How do you use scaffolding in your teaching?

I would like to add, at times we may plan a small chunk scaffold and then find that 1-4 students in the group of 25 may need those chunks to be even smaller than the original plan. This can be accommodated by quality questioning. I say this because, as I coach and consult with novice teachers they are dismayed when they planned and in their minds "it's not working" to this I say "what is the background knowledge required to complete ______?" Then, "What question can you ask that will activate this for ______?" Scaffold before the instruction, in the moment, and after.

Oftentimes, we equate scaffolding to students with disabilities; however, in my personal practice, I have found it to be effective with all learners.

In Neurolanguage® Coaching, we use so-called "Brain-Based Coaching Conversations." Each conversation is based on the learner's previous knowledge and understanding of a specific grammar topic, both in their mother tongue and in the target language. Scaffolding occurs when the learner gains the skills that help them build up and, at the same time, apply more advanced and complex structures after each session in a systematic and brain-friendly way. New neuronal connections begin to be created, and my experience has shown that learners gain not only the feeling of "understanding" but also a sense of ownership and autonomy within their own learning process. Everything is conducted respecting the learner's own pace and preferred learning styles.

Having a starter to check my students' prior knowledge on the content and concepts covered thus far. This can be in the form of open-ended questions so that students can share any related experiences with respect to that content, followed by sharing new key terms/vocabulary related to the content that will be taught. Then have structured discussions (think-pair-share activities, etc) so that students may apply their new vocabulary and talk about what they are thinking and connect it to the new knowledge they will learn. This helps to clear up misconceptions and consolidates their concepts and knowledge. Finally ending with a Plenary worksheet or a Q and A session to ascertain how much the students have learnt.

Some common strategies which we include: Breaking down the learning into smaller steps.For example, a teacher might break down a complex math problem into a series of smaller, more manageable steps. Using visuals and other aids.For example, a teacher might use a diagram or chart to help students understand the relationships between different concepts. Providing clear and concise instructions. Students need to know exactly what is expected of them in order to be successful.

It creates a safe space and opportunity to make mistakes and opportunity to explore ideas and deepen understanding of the task at hand.

It allows students to experience small steps of success, while building a solid foundation of the material being covered. It helps to build student’s self-esteem.

In a flipped classroom methodology, students are expected to engage actively with the learning materials before class. Scaffolding promotes active learning by helping guide students through materials, ensuring they understand the content and are prepared to engage in meaningful discussions and activities. Also given that language learners have varying levels of proficiency, learning styles, and needs. Scaffolding allows us to tailor support to individual students, providing extra help where needed and challenging advanced learners appropriately. Scaffolding also provides a safety net for students, helping them build confidence in their abilities making them more likely to participate actively in class discussions and activities.

Breaking a learning task into smaller and changing it according to the grasping ability of the learners,makes it easy to understand and leads to better retention. Even recall will be better.

This is a great concept for learners to build on their intellectual capabilities and achieve success. Definitely worth experimenting.

First and foremost I do a needs analysis and learn what students are interested in learning and what students feel they need help with learning. A needs analysis can be a simple 5-question survey. Once I have what students are interested in learning and what they feel they need help with, I then use that information to make effective scaffolds for students. Also, I save time by putting less focus on teaching areas students already know while putting more focus on what students feel they need help with. Lastly, I ALWAYS do the assignments I give to students. By doing so I can clearly explain not only what students need to do but also share how I was able to do the same assignment.

Using a vertical alignment or standards document/tool is also very helpful when scaffolding because it informs one of necessary prior knowledge and prerequisites that must be in place before mastering the new learning. This will ensure that the tools used to scaffold match the demands of the task as well as the previous understanding of the learner.

Thought needed to go into the end goal of what you hope pupils will be able to do independently. Then working backwards and stripping back the tasks to help get an understanding of what building blocks is needed to create useful scaffolding tasks into manageable chucks that aren't overwhelming and have good progression.

