Frustration and Scaffolding

Do you live in a land of frustration (in your classroom)? I feel like many teachers set themselves up for failure and then get frustrated.

Their day goes like this.

1. Assign higher level task (because my administrator/colleague/friendTracyNewman says I should.
2. Watch students have non-productive struggle and give up -- OR watch students just do a really terrible job at the task.
3. Decide that students can’t handle the task and next time give them really easy (lower level) tasks so they can be successful.
4. Repeat -- or shy away from giving students challenging tasks for the rest of the year.

How do you feel about giving struggling students higher order thinking? Is it scary to you? Do you think it’s something only for OTHER teachers with OTHER students in OTHER classes or schools? Do you think that YOUR kids can’t handle it?

You’re completely right.

Your kids can’t handle it.

...unless you scaffold it.

“But Tracy”, you argue with me (it’s ok. I can take it). “I don’t actually know how to DO that. I think you think that’s easier than it really is. It’s not easy! It’s hard!

You’re completely right (again).

Scaffolding is hard.

Where should we start? Here are a few strategies to help you get your kids moving UP to that task you’re hesitant to give them.

Quick Go-To Scaffolding Strategies!

1. Chunk It: A struggling student may give up before he begins, if the task LOOKS daunting. Make it look less daunting by shortening the tasks or text into manageable chunks. If you’re giving them a page-long text to read, slow it down and give them one paragraph at a time. If you have ten steps to a task, give them one or two steps at a time. If you have twenty questions, give them the questions in groups of four or five. It is so much more manageable to chunk the text or the task to scaffold it for struggling kids.

2. Remove the Content: (just for a minute!). If students are struggling with a skill or  concept, try to help them understand the skill or concept without the content. Then, add that content back in. If they don’t understand why any Colonist would have stayed Loyal to Britain, ask if they would want to stay if Florida and Georgia decided to leave the US. Or if Pinellas County became it’s own state. Then describe it WITH the content.

3. Model It: Kids bomb their tasks a lot of the time because they don’t know what the task should look like. If you’re asking kids to debate, demonstrate some things the two sides might say. If you’re asking them to write, show them what their writing task should look like. If you’re asking them to track you visually, show them what it would look like to track someone.

4. Gradually Release It:  If your kids can’t “handle” a particular task or activity, try modelling part of it first. Then, do part of it whole class, where you facilitate the learning but the 25 (or 35) brains in the room do the thinking. Then, have them try a part in groups or partners, where a few brains can work together. Then -- and DON’T forget this part! -- make them do (even a little) part on their own.

5. Spiral It: Start small. Start with Level One (recall or “right there”) questions. Then move up the DOK or Bloom’s Ladder. LEAD the kids there by “spiraling up” the questions and tasks. Kids can get where you want them to go if you lead them with some very intentional, pointed questions.

6. Sentence Start ‘Em: Kids don’t always know where to start or what the teacher is looking for. SHOW the kids what you’re looking for with a sentence starter. If you ask the kids, “What are the causes of _____?” then give the kids a sentence starter that says “The causes of _____ were 1)_____ and 2)____.”

Your kids can do it. I promise! Maybe not every kid every time, but a whole lot MORE kids can handle a whole lot MORE content and thinking with some good scaffolding.