Scaffolding in the Classroom

Scaffolding. What an odd term for an educational concept. When I think of scaffolding I first think of support structures that are set up alongside a tall building that allow workers to do their job safely when high in the air. In education, that definition is not far from the truth of scaffolding in the classroom. Scaffolding, or giving students support as they learn something new, is essential for students to be able to internalize what they are learning.

In today's lesson, the scaffolding tools of showing and hiding text in a document and hidden slides in a presentation were very helpful as they gave me an opportunity to use a template to fill in the necessary information. This was very important because I had not yet internalized what kinds of information I would need to write about in a business letter or an action plan presentation. With the tools of the templates available, I was able to see exactly what I needed to provide. In the future, those tools could be removed and I would be able to remember how to create business letters and action plan presentations.

Technology helped me modify the files so that I could save them as my own template and adjust them according to my own needs. For example, in the presentation, I was able to delete the hidden slides once I felt I no longer needed them anymore. 

Widget: Discovery Learning

When I think about my future classroom, I see discovery learning being an integral part of my teaching and curriculum. I want my students to learn through doing, rather than just parroting what I tell them to do. As someone who believes in a progressive approach to education, I will be excited to see my students asking their own questions, performing their own research, and learning in the way that they learn best. Instead of being "the sage on the stage," I will focus on being "the guide on the side," assisting as necessary but not pretending that I am the source of all knowledge.

In the Widget project in class last week, we got a big taste of discovery learning-we found for ourselves what a widget is, we decided on a country to research, and we chose how to present our country. With few limits, our imaginations and creativity were allowed to blossom in the project. We got to enjoy seeing our own ideas on display, and it was a blast to watch all the other presentations, since they were so different from each other. If our professor had told us exactly how to do the research and presentations, they would have been quite boring. But since we had so many fun and creative ideas to share, none of the presentations were the same, yet they all fulfilled the criteria given. The Widget project was discovery learning at its finest.

Image source: http://www.petheartprints.com/Parrot/graphics/parrotamazon.jpg

No parrots in the classroom!