Welcome to Edutopia's YouTube channel. We create videos about what's working in preK–12 education. Whether you're curious about about project-based learning, integrating tech tools, or social and emotional learning practices, we've got you covered. And don't miss our Schools That Work series, which focuses on evidence-based strategies that you can bring to *your* classroom. Ready to join the movement for change in education? Subscribe now to keep up with our video releases!
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3:263 views · today · 3:26
Everyday routines do more to support learning when they're aligned with how the brain works—from reducing cognitive load to strengthening memory. Teachers are often bombarded with the latest and greatest in education, and trying to keep up with every new trend can be overwhelming. But good teaching isn't always about introducing a new strategy or overhauling the way a classroom works.
3:292K views · 8d ago · 3:29
For more than 35 years, the George Lucas Educational Foundation has shared what works in education. Through Edutopia, we’ve captured and created conversations about practices from amazing schools and passionate educators—here in the U.S. and all over the world. We’ve pinpointed research-backed strategies, supercharged conversations around edtech and AI, and highlighted real educators in real classrooms.
1:303K views · 11d ago · 1:30
Guest: Research Reel
AI-generated responses can leave students feeling like they’ve mastered a topic when in reality, they’ve barely scratched the surface. In this video, our assistant editor Andrea Tamayo breaks down the phenomenon known as the fluency illusion.
📄 Mentioned papers: Studies mentioned in the video · Studies mentioned in the video: and
2:2713K views · 14d ago · 2:27
The simple act of writing by hand activates the brain in ways that can strengthen memory, literacy, and learning. Find more resources that translate research into classroom practice at YouTube BlueSky
2:351K views · 29d ago · 2:35
By investigating familiar places, analyzing visual data, and exploring perspectives from the past, students can build a deeper understanding of history and culture. Social studies is full of chances to ask compelling questions about the world. But for many students, the people, places, and events they encounter in class can sometimes feel disconnected from their own experiences.
2:186K views · 1mo ago · 2:18
A simple four-step routine helps young writers organize their ideas, support their thinking with evidence, and make their writing more meaningful to their readers. Formulating strong written responses to academic questions can be challenging for learners, especially when they need to go beyond basics to bring in evidence and explain their thinking clearly.
1:21855 views · 1mo ago · 1:21
The research is clear: Self-testing is a powerful study strategy. So why don't students do it? In this video, Edutopia assistant editor Andrea Tamayo breaks down how self-testing can be integrated into other study strategies students are using.
📄 Mentioned papers: Study mentioned in the video
5:22101K views · 1mo ago · 5:22
A weeklong vocabulary routine with movement and repetition helps students go beyond definitions and put new words to use in conversation and writing. Repetition is an essential part of learning new vocabulary, but it doesn’t have to mean worksheets and drills. At Ojibwa Elementary School in Macomb, Michigan, fifth-grade teacher JoAnna Milke uses a weeklong vocabulary routine called “10 Words in 10 Minutes” to help students build a deeper understanding of 10 new words.
2:297K views · 1mo ago · 2:29
Using tokens to connect sounds to letters helps emerging readers get the repetition they need to build foundational literacy skills. In kindergarten teacher Jane Tech’s small group literacy session at Clinton Valley Elementary School in Mount Clemens, Michigan, students use phoneme-grapheme mapping boards to help practice connecting spoken sounds to letters.
3:15107K views · 1mo ago · 3:15
When paper notebooks become a primary workspace, students can organize their ideas, visualize key concepts, and better track their learning. The humble paper notebook has been making a comeback in classrooms,as teachers try to limit digital distractions. But its benefits and versatility extend well beyond not requiring a power source.
3:532K views · 2mo ago · 3:53
This district is expanding access to dual enrollment and early college classes—by helping more high school students succeed in honors courses. For some students, earning credit for a college-level course while still in high school, known as early college or dual enrollment, can open the door to significant opportunities—and save them a year or more of college tuition. But getting there often starts with access to honors coursework.
2:15191K views · 2mo ago · 2:15
A daily routine that combines visual, auditory, and kinesthetic inputs helps students learn new words, recognize them when reading, and remember their meanings. At Clinton Valley Elementary School in Michigan, fifth-grade teacher Samantha DiCicco helps students in her small fluency group build vocabulary through a short multisensory routine that incorporates movement and repetition.
2:313K views · 2mo ago · 2:31
An unconventional desk arrangement quickly and easily accommodates three different types of classroom work—solo, small group, and whole class instruction. With classroom chock full of 32 students, high school English language arts teacher Tyler Rablin was looking for a seating arrangement that could accommodate different modes of teaching and learning: solo work, small group collaboration, and whole class instruction.