In my experience of teaching molecular biology it is becoming useful to practice taking a break! During a lesson, it is possible and sometimes happens to quickly go through many different concepts. To evaluate how students absorb information my strategy is to“put myself and put the students on hold" with a few questions that I plan in advance. To answer my questions, students must have absorbed the key-concepts but must also rework them. Using engagement platforms each student lives an interactive experience, a more inclusive environment less conditioned by the anxiety of having their performance recognized in a fairly long maximum response time! My motto is "let's train ourselves to hurry slowly (festina Lentae)!"

When you start teaching, ask an experienced colleague how they would introduce a concept, and learn from them the images/stories/visualisations etc. they bring over and above the 'text book' method. Try these out and, most importantly, talk with the students to help them. I now incorporate so much scaffolding I have learned directly from working with a student that I never would have thought myself. Always think through how you want a lesson to go before you do it, and, again, when trying out something, find a supportive colleague to model it on first and get their feedback.

Give students sentence starters, outlines, graphic organizers, and templates to help them organize their thoughts and speech. Provide partially completed examples they can build on. Break larger tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks. Model or demonstrate each piece first, then have students practice with your guidance. Provide prompts, cues, and questions to lead them through the process. Use visual aids, manipulatives, and hands-on activities to make abstract concepts more concrete. For example, use blocks to demonstrate mathematical operations. Let students actively engage with materials. Give feedback and encouragement as students practice new skills.

I used scaffolding a lot when I was teaching bilingual biology classes (Dutch/English). After learning a concept, students had to apply it in a conversation/story regarding this concept later in that lesson or later that week. Next week, it was repeated and used to understand another concept.

In my class I could implement scaffolding through the strategy of: (Think - Pair - Share). First, I put a case and let my student to think individually about it…Then grouping of student to think in the same case together…Lastly a presenter from each group share their opinion with other groups..

Contributors to this article and Interested readers: I am ecstatic to share that I recently implemented NewsEla at my academy! This highly versatile and interactive platform is a scaffolding tool that eases lesson planning for differentiation- and varying interests. I particularly like the adaptive reading level and annotation features. Students gain control of and accountability for their literacy, and teachers can guide and deepen learning outcomes with guided questions and other annotations. Another invaluable feature of NewsEla is that it provides clear, easy to evaluate student data to support lesson planning and curriculum development that addresses the unique needs of diverse learners. NewsEla has proven to be worth the investment.

As a teacher of English for the IGCSE and an IELTS tutor, scaffolding is the core of my work. It can be considered the base on which I plan my whole work and all class activities. At work, I not only meet students or trainees of different levels, but also I work on their own abilities to reach the best potential. That definite goal can never be achieved without building my lessons on scaffolding techniques. For example, when I want to develop my trainees' skills of dealing with the academic reading passages in the IELTS test, I can never jump to the phase of direct scanning at the very beginning. There should be enough practice on how to link ideas and make relations first. Similarly, the writing skill should be developed step by step.

As a science teacher, I can evaluate scaffolding success through experiments. During a Density of Metals Lab, students are tasked with using a triple beam balance (prior knowledge), using the displacement method to find the volume of a metal (prior knowledge), and calculate density of 5 metals (new material). I can evaluate instantly whether students can perform any of these tasks successfully and correct them as they move through the lab with instant feedback.

In my lessons I like to then provide an activity that provides pupils the opportunity to complete an independent project where they can apply their knowledge and skills learnt.

Incorporating kinesthetic tasks like responding using hand motions are also low-risk ways English learners can get involved and for teachers to evaluate their understanding in a quick and informal way. These quick check ins allow for scaffolding to be adjusted along the way instead of waiting for data and realizing you went to slowly or need to reteach concepts.

Evaluate with real-life examples and situations that require the skills taught through the scaffolding. Ideally, the challenge is as realistic as possible and relatable to the context the learner can expect to see. While fictional/ideal situations may provide some learning for evaluation, nothing beats the real deal.

