George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia

Student Engagement

What strategies really work to involve students in their own learning? Discover and share ideas.

  • Talk Less So Students Learn More

    Productive struggle is important for students to retain what they learn.
    Shannon McGrath

  • How to Increase Participation by Asking Better Questions

    Framing questions the right way—and scaffolding the right kinds of responses—can help teachers avoid blank stares and awkward silences.
    Laura Lee

  • Using Culturally Responsive Lessons to Boost Engagement

    Identifying students’ likes and interests and connecting them to course content is a good way to get students motivated to learn.
    Rann Miller

  • 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.

  • 8 Proactive Classroom Management Tips

    New teachers—and experienced ones too—can find ideas here on how to stop disruptive behavior before it begins.
    Youki Terada

  • 3 Ways to Ask Questions That Engage the Whole Class

    These techniques guide all students to process course content and then actively demonstrate their learning.
    Pérsida and Bill Himmele

  • Students Think Lectures Are Best, But Research Suggests They’re Wrong

    A study reveals students prefer low-effort learning strategies—like listening to lectures—despite doing better with active learning.
    Youki Terada

  • A Student-Driven Approach to Experiential Learning

    See how a Reggio Emilia–inspired elementary school in Australia fosters student interests to spark curiosity and joy in learning.

  • 6 Strategies for Building Better Student Relationships

    A teacher shares her best practices for establishing strong relationships with her class at the start of the school year.
    Cicely Woodard

  • How to Keep Your Elementary Students Focused

    5 research-backed tips to keep your elementary students on-task.

  • 30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class

    Most teachers have a method of calling for quiet, and we’ve collected a variety of good ideas for elementary, middle, and high school.
    Todd Finley

  • Putting Students in Charge of Their Learning Journey

    By leaving space in their lessons for authentic curiosity to take hold, teachers can enable deeper learning.

  • 19 Big and Small Classroom Management Strategies

    Successful classroom management relies on a handful of fundamental strategies and a larger number of quick interventions.
    Todd Finley

  • 5 Highly Effective Teaching Practices

    We teachers are always looking to innovate, so, yes, it's essential that we try new things to add to our pedagogical bag of tricks. But it's important to focus on purpose and intentionality -- and not on quantity. So what really matters more than "always trying something new" is the reason behind why we do what we do.
    Rebecca Alber

  • A Public School Transitions to Montessori

    In rural South Carolina, a Title I school makes the leap to become a Montessori school.