2:5019K views · 3mo ago · 2:50
This gradual release of responsibility routine helps students hear what fluent, expressive reading sounds like, practice with support, and then read with expression on their own. Learning to read fluently goes well beyond sounding out words correctly. Young readers need to hear what reading with expression sounds like, get plenty of practice reading aloud with scaffolding, and gradually build confidence to become expressive independent readers.
2:381K views · 3mo ago · 2:38
From AI expectations to device routines, these conversations create shared norms that help students use technology responsibly and intentionally. As dialogue grows more heated around the role of AI, laptops, tablets, and other digital tools in schools, many educators are recognizing that successful technology integration depends less on the tools themselves and more on the norms established around them.
2:2514K views · 3mo ago · 2:25
A classic strategy called dyad reading—matching up students with different skill levels to read out loud in unison—helps both partners build confidence and fluency. Fluent readers don't just recognize words—they read aloud with accuracy, expression, and confidence, which allows them to focus more cognitive resources on understanding what they read.
2:222K views · 3mo ago · 2:22
By building short focus exercises into the daily routine, teachers help students to improve their capacity to concentrate. Some learners seem naturally able to sustain concentration, while others struggle to maintain focus for even a few minutes. To many teachers, this capacity to focus can feel like a fixed trait.
3:31106K views · 3mo ago · 3:31
Seating students in strategic academic groups at L-shaped tables creates classroom community, improves teacher mobility, and supports struggling students. Seating, both the furniture and the students in that seating, is an often overlooked part of teaching practices,” says retired high school teacher Jay Schauer.
4:0610K views · 3mo ago · 4:06
This structured daily routine makes time for personalized small-group instruction—while building independence across the classroom. One of the biggest challenges in elementary literacy instruction is meeting students at their level. Reading abilities often vary widely within the same classroom, making it essential to create opportunities for targeted support.
3:10144K views · 4mo ago · 3:10
The right getting-to-know-you activities can help students move beyond introductions and make connection feel natural—not forced. Building a strong classroom community is an essential task at the start of a new school year, no matter the grade level, and it starts with helping students feel comfortable enough to be themselves. But traditional icebreakers don't always make it easy.
4:292K views · 4mo ago · 4:29
When students approach abstract concepts through hands-on activities like painting, their literary analysis skills improve—and their writing does, too. One of St. Marys Area Middle School ELA teacher Danielle Brody's (and her students’) favorite activities is called Painted Reflections, an idea she first encountered in a Harvard Project Zero webinar. The activity involves using watercolor paints to better understand abstract concepts.
3:12281K views · 5mo ago · 3:12
By providing every student with an opportunity to actively remember yesterday’s lesson, teachers can set the stage for today’s success. Hopping from subject to subject, navigating hallway chaos, chattering with friends—high school can be a frenzy of activity. So in classrooms where lessons span multiple days, students often benefit from a quick opportunity to reconnect with previous learning before moving forward.
3:112K views · 5mo ago · 3:11
Activities like mapping, sketching, and sculpting can help students clarify ideas—and deepen their literary analysis. In English class, students often grapple with complex ideas that can be challenging to make sense of with words alone. Renowned authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis relied on visual representations of their stories to build their fictional landscapes.
1:293K views · 5mo ago · 1:29
Life—much like learning—is filled with friction. New, emerging technologies increasingly promise to smooth those rough edges. But that same impulse toward ease in learning, warns author Jason Reynolds ( is quietly robbing a generation of an opportunity to develop something far more valuable: fortitude.
3:567K views · 5mo ago · 3:56
During short, purposeful sessions with a handful of students, teachers can address misconceptions—and help build stronger, more accurate understanding. It can be difficult to know exactly what students understand in the moment, especially in a whole-class setting. A correct answer doesn’t always reveal how a student got there—and an incorrect answer doesn’t necessarily demonstrate where their thinking may be breaking down.
3:411K views · 6mo ago · 3:41
Low-stakes writing is nothing new in an ELA classroom. But middle school teacher Erin Comninaki found that even when she framed writing as practice, “students focused on ‘getting it right,’ rather than viewing every writing activity as a chance to grow.”
4:43293K views · 6mo ago · 4:43
A focus on the science of learning has helped this district shrink achievement and opportunity gaps—by making sure every student is engaged in effortful thinking. In any given classroom, who is doing the meaningful thinking: the teacher, a few students, or everyone? And how can you tell? In Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland, educators are asking themselves these hard questions to help them move towards instructional equity.
3:403K views · 6mo ago · 3:40
Warming Up Cold Calling by Writing Ideas Down First When students can respond to questions on mini whiteboards prior to being called on, they feel more prepared—–and everyone participates in thinking through the answers.
