How can students get the best high school teacher recommendations?
Most students tend to ask the same teachers and they wait until the fall of the senior year. If you ask your teachers in the spring of your junior year you have a better chance of the teacher agreeing to write it and of the teacher witing a more thoughtful recommendation because he or she will have more time to write it.
It can be helpful to the teacher if you give him or her a resume with your activities and also a sheet of paper explaining what was important to you about the class you had with him/her. Other information the teacher might find helpful includes: academic areas of interest (majors), summer plans, career aspirations, and colleges you are considering.