The Mind Traveler

A Learning Tool Designed to Take Students Everywhere

On one eventful Monday morning while preparing for class, I remember thinking, "Oh no! I didn't get the morning work packets from my team member!" And then I thought, "Hey, I don't need morning work packets. I have the Mind Traveler, a student learning tool with 100 different activities!"

I snatched the stack from the table where they sat. Like a whirlwind through the classroom, I placed one on each student desk. I was excited to see how my students would respond to these learning activities and which ones would capture their attention. This will be interesting, I thought. I couldn't wait to see what activities the students would choose.

As my students started piling in, they asked questions about the Mind Traveler. "What's this?" "What are we supposed to do with this?" "These are activities?" "So, which ones are we supposed to do?"

My reply was, "Read through the activities and see which ones you'd like to do. Circle the number of the activities that resonate with you, so that you can return to them later."

When I looked again, some of my students were drawing. Others were folding, cutting, stapling, and gluing construction paper.

They had chosen activities from the creative learning column of the Mind Traveler. And that told me that their preferred learning style was creative and hands-on. They learned better through creative, hands-on learning activities.

I already knew this about my students, but the Mind Traveler tool confirmed it. It gave me another way to understand how my students learn and showed me the value of providing different types of student activities in the classroom.

Imagine that a teacher is called out of class for a short while. However, the teacher has just completed a lesson with their students. Then the teacher says, "Okay students, pull out your Mind Traveler and work number six from the analytical column." That would be very handy, wouldn't it?

The Mind Traveler demonstrates how giving students choices in learning activities can help teachers recognize their interests, learning preferences, and strengths. With 100 activities to explore, students can discover activities that engage them while teachers gain valuable insight into how their students learn best.

Every teacher can always use an arsenal of extra classroom activities. Consider a list of one hundred, thought-provoking, educational activities that will keep your students thinking. What's even nicer is that this tool can be tweaked to the teacher's satisfaction throughout the school year.

Which activities will your students pick? Please leave a comment below.