One of my favourite relaxation activities is to sit down with a cup of rooibos tea and colour. So, I was pretty excited to jump into this next activity and use the sketch pad on my Surface Pro to draw out “in colour” a mind map. While I have used mind mapping before I typically use it for review before a midterm or final exam. I had never considered using it to map out a course syllabus.

As a former administrator I love to organize and categorize items. I have to tell you this mind map is pretty messy and not something I would likely share with students.

So with my committment to try new flavours I downloaded this free mind map app from Microsoft called M8. It is easier to read (then my freehand one) and was fairly easy to use. I was hooked once I discovered it converted my writing to text. The drawback is you can only access colours if you are willing to pay.

This activity has expanded the way I will use mind mapping in the future. I think this will be a creative way to lesson plan and remember the important connections I need to make when delivering course material. A replacement for colouring? Maybe.