George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia

Teaching Strategies

Discover and share best practices for improving your teaching craft -- delivering instruction, engaging students, reaching struggling students, and more.

  • Using Calculators to Deepen Students’ Engagement With Math

    Calculators can be vital tools for encouraging students’ mathematical curiosity and conceptual understanding.
    Kelly Baum-Sehon

  • A Fun, Experiential Approach to Strengthen Reading and Writing Skills

    Hands-on learning experiences help young learners build their vocabulary while boosting their literacy skills.
    Laura Lee

  • Borrowing a Literacy Strategy From Band Class

    A band teacher explains how a process he uses to train budding musicians’ inner voice can be used to help struggling readers improve.
    Brian Campbell

  • Teaching Black History in Culturally Responsive Ways

    Black history is American history and should be taught throughout the year across the curriculum—not confined to a single month.
    Rann Miller

  • 5 Ways to Support Students Who Struggle With Reading Comprehension

    These strategies can help students who are able to decode well but have difficulty understanding what they read—and they’re beneficial for all students.
    Nina Parrish

  • Talk Less So Students Learn More

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

  • 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

  • What Doesn’t Work: Literacy Practices We Should Abandon

    The number one concern that I hear from educators is lack of time, particularly lack of instructional time with students. Although we can't entirely solve the time problem, we can mitigate it by carefully analyzing our use of class time.
    Nell K. Duke

  • Inviting Participation With Thumbs-Up Responses

    A quick assessment strategy replaces raised hands, encouraging more students to contribute by accommodating their different processing needs.

  • 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

  • 6 Scaffolds That Deepen Independent Learning

    When teaching problem-based lessons, use thinking scaffolds to propel students toward greater expertise and deeper learning.
    Sarah Gonser

  • 60-Second Strategy: Respond, Reflect, and Review

    This simple activity helps students practice giving and receiving peer feedback—and gets them out of their desks.

  • Demonstrating Self-Regulation With Tone of Voice

    When teachers model self-regulation by using a voice that is calm, neutral, and assertive, they help students feel cared for—and ready to learn.

  • 5 Research-Backed Studying Techniques

    Teachers can guide students to avoid ineffective studying habits in favor of ones that will increase their learning outcomes.
    Edward Kang

  • Accommodating Students With Dyslexia

    These five easy-to-implement accommodations can make class less stressful and more manageable for students with dyslexia.
    Jessica Hamman