Inspiration Station! - Graphic Organizers

 

            As teachers, it is our responsibility to see that each of our student’s receives an adequate education entrenched in the learning technique they most benefit from. Obviously, it is impossible to customize your entire curriculum around the needs of only one student. This doesn’t mean, however, that a teacher cannot insert various learning devices into their lesson plans that reflect different learning methods. In this posting, I will briefly highlight the benefits of using a graphic organizer, Inspiration 9 in this case, to convey information to students who are spatial leaners.

            We can all remember that time in the classroom when we have struggled teaching a concept to our class. What have we done in these instances? Probably, try and draw a chart/graph. And what has this usually accomplished? Well, if you’re like me, your drawing skills probably just confused your students further. This type of situation is perfect for the use of a graphic organizer. Graphic organizers allow the user to convey information in a visually appealing manner, which also provides an organized, easy-to-follow pattern of comprehension. This sort of technology makes it easy for students to grasp educational concepts as well as provide them with a visual memory of the information. Inspiration 9, just one of the many graphic organizers available (and the one I am most familiar with), is extremely easy to use and provides teachers with a multitude of graphic resources to create their idea. Overall, graphic organizers create a new way to present information in the classroom and also make it incredibly simple to export this information to study guide sheets, or as image files for uploading. This allows students to easily access this classroom information to study from.  

            Another way this information may be used to teach students is to have them create a graphic organizer to teach a lesson to their fellow classmates. In this way, students will not only be rehearsing the information, they will also be instructing it by showing their graphics to one another. A graphic organizer would also work wonderfully as a wall hanging to engage students in a particular subject the class is studying. In this way your students gain knowledge through the aesthetically pleasing aspects of your classroom. The advantages of graphic organizers, such as Inspiration 9, are endless. Teachers can present new ideas, put student ideas on the organizer as they are generated, formulate study guides, and make lasting visual connections for students.

            So there you have it. Graphic organizers. They provide a new and exciting way to deliver classroom information. Inspiration 9 is just one of many graphic organizers that can be used to accomplish a multitude of learning objectives. They are generally easy to use and allow the user to export their work to compatible processors. So, what are you going to do with your graphic organizer? Teach prime numbers? The Spanish-American War? Or maybe, like me, you’ll use a graphic organizer to teach the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

Below, you will find an image I exported from Inspiration 9 that I created to teach my students about the Catholic Church’s Hierarchy. Check it out!