1. The soul never thinks without a picture. Aristotle
High Leverage Practice #8:
Go Visual
The soul never thinks without a picture. Aristotle
1. There are many examples of Nonlinguistic representations of information that teachers use effectively.
Ask for examples: problem-solution organizers, spider webs, diagrams, concept maps, drawings, maps, sketch to stretch, models, drawings, pictographs, etc.
Bridge: Ask: Why emphasize the visual?

2. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Refresher: Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Gardner argues that intelligence as it is traditionally defined, does not sufficiently encompass the wide variety of abilities that humans display.
The question is not how smart are you, but rather “How are you smart.”
Mention and move.
Quick Quiz: What is the most recent MI identified by Gardner?

3. Existentialist…Wondering People
… have the ability to be sensitive to and have the capacity for, conceptualizing or tackling deeper or larger questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why are we born, why do we die, what is consciousness, or how did we get here. They learn best through seeing the "big picture" of human existence by asking philosophical questions about the world.
Mention and move.
Bridge: the focus of this session is on the visual/spatial intelligence. Why?

4. Visual/Spatial Intelligence
“Picture smart" people learn best visually and tend to organize their thinking spatially. They like to think and create pictures. They are also drawn to information that is presented in a visual form.
When 65% of the population has a prefernce for anything, it seems like a good idea to pay attention.
Bridge: In this case, it means that teachers would be wise to make liberal use of any Visual Tools that are at their disposal.
…65 percent of the population consists of visual learners

5. Visual Tools for Learning
Research shows that communication is:
55% visual (gestures, body movement, posture, and environmental cues)
37% vocal (intensity and tone of voice, rate and volume of speech)
7% the actual message
There are many ways to cluster and identify Visual tools for Learning, but in this session we will group them into three broad categories.
Bridge: We will consider three different ways to ”go visual” when teaching about the topic of the Water cycle.

6. Graphic/Advance Organizer: Water Cycle
Ask: How would you describe the structure and purpose of this Graphic Organizer for the water cycle?
Bridge: Ask: What do we know to be generally true about Graphic Organizers?

7. Graphic/Advance Organizers
Graphic tools used by students to gather and absorb new information.
Prepared by teachers using drawing programs such as Inspiration or online resources
Mention and move.
Bridge: The second category of Visual Tools are Webs and Mindmaps.

8. Mindmap of the Water Cycle
1. Ask: In what ways does this Mindmap differ from the graphic organizer in it structure and purpose?

9. Webbing and Mindmapping
Topic of attention is focused in a central image
Main themes of the subject radiate from the central image on branches
Branches hold an image/word printed on
the associated line
Branches form an interconnected structure.
So webs and mindmaps have some fundamental differences from graphic organizers.
Webs and minmaps are often used for brainstorming.
Bridge: Technology has led to the development of amazing new visualization tools.

10. Exciting New Webbing Tools
Word Clouds
Bridge: The third category of Visual Tools, Concept Maps, are far less widely used than the previous two types.
Ask: What makes a concept map different?
VISUWORD

11. Concept Map of the Water Cycle
A concept is an object or event given by a word
Concepts are ranked from more to least inclusive (i.e., CMaps are hierarchical)
Include “Linking Words”
Two concepts connected by a linking word makes a “Proposition”
Propositions explain the relationship between concepts
Cross links can be added to show multiple relationships among concepts.
Your task is to construct a concept map for the water cycle.
You will have to be clear about the general features of Concept Maps before beginning.
Review the bullets and check for understanding.
Distribute large sheets of paper and two sized post-its (large for concepts, small for linking words.
Keep this slide displayed while the group makes its maps.
Monitor time carefully to determine how much time can be allocated to this task.
Have 1 or 2 groups display and describe their CMaps.
Bridge: Ask - So what are the essential similarities and differences between CMaps and the other 2 types of visual tools?

12. Concept/Thinking Maps
Designed to facilitate thinking 
Challenges one's assumptions
Facilitates recognizing new patterns
Promotes making new cognitive connections
Helps to visualize the unknown
Can lead to reconceptualization
Advantage of concept Maps are that they offer the potential for very high levels of thinking.
Bridge: There are many materials available on STEMresources.com that can help teachers to “go visual” in their teaching.
From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality.
Hemingway

13. Visual Tools for Learning
Mention and move.

14. High Leverage Practice #8: Go Visual
Have teachers write about at least one classroom idea that they will implement as a result of this session on the High Leverage Practice called “Going Visual.”
Have group report out.
Takeaways???