George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia

9-12 High School

Explore and share tips, strategies, and resources for helping students develop in grades 9-12.

  • Boosting Student Engagement... With Rubber Ducks?

    Using a funny object to monitor participation or as a writing prompt can help high school students relax and share their creativity.
    Lindsay Mitchell

  • Raising the Bar for Student Work

    Sharing high-quality examples from past students makes expectations for classwork tangible.

  • Home Visits Make a School Community Stronger

    Getting to know every family helps schools better support students, even into high school.

  • A Handy Strategy for Teaching Theme

    Analyzing the themes in a literary work can be tricky for students, but a simple formula can scaffold the process.
    Zach Wright

  • A Student-Centered Model of Blended Learning

    When educators at a Washington, DC, high school ditched their lectures and devised a self-paced blended learning model, their students thrived.

  • 3 Reasons Students Procrastinate—and How to Help Them Stop

    Psychologists have uncovered reasons why students put off important work. But there are a few simple things teachers can do to keep students on track.
    Youki Terada

  • Schoolwide Strategies for Promoting a Love of Reading

    A literacy consultant explains how schools can encourage all students to share the joy of reading.
    Laura Lee

  • As Teen Stress Increases, Teachers Look for Answers

    Seventy percent of teens say stress is a major problem. Research backs that up—and teachers are beginning to offer solutions.
    Andrew Simmons

  • The Case for Not Allowing Test Retakes

    As more educators drop penalties for late work and allow students to redo tests, a high school teacher says that traditional policies are better for the majority of students.
    Anthony Palma

  • Decoding the Teenage Brain (in 3 Charts)

    New technologies are shedding light on what really makes adolescents tick—and providing clues on how we might reach them better.
    Stephen Merrill

  • 60-Second Strategy: Appreciation, Apology, Aha!

    A quick, low-key way to build community in your classroom on a daily basis.

  • 60-Second Strategy: Snowball Toss

    A quick, fun classroom activity fosters open dialogue while releasing pent-up energy.

  • There’s a Cell Phone in Your Student’s Head

    A 2017 study found that cell phones that were turned off and stashed away silently reasserted themselves—distracting working students anyway.

  • The Power of Short Writing Assignments

    Brief writing prompts and responses help students in any discipline.
    Benjamin Barbour

  • 4 Activities to Boost Target Language Vocabulary Acquisition

    To give his students repeated exposure to relevant vocabulary terms, the author relies on a tried-and-true tool: index cards.
    Anxo Otero