MindMeister’s comment function to answer any questions directly.
- Be Flexible. Don’t feel bound by your syllabus plan if there’s an obvious need to change. Your syllabus mind map template will be updated for all participants in real time, so you can ensure everyone stays on the same page if plans change.
Lesson Planning Template
Open the Lesson Plan Template in MindMeister.
Once your syllabus is ready, it’ll be time to plan the individual lessons that make up the day to day of your teaching life. Lesson planning is something that all teachers do differently, which is why the lesson plan template in MindMeister is designed for maximum flexibility.
The template is split into the key elements of a lesson, which you can then expand upon with the precise topics, activities or resources you want to integrate into your teaching. There’s space to draft your desired learning outcomes, guided practice, independent practice and more.
Although you can keep your lesson plan as your own “script” in the classroom, it can actually be beneficial to share the resource with your students in advance. This can help you set expectations for how you expect your lessons to proceed and gives students the opportunity to prepare in advance.
Whichever way you use the lesson plan template in MindMeister, here are some pointers to help you get the most out of it.
- Be free. The first-level topics in the lesson plan mind map template are a guide, and they may not work for every type of lesson. However, you can simply delete the branches you don’t need and add different ones that fit your purpose.
- More is… more. Some students have an insatiable appetite for learning. Point their enthusiasm in the right direction by linking to as many external resources as possible for greater context. This can even inspire some of your less outgoing students to expand their horizons.
- Sharing is caring. For teaching faculties, teamwork is an often overlooked aspect of success. Using MindMeister’s sharing functionality, you can help out your fellow educators by offering your lesson plans to others, or save time by building on the work of others.
Find out how MindMeister is helping students at the University of North Carolina to share knowledge and collaborate effectively.
7“E” Method Template
Open the The 7 “E” Method Template in MindMeister.
In the classroom, it’s your job to steer the natural curiosity of your students toward the desired learning outcome. The good news? With the 7 “E” Method template by MindMeister, you’ve got a new best friend. It’s the perfect way to plan the journey from first idea to a more comprehensive understanding of any given topic, centering lessons around their subject matter.
The 7″E”s stand for elicit, engage, explore, explain, elaborate, extend, and evaluate, a natural progression in your students’ learning journeys. The template leaves a space for your own input at each stage of the process, which offers you plenty of flexibility – you can decide yourself how much you want to “explain” to your students rather than allowing them to “explore” themselves. This will differ from topic to topic and class to class, but you can use the same MindMeister template for every occasion.
You might be new to the concept of the seven “E”s (or you might be more familiar with just five of them), so you might find the following tips for using this mind map template useful.
- Test and Adapt. The emphasis you want to apply to the topics within the template depends on a variety of factors. Fortunately, with MindMeister’s simple editing function, you can adapt your mind map easily.
- Use colors. The mind map splits up each “E” phase into a differently colored branch. Use this to give yourself an at-a-glance overview of the weighting of your lesson.
- Try different layouts. You might find that bits of your 7 “E” mind map work better when formatted as lists or org charts. With the new MindMeister editor, you can select multiple map layouts with ease.
Find out more about mind mapping for educators on our dedicated website page.
Mind Maps for Students
Your students will automatically benefit when you use mind map templates for education in your classroom. However, by teaching your students how to mind map independently, specifically in areas like note taking, revision scheduling and essay planning, you can ensure that the benefits of mind mapping grow and grow.
Here are just a few mind map templates from MindMeister that could benefit your students:
- Cornell Note Taking – a simple system for taking, organizing and reviewing notes.
- Exam Preparation – great for organizing topics, reviewing study materials and collecting useful resources.
- Essay Writing – the perfect way to outline essays in a structured way and get ideas flowing.
Studying is easy with MindMeister. Share this helpful guide to student-friendly mind mapping with your class!
Your (Mind Map) Template to Success
Being a teacher can be challenging, but it’s an incredibly rewarding experience and a huge contribution into shaping the minds of the thinkers of tomorrow. By using mind maps for education, and with the help of a few mind map templates, you can ensure your students get off on the right foot.
Better still, with MindMeister’s Edu plans, getting your class on board is much easier than you might think. Let’s map the way to better learning outcomes together.
FAQs
Where can I find mind map templates for the new editor?
The all-new MindMeister comes with a full catalog of over 40 different templates: browse the Template Library to create beautiful mind maps, fast.
Are there mind maps for students too?
Yes. In addition to templates for solo mind mapping and brainstorming, MindMeister offers plenty of free-to-use educational templates in the new editor. For example, your students can learn Cornell Note Taking, use mind maps for exam preparation, or even plan their next essay.
Who qualifies for an educational discount?
The MindMeister educational discount applies to active students and educators with an academic email address at qualifying institutions. To prove eligibility, you must provide official documentation, such as a transcript, employee verification, or proof of educational status. Find out more about claiming your discount in our help center.