Plan how you want to represent your learning process. Think of symbols, ideas or words.
Choose the most important symbol, idea or word, and draw it in the center of your learning map. A large piece of blank paper or chalk board is a good workspace. An example, if you´re learning about recycling, could be a green recycling symbol in the middle of the page.
Develop your concept by adding other important symbols, ideas or words around the key symbol. Freely associate as many related concepts as possible. In the case of recycling, you might add pictures of all the different things that can be recycled.
Organize, edit and review what you've created. Draw a circle around each concept, and put related information next to one another. In the case of recycling, the symbol at the center of your map will connect with several other clusters located around it. Each related cluster will connect with a line, with another line connecting back to the center.
Work outward from the center symbol. Add to the related clusters connected to the center. Free your mind to randomly associate with what you've written on your map. You may have several layers of concepts surrounding the center symbol that build upon one another. For example, ¨Recycling¨ in the middle might have a line drawn to "Paper," which might have several encircled words or symbols connected to it, naming the types of paper that can be recycled: "Newspaper" and "White Paper."
Read the completed map by working your way from the outside --- the concepts farthest away from the center --- to the inside, which is the main learning concept.