Training: Thinking Maps®

Click here to find out about upcoming Trainer of Trainers sessions.

Click here for Thinking Maps® for Leadership (Third Order Change) - A seminar for principals, district administrators, and site based teams for facilitating third order change.

Click here for Visual Tools for Literacy, an Online Course - this course is a time saving and effective way to introduce a whole school and/or school system to these research-based, practical tools for literacy.

Designs for Thinking
Thinking Maps® Professional Development
Designs for Thinking is a consulting group based in the northeast representing Thinking Maps, Inc.  Authors and national consultants Larry Alper, M.S. and David Hyerle, Ed.D. are co-directors of the group. Below are summaries of our training options.  Thinking Maps implementation is a comprehensive, whole school process for improving the teaching, leading and learning of all participants in a school and school system.

Thinking Maps for Whole School Professional Development
1 Day Training plus 4-6 Days Follow-up with school in session
This proven model of whole school implementation of Thinking Maps ensures that students and teachers fluently apply Thinking Maps to learning and teaching on a daily basis. With the entire faculty focusing together on improving all students’ thinking and performance, Thinking Maps becomes a common visual language for vertical and horizontal development of content learning, concept development, reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning manual
  • Cooperative Learning Desk Maps

Recommended Technology Option:

  • Thinking Maps Software simultaneously.

Thinking Maps Advanced Training
3 Day Training (usually three consecutive days)
Teams of teachers and curriculum specialists (such as literacy coaches), already trained in Thinking Maps, work in a highly interactive setting and focus on how to apply the tools to improving teaching, cooperative learning, curriculum design, and assessment while directly applying Thinking Maps to state and local standards.  This training also engages participants in how to support the implementation of Thinking Maps and training resources in schools using facilitation and coaching activities.  

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Training of Trainers guide
  • Cooperative Learning Desk Maps
  • Thinking Maps Software
  • Draw, Show, and Map Your Thinking (for elementary levels only)
  • "Student Successes with Thinking Maps" (Corwin Press, 2004)

Thinking Maps Training of Trainers
6 Day Training (4 Days with a 2 Day Follow-up)
A selective group of professional developers, teachers, and/or curriculum specialists from a school system or region learn how to conduct Thinking Maps trainings and systematically lead classroom follow-up activities in whole schools.  Through this process of training and feedback, participants are certified by Thinking Maps, Inc. to conduct Thinking Maps Professional Development training in schools.  This six day training is not a turn-key training.  Participants must have Thinking Maps experience and show proficiency in presenting workshops and facilitating adult learning through modeling for and coaching of colleagues. This process focuses on the theory, practice, implementation, and assessment of Thinking Maps® and Software in order to ensure long term implementation and success in schools.  Once participants have gained certification, they are required to follow implementation guidelines established by Thinking Maps, Inc.

Participants receive additional resource materials, including access to extensive documents showing teacher and student examples of content applications.  These documents are included on Powerpoint files and in video clips in the form of iMovies and DVD productions.

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Training of Trainers guide
  • Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning manual
  • Thinking Maps Software
  • Cooperative Learning Desk Maps
  • "Student Successes with Thinking Maps" (Corwin Press, 2004)

Thinking Maps: Tools for Leadership
Instructional Leadership for Principals and Teams
2 Day Training (follow-up coaching optional)
A team of three to five teachers/administrators from multiple schools (and central office leaders) learn how to seamlessly integrate Thinking Maps and Software into the full range of school leadership responsibilities: including daily communication in emails and even newletters home to parents, facilitation of school-wide, grade level and content area meetings, data and site-based decision making, and supervision/coaching across whole schools.  Importantly, participants also focus on how to initiate, facilitate, assess and sustain Thinking Maps® implementation in their schools.

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Tools for Leadership Manual
  • Thinking Maps Software
  • "Student Successes with Thinking Maps" (Corwin Press, 2004)

Content Specific Workshops
1 Day Workshops (follow-up curriculum design optional)
A whole school, or content specific teams from across schools, learn how to support students in meeting content and process standards through the explicit application of Thinking Maps.  Workshops are designed in response to the specific content areas and grade levels, but each workshop focuses on content standards, writing, mathematics and reading comprehension.

Prerequisite:

  • Implementation of Thinking Maps

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning manual

Thinking Maps Advanced Software Workshop
1 Day Workshops (follow-up curriculum design optional)
Thinking Maps Software is user friendly for students, teachers, and administrators and is easy to learn during the process of implementation.  The Software Workshop is focused on more advanced and creative applications for individuals, classrooms, whole schools, and system wide network use. The workshop may also be geared directly toward content standards, specific subject areas and/or grade levels.  This is an ideal training for technology specialists and school wide computer lab teachers.

Prerequisite:

  • Implementation of Thinking Maps and Software

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning manual and Thinking Maps Software

Write From the Beginning (Elementary: K-5)
Write for the Future (Secondary: Middle and High School)
1 Day Training plus 4-6 Days of grade level follow-up
These two programs, written by Dr. Jane Buckner, combine to form a K-12 writing program based on using analytical rubrics and Thinking Maps.

Prerequisite:

  • Implementation of Thinking Maps

Required Resources:

  • Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning manual
  • Write From the Beginning manual (Elementary)                                              
  • Write for the Future manual, co-authored with Melba Johnson (Secondary)

Click here to find out about upcoming Trainer of Trainers sessions.

Click here for Thinking Maps® for Third Order Change - A seminar for principals, district administrators, and site based teams for facilitating third order change.