Here are two pieces of writing from the same student under two different teachers. In both cases, the student narrated and the teacher copied their ideas down.
Teacher A
Four people were walking in the woods and they found a squirrel. The squirrel told them they had to find his friend the deer. So the people walked along everyone going in a different hiking area trying to find a deer. And one of them saw some leaves whistle. And he goed to check it out and found a deer. And then a windstorm happened and then a tree fell, crushing the squirrel and he bounced super high in the air and he bounced into the deer’s lap, then on the deer’s antlers. Then they gave them all golden metals and golden VR transmitters and some butterfly weapons.
Teacher B
- I would make a big iron fence. It would have spears wrapped together
- I would make a big drop so the gingerbread man would fall through the straw cushion.
- I would make a huge elevator with a gingerbread ceiling that would bring him to my house.
Do you see the difference in the quality of writing? Again, this is the same student. And the student was 6 months younger in the first sample!
High Ceiling. Low Ceiling.
Teacher A used a blank piece of paper. She wrote as much as the kid could come up with. Her writing was sloppy because she was frantically trying to keep up. The student was allowed to tell the complete story.
Teacher B over-scaffolded. She started with a pre-printed worksheet. She decided ahead of time that all stories have only three ideas. And each idea is limited to a sentence or two. And stories end as graphic organizers – they never actually become stories.
The ceiling on Task B was artificially low. It squeezed all of the students down so that their work looks about the same. This hides all of the great writers in the class. It will also drive students nuts. Imagine being able to produce Sample A, but being constrained to Sample B!
Which teacher do you think had more behavior problems with the student?
Only Scaffold When Necessary!
Now, Teacher B’s scaffold isn’t necessarily bad. If a student is really, really struggling to get started, they might need that kind of structure. That’s when you’d would bring the scaffold out! Only scaffold when it’s necessary. Then lose the scaffold as quickly as you can.
A scaffold is never the goal. Scaffolds are meant to lead students farther than they could otherwise go. In this example, the scaffold held students back. In this case, the teacher started and ended with a scaffold. The graphic organizer was the final product. But graphic organizers, like all scaffolds, must lead somewhere.
I wrote more about how we have to avoid differentiating scaffolds (which leads to madness), and instead just remove scaffolds when they are not necessary.