Student Mind Maps: Revealing the Remedial Needs of Struggling Writers

Understanding how each student processes information and conceptualizes ideas is at the heart of the remedial writing process. No two learners think in exactly the same way—some visualize a sequence of images, while others hear strings of words. One student might weave ideas together in a web of pictures, another may draft outlines in phrases, and still others construct collages of imagery, patchworks of terms, or even vivid, movie-like scenes. Recognizing these diverse inner landscapes allows us to meet students where they are and guide them toward stronger, more confident writing.

Assessing How Students Think Offers Writing Solutions

By exploring how your students approach the thinking process, you can guide them in refining their methods so that writing feels more fluid, natural, and even enjoyable. One way to begin is through conversation, but I find it especially powerful to have students create a drawing of how their mind works, a personalized “mental mind map” that makes their inner process visible.

RELATED: Writing Courses & Products

A Mindful Approach

I first discovered the power of this mindful approach while working with a student I’ll call JT. For JT, getting ideas onto paper was an uphill battle, starting was always a struggle, and his first drafts often came out as a jumble of overlapping thoughts. We used to call these struggles “roadblocks,” but when I finally asked JT to draw what writing felt like inside his mind, a new picture emerged. JT wasn’t facing writer’s block at all, he was experiencing a writer’s bottleneck.

A Writing Bottleneck

The term bottleneck is a powerful metaphor. In everyday life, it often describes the traffic congestion that occurs when a multilane highway narrows to a single lane during construction. The flow of cars slows, frustrations rise, and what should be smooth movement becomes stop-and-go chaos. The word itself originates from the literal image of liquid struggling to pour out of a bottle, restricted by the narrow opening at the top—the bottleneck.

Similarly, JT’s struggle with writing was not due to a shortage of words or ideas, as we had once assumed. Instead, he was overwhelmed by too many competing and overlapping thoughts, all vying for expression at the same time. The result was not emptiness on the page but a logjam of creativity that could not flow smoothly.

When I asked JT to draw what writing felt like inside his mind, he sketched a tangled web of lines, dotted with what he labeled as both “good” and “bad” ideas. He explained that the darker, bolder lines represented the strongest ideas pushing for attention, while the lighter lines reflected weaker thoughts that still contributed to the clutter. Seeing this visual representation was a turning point—suddenly, his struggle made complete sense.

Impact On Writing

JT is a bright and insightful student, but he also lives with ADHD and dyslexia, two conditions that uniquely shape his writing experience. His drawing revealed just how profoundly these learning differences impact the process. Rather than struggling with a lack of ideas, JT is inundated with them. Thoughts arrive in rapid bursts, competing for attention, and he finds it difficult to funnel and organize them into the clear, sequential structure that writing demands.

As he attempts to translate this flood of ideas into linear sentences, frustration quickly sets in. The very act of slowing his mind to match the pace of writing feels laborious and unnatural. On top of this, his dyslexia creates additional challenges: spelling errors and decoding difficulties interrupt his flow, pulling his focus away from expression and turning each attempt at writing into a taxing experience. Together, these hurdles not only complicate the act of writing but also sap the joy from what could otherwise be a powerful outlet for his creativity.

What Can Be Done to Help?

Step One:

From the very beginning, I guided JT in clarifying his main ideas and topic sentences. To support this, I encouraged him to use graphic organizers or digital tools such as Inspiration, which allowed him to visually categorize his supporting details and examples. This step provided a clear framework and helped him see the larger structure of his paper before he began writing.

Step Two:

Next, I suggested that JT work on a computer equipped with spell-check and word-prediction software to ease the burden of spelling. For research papers, I introduced the idea of writing each main idea on a different colored index card. This gave JT a tangible, color-coded way to separate his thoughts and keep track of key themes.

Step Three:

Once his research and supporting details were collected, JT sorted each piece of information onto the most appropriate colored card. In this way, all the examples and details connected to a specific main idea shared the same color. He then arranged the cards into a logical order, sequencing his supporting points in a way that made sense and flowed smoothly.

Step Four:

Finally, JT began typing his paper. To maintain the visual clarity of his system, he changed the font color of each section to match the color of the corresponding index cards. This ensured that the correct details and examples were placed under the right main idea. Once his draft was complete, he simply selected the entire document and switched the text back to black.

Final Thoughts

Encouraging students to draw their own mental mind maps or to use visual systems like this can be transformative. These strategies not only help teachers and tutors identify areas of difficulty, but they also empower students to better understand their own thought processes. By externalizing the workings of the mind, learners gain greater confidence, control, and independence in their writing.

Cheers Erica