I believe the best way to evaluate scaffolding is to measure growth. Once a pre assessment is given or a baseline is developed we can measure growth in many ways. Often we look at quizzes and tests as an avenue to measure but when a student can write a paragraph in reference to their conceptual knowledge gains or teach a lesson on a topic is also a gauge of the effectiveness of scaffolding

Give students starter phrases to help them articulate ideas, such as "One reason is..." or "For example..." Give cue cards - Write prompts, key terms, formulas, or questions on cards students can reference during activities. Break lessons into chunks - Teach in focused mini-lessons rather than marathon sessions. Implement peer modeling - Have students who understand a concept explain or demonstrate it for the rest of the class. Explain how you break down complex problems.

For Computing Science I have found PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify and Make), to be a really effective scaffolding technique for learning programming. The modify step is a really important step in creating a safe place for pupils to investigate and make mistakes. Because the program wasn't made by them to start with it means there is less worry about making mistakes and doing things wrong. The removing the scaffolding with the make step and creating opportunity for pupils to applying knowledge and skills to a project of their own.

As a Psychologist, I use the scaffolding by making the students reflect on their own rhythms, identifying the sources of thoughts and emotions within themselves, gradually observing others and taking their feedback, come back to themself and re-evaluate if they can widen their perspective. Scaffolding allows for that safe space needed to dwell onto the intricacies of human psychology and a lifelong openness to learn. I always ask them to revisit their own theory of life, their own ways of dealings and then going back to text or to the field. We use aspiration charts, skill charts and exploration charts to create shared learning spaces that enable collaborative learning.

In my field, English language teaching/learning, scaffolding is often used unobtrusively in spoken fluency work. The teacher can: 1- suggest a word the student has been looking for; 2- echo what has been said by paraphrasing and showing we are following; 3- nod and use exclamations that encourage the student to continue; 4- respond by providing the right word or the right pronunciation of a word without drawing attention to it and so on. Another way an EFL/ESL teacher can scaffold a pair-/group-work speaking task is by giving ss a specific list of vocabulary items or a familiar grammar point to be used. By clarifying what the target language is, you encourage students to try to practise it, even if not entirely accurately.

The use of visual organizers like graphic organizers, mind maps, and checklists/rubrics are great for visual learners and multilingual learners. They can help us all organize and categorize our ideas to make a plan or to synthesize our learning.

I think Scaffolding is a really useful technique. It's a logical development in learning a new skill. It allows the teacher (or guide/coach) to help students quickly apply new skills in a manageable way. I try to apply this to public speaking. During the course we see examples of the specific area we are working on, we then have a coaching session and then the learner will follow up with applying it to their chosen presentation topic. Finally the coach will listen to the application and provide detailed feedback. Each skill is connected to the next and helps the learners see how it all works together so that they can produce effective presentations.

Scaffolding makes learning available to all learners, making what is not known manageable through teacher guidance to make it KNOWN and doable without assistance.

Some students have noticed when I am scaffolding for other students in the classroom. This can cause confusion or isolation for some. Simply put, it is best to explain that we all learn differently from one another. What might work for one person, may not work for another. It's incredible how responsive students are to this answer!

Young children develop on scales, and so, scaffolding will never look the same at any given moment in any classroom. It's important to understand the developmental patterns of young students so that you can identify their strengths and weaknesses, and then properly determine what can be done to help them build their skills for independence. For example, one student I had was unable to write his name, while another student the same age was writing full sentences. Their scaffolding did not look the same, but they were both practicing writing skills at the same time. It is also important to note that scaffolding never really ends; it is a moving target. As students learn and develop, their targets also move to continually challenge them.

It was at the university level of an EFL class when I applied this activity to my academic writing class. I brought a model example of an academic article, shuffled it, and asked students to reshuffle it. I cut the articles into lines, shuffled the cut lines then stacked them. The class was divided into groups and members chose themselves. the activity was allotted 25 minutes. Each group was asked to read the reshuffled article aloud. Then each team was asked to write down the challenges they encountered while reshuffling. After I heard from all, the article was shown on the smart board. The purpose was to test and enhance ss' abilities to look at the main paragraphs: introduction, body paragraphs