I have had a lot of success teaching Go to High School and Elementary age students by keeping everything as simple as possible. To start out, I don't teach any rules at all. I tell the person to just put down a stone, then I play a stone, etc. until capture. Only then I explain the rule of capture and atari. I show some simple examples of capturing, atari, and escaping. If a situation which allows for ko arises on the first day, I'll explain the basics of the rule, but then table it for further exploration. I begin by only playing capture go on a 9x9 board.

After the student has the basics of cature and has been playing for a while (for the more advanced, only a day or two; for those who struggle but enjoy it, a week or more) I introduce the idea of territory and then just play a game. After the first game, I explain two eyes and show some examples. I also explain the concept of corner, side, center, then play another game. I have been working the student up from a 9x9 gradually to a 19x19 board for capture already, but for the first several days or weeks in real go, we're back to a 9x9. I encourage the students to play as much as possible and just try out different things. When new rules arise, I explain them. When interesting situations show up on the board, I discuss them. I always try to give the student the chance to figure everything out on their own before I butt in to explain. When multiple learners are around, I'll pair them off and let them explore new things together and comment when it seems appropriate. I have had some wonderful success. My first student just broke 20k!