{"id":1577,"date":"2013-12-28T12:11:06","date_gmt":"2013-12-28T12:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.thinkingschoolsethiopia.com\/?p=1577"},"modified":"2014-01-12T04:21:10","modified_gmt":"2014-01-12T04:21:10","slug":"student-exercise-books-thinking-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.thinkingschoolsethiopia.com\/?p=1577","title":{"rendered":"Student Exercise Books – Thinking Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The above example of a student exercise book<\/em><\/strong> in an Ethiopian school includes students using Thinking Maps (visual tools) to organize their thinking, understand their thinking and for transferring to writing.<\/p>\n

In Ethiopia, Exercise Books are an important link of the student\u2019s work at\u00a0school and sharing of their work with the parents at home. Traditionally Exercise\u00a0Books are used across Ethiopia including in rural areas. Usually what you find in\u00a0Exercise Books are notes copied from the black board, classwork and homework\u00a0from the text books. The use of Thinking Maps incorporating the student\u2019s\u00a0thinking is a transitional change in both use and content of the Exercise Books.\u00a0The visual example of the third grader is from a classroom that has used\u00a0Thinking Maps for less than two months.<\/p>\n

\"\"The student brainstorms formal writing\u00a0and informal writing (two Circle Maps); compares and contrasts the two types of\u00a0writing (Double Bubble Map); classifies the two types of letters (Tree Map);\u00a0considers the physical structure of a letter (Brace Map) and; sequences the steps\u00a0of writing a letter (Flow Map). They then begin their writing in the Exercise Book.\u00a0The student\u2019s interest in using Thinking Maps and the teacher\u2019s encouragement\u00a0to include visual mapping models using the Exercise Book in a \u2018non-traditional\u2019\u00a0manner capturing the interest, depth of understanding and development of their\u00a0student-centered environment with the Thinking Schools Ethiopia approach.<\/p>\n

I really think that Thinking maps make a big difference in my life because\u00a0before I really didn\u2019t read my books much because it takes too much time\u00a0to understand. Now I am interested to open my exercise books making\u00a0Thinking Maps to actually study and know what I am reading. We can be\u00a0independent and learn by ourselves, because Thinking Maps are our\u00a0teachers. They make everything easy so that we can read and remember\u00a0\u2014 it makes you visualize things. Thinking Maps capture our thinking in our\u00a0mind.\u00a0<\/em>
\nHannan Abdulfetah, Grade 9 Student, Bikolos Academy
\ndownload more\u00a0reflections from students, teachers and principal at Bikolos Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

With the potential of student thinking and learning content significantly linked to the exercise books<\/em>, there is a opportunity for elevating the outcomes of the exercise book’s<\/em> potential through incorporating thinking methodologies within the exercise books. This includes;<\/p>\n