Reflection   –   using   Mind   Mapping   to   write   essays 

 Challenge 

 My son absolutely hates homework .   He especially dislikes writing assignments that require 

 multiple paragraphs , including an introduction , a stated claim , an attention grabbing sentence   and finally a conclusion .   These are daunting assignments that can sometimes be so   overwhelming that he simply ca n’t get started .   I cringed when he came to me as I was working   from home in the middle of the afternoon .   I was deep into my most productive hour , but he was   in tears because he had five paragraphs to write by the end of the night . He was clearly freaking   out . He had to write an essay on a book he had read .   My son is a great reader and can devour   hundreds of pages in a single sitting , especially if they are interesting to him .   However , at the   end of the day , he has no idea what to write about and needed some help getting started on the   first sentence . 

 Selection 

 The tool I used to solve this problem was mind mapping to identify patterns and insights . As I 

 reflect on this technique , I shared with my son that this is something I was lucky enough to learn   in high school by a very good teacher .   I had also hated essays too when I was his age and felt   overwhelmed throughout my early teenage years whenever I had to write one .   This very good   high school English teacher of mine , perhaps unknowingly , taught me the mind mapping   technique and probably changed my life as far as writing is concerned . 

 Application 

 This is how I used the tool :   With every book there are basic details that are usually common , 

 so I asked my son about the book he had read .   I asked about the setting , the time period , the   main characters et cetera .   I asked lots of questions and he answered . For each answer he   gave , I helped him summarize it into one sentence , and I wrote what he said verbatim on an   index card .   After each note was written I put the card in a discard pile and started fresh with a   new card for the next sentence .   I gathered details about each character , situations in the book ,   key aspects of the plot , et cetera .   After just a few minutes , I could tell my son had really enjoyed   this book !   The details and plot twists and turns were all recorded on the note cards ; all notes   were his words , not mine . Before long we had a pretty good size deck of note cards , and not   once did we focus on what the first sentence was going to be . 

 Insight 

 Finally , after about 45 minutes of good conversation , my son noticed the pile of cards .   He 

 looked at me with curiosity as to what I was going to do with them .   I told him that he actually had   just wrote his essay and he looked at me in disbelief .   I then shuffled the cards and began   reading a few of them out loud .   We both read together and then began to sort them to try and   find a common theme .   We eventually realized that he clearly had a favorite part to the book that   he really enjoyed , so we focused on that part .   We then arranged the card to an introduction ,   setting , theme , main characters , plot , and analysis .   I split the cards into 5 sections representing   the five paragraphs his essay had to be in length .   We added more cards to expand the details in   each paragraph . When we finally felt like we were done , we arranged the cards in order   according to an introduction , 3 main ideas , and a conclusion .   The last step was to copy the 

 sentences on the cards into a word document , spell check and turn in , we were done in less than   2 hours – he is getting really good at typing ! 

 Approach 

 I think this technique worked very well for me in high school on through college and even 

 today .   One thing I tend to do differently is to skip the step of using physical note cards .   This can   easily be done directly on the word document since moving sentences around are as easy as cut   and paste .   However , for some people skipping the notecards might not be as helpful as having   the physical cards spread out on a table , but the fact is one just may not have that many   notecards available .   It is good to have a backup plan and be versatile in your technique . I ’m   glad I could pass this skill on to my son , I have noticed his anxiety in English class is reduced   and I am able to get more done at work by investing in teaching my son to use this valuable   technique . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection   –   using   Mind   Mapping   to   write   essays 

 Challenge 

 My son absolutely hates homework .   He especially dislikes writing assignments that require 

 multiple paragraphs , including an introduction , a stated claim , an attention grabbing sentence   and finally a conclusion .   These are daunting assignments that can sometimes be so   overwhelming that he simply ca n’t get started .   I cringed when he came to me as I was working   from home in the middle of the afternoon .   I was deep into my most productive hour , but he was   in tears because he had five paragraphs to write by the end of the night . He was clearly freaking   out . He had to write an essay on a book he had read .   My son is a great reader and can devour   hundreds of pages in a single sitting , especially if they are interesting to him .   However , at the   end of the day , he has no idea what to write about and needed some help getting started on the   first sentence . 

 Selection 

 The tool I used to solve this problem was mind mapping to identify patterns and insights . As I 

 reflect on this technique , I shared with my son that this is something I was lucky enough to learn   in high school by a very good teacher .   I had also hated essays too when I was his age and felt   overwhelmed throughout my early teenage years whenever I had to write one .   This very good   high school English teacher of mine , perhaps unknowingly , taught me the mind mapping   technique and probably changed my life as far as writing is concerned . 

 Application 

 This is how I used the tool :   With every book there are basic details that are usually common , 

 so I asked my son about the book he had read .   I asked about the setting , the time period , the   main characters et cetera .   I asked lots of questions and he answered . For each answer he   gave , I helped him summarize it into one sentence , and I wrote what he said verbatim on an   index card .   After each note was written I put the card in a discard pile and started fresh with a   new card for the next sentence .   I gathered details about each character , situations in the book ,   key aspects of the plot , et cetera .   After just a few minutes , I could tell my son had really enjoyed   this book !   The details and plot twists and turns were all recorded on the note cards ; all notes   were his words , not mine . Before long we had a pretty good size deck of note cards , and not   once did we focus on what the first sentence was going to be . 

 Insight 

 Finally , after about 45 minutes of good conversation , my son noticed the pile of cards .   He 

 looked at me with curiosity as to what I was going to do with them .   I told him that he actually had   just wrote his essay and he looked at me in disbelief .   I then shuffled the cards and began   reading a few of them out loud .   We both read together and then began to sort them to try and   find a common theme .   We eventually realized that he clearly had a favorite part to the book that   he really enjoyed , so we focused on that part .   We then arranged the card to an introduction ,   setting , theme , main characters , plot , and analysis .   I split the cards into 5 sections representing   the five paragraphs his essay had to be in length .   We added more cards to expand the details in   each paragraph . When we finally felt like we were done , we arranged the cards in order   according to an introduction , 3 main ideas , and a conclusion .   The last step was to copy the 

 sentences on the cards into a word document , spell check and turn in , we were done in less than   2 hours – he is getting really good at typing ! 

 Approach 

 I think this technique worked very well for me in high school on through college and even 

 today .   One thing I tend to do differently is to skip the step of using physical note cards .   This can   easily be done directly on the word document since moving sentences around are as easy as cut   and paste .   However , for some people skipping the notecards might not be as helpful as having   the physical cards spread out on a table , but the fact is one just may not have that many   notecards available .   It is good to have a backup plan and be versatile in your technique . I ’m   glad I could pass this skill on to my son , I have noticed his anxiety in English class is reduced   and I am able to get more done at work by investing in teaching my son to use this valuable   technique .
### Output: 