4:162K views · 6mo ago · 4:16
By reading aloud in middle and high school, teachers can expose students to new ideas, genres, and authors—and get them excited about books. For students at St. Marys Area Middle School in St. Marys, PA, Fridays are extra special. Since introducing First Chapter Fridays (FCF) in their English language arts classes five years ago, teachers Dana Smith and Beth Penn have noticed how much students look forward to it.
2:442K views · 6mo ago · 2:44
By weaving play, reflection, and calm into classroom routines, teachers can manage young students’ spring fever—and end the year strong. As the end of school approaches, the energy in elementary classrooms often rises, disrupting behavior, learning, and the routines that teachers have worked so hard to maintain all year long. With a few calm and playful activities that create space for reflection and celebration, the last months of the year don’t have to feel like a battle.
4:201K views · 6mo ago · 4:20
By creating emotion collages with symbolism, words, and images, high school students boost their emotional literacy. Though art teacher Mindy Sizemore’s students at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia, had been taught about feelings before, she realized those lessons probably started—and likely ended—at the elementary level. But she knew that high school students need to deepen their understanding of emotions in order to succeed in their adult lives.
3:20135K views · 7mo ago · 3:20
By crafting a line of questioning precisely around what they want students thinking about, teachers create opportunities for students to process—and better retain—key content. Social studies teacher Kalen Dillon knows exactly which questions will push her students at Delta Middle School, in Delta, CO, towards more effortful thinking.
3:471K views · 7mo ago · 3:47
Through simple hands-on lessons, students can follow their curiosity, get messy, and explore the world around them. Science learning, especially at the elementary level, is all about asking big questions and figuring out the answers through exploration. Those are skills that children come by naturally—they just need an outlet for that curiosity.
3:227K views · 7mo ago · 3:22
Asking students to unpack learning objectives with a quick routine helps them connect prior knowledge and feel more prepared for the day’s lesson. Learning objectives are common in many schools, and they’re often displayed prominently on the board as students come into a classroom. It has become routine for teachers to read the objective aloud—or ask a student to do it—and then jump right into the lesson.
2:563K views · 7mo ago · 2:56
When students record themselves reading aloud using an app—and then listen back to reflect on their own pacing and expression—their fluency improves over time. At Clinton Valley Elementary School in Michigan, fifth-grade teacher Samantha DiCicco is helping students build literacy skills by combining reflection, goal setting, and technology.
3:27144K views · 7mo ago · 3:27
When teachers regularly pause during lectures so students can process their thinking with handwritten notes, key content is more likely to stick. In many classrooms, lectures move quickly, leaving little time for students to digest new information.
2:418K views · 7mo ago · 2:41
When teachers revisit earlier lessons in small, structured ways, students feel more confident on assessments—and retain the content better. With testing season on the horizon, it’s important for students to be able to recall information not just from the current unit but from the entirety of the semester. Consistent, scaffolded review helps to ensure that material is reinforced over time and easily available when a student needs it.
4:321K views · 7mo ago · 4:32
For this high school in West Virginia, building time for clubs and tutoring into the school day means happier, higher-achieving students. Founded in 2013, Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia, is the newest school in the state. The administrators and teachers faced a familiar challenge: How do you inspire students to come to school regularly, especially when there’s no established school culture or traditions?
4:2135K views · 7mo ago · 4:21
Creating procedures around daily classroom activities reduces the mental burden for students, leaving more brain space for them to think deeply about content. Working memory is limited—it can only tend to a certain number of items at a time. In a typical classroom where there are lots of things going on, there’s serious competition for that brain space.
2:455K views · 8mo ago · 2:45
Just a few minutes of collaboration, movement, and community-building can create a more positive and productive middle school learning environment. Taking quick and intentional breaks from instruction for team-building, movement, and connection can shift energy in the classroom, allowing students to reset and reapproach lessons with improved focus.
4:572K views · 8mo ago · 4:57
By rooting their professional development in learning science, this district helped teachers figure out which strategies to use more frequently, and which to retire. When Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland made the decision to implement the science of learning across their 45,000-student district, school leaders knew the process would take a lot of time—and a monumental effort.
4:202K views · 8mo ago · 4:20
Working out the parts of an essay step by step helps students think more creatively and analytically about what they want to convey. Students in Karla Hilliard’s AP Literature class at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, WV know they’ll have to be confident writers when it’s time to take the advanced placement exam. In order to respond to three prompts in two hours, they’ll need a strong grasp of the components of an essay.
4:1228K views · 8mo ago · 4:12
Combining strong relationships with clear expectations means teachers can create classrooms where every student feels supported—and accountable for sharing their thinking. In many classrooms, participation is limited to the same few confident students. But at Cedaredge Elementary School in Cedaredge, Colorado, third-grade teacher Elisa Galvan works hard to ensure that every student has the opportunity to share their thinking.
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