Are We Over-Scaffolding? What's Important in this Conversation

We've all had that lesson.  You know, the one where readers are gathered, everyone has their book in hand, and soon it becomes obvious the book isn't going to work for a reader.  For a myriad of reasons, the reader begins to struggle with the text and before we know it, we're off to the rescue.  You know the lesson:  the one where we find ourselves repeatedly giving prompts that are all over the strategy map.

• "What would make sense?"
• "Look at the first part."
• "Try something that would sound right." 

Yep, in these situations, we find ourselves suddenly doing anything in our power to help the reader to get through the text without having to abandon it in the middle of the lesson.  

And...

We've all had that reader.  You know, the one that looks at us every time they run into a challenge in the text. Yep, the reader we all work not to make eye contact with during the lesson.  The one who seems to be having difficulty using what is known to read an unfamiliar text.  The one that before we know it we are off and running with reading prompts galore.  

And...

We've all made that move.  You know, the one where our finger moves across the table and into the reader's book.  Yep, that's always the moment where I know I need to rethink what I'm doing with a reader.  

I'm going to guess we can all confess to times we've "over-scaffolded."  

On the other hand, we all know the readers that have grown in confidence.  We all know the books that have matched the next steps for readers, the ones that have given the right amount of challenge to grow forward.  We all know these successes have come from carefully assessing our readers, reflecting on what they can do and what they need next, and then thoughtfully helping them build that next skill, strategy, or understanding.  

What About Rescuing Readers?
More and more I read about the dangers of over-scaffolding.  More and more I note the tweets and posts from teachers who are wondering if they should be scaffolding.  I'm going to be bold enough to say that I worry a bit about this conversation.  I, too, have read the concerns of Terry Thompson, Burkins and Yaris, and Vicki Vinton, among others.  I get it.  As someone who has spent much time beside emergent and early readers, worked alongside learners in Reading Recovery and reading intervention, I know I have, at times, been guilty of over-scaffolding.

At the same time, I also know that it took me many years (much training and many professional books) to learn to scaffold readers in a way that helped them work toward independence.  I think we should use caution in this conversation.  In education, we easily slip into an all or none discussion.  This isn't really about scaffolding or not scaffolding, it's about being cautious of doing too much for our readers.  As I've read Terry Thompson, Burkins and Yaris, and Vicky Vinton, what I take away is that I can be more intentional in the support I give the readers that sit beside me each day.  Through thoughtful reflection and planning, I can precisely focus on a next step, while adjusting my expectations for readers to use what they've learned to read and understand a new text.


Thinking About Scaffolding
I've found all of this conversation fascinating.  It has made me pause, rethink my practice, and clarify my thinking.  It has made me step back to consider the support I give readers, as well as the ways I might be over-supporting them.  It has made me wonder when to scaffold and when to step back, how to scaffold effectively, and what I should consider in tailoring support.  Where is the line?

I, in no way, have this figured out.  However, I'm wondering if we over-scaffold when we:

• scaffold the text instead of the reader
• give too supportive of book introductions
• monitor for readers 
• teach to give prior knowledge to help readers read complex texts
• prompt every difficulty instead of maintaining focus on the next step for a reader
• prompt too quickly instead of letting a reader attempt to solve the problem

Scaffolding requires that we know our readers and consider their stage of development.  Scaffolding should be:

• based upon a reader's needs
• specific 
• on the reader's edge or next step
• thoughtful in the level of support of the prompts utilized

When sitting beside readers I know I have to be intentional with my every move.  For me, that means having the self-discipline to keep a reader's focus first and leaving time for the reader to do the work they need to do to problem solve as they read for understanding.  For me, that means thinking about the prompts I will use ahead of time and staying clear in my language.  I hope we'll continue this conversation about scaffolding our readers and helping them to grow in independence.  I think we're all going to learn a lot!

I hope you'll share your thoughts in the comments below.  When should we scaffold?  When should we step back?  How can we more effectively scaffold our readers to help them take next steps?  What is essential?  

Maybe It's Not About Doing MORE

Recently our team sat looking at the information we had collected about our readers.  We had our most recent benchmark assessment information and anecdotal notes from our classrooms.  As we reflected on student progress, we didn't feel we were seeing the shifts we hoped to see.  It wasn't long until our conversation spun to ways we could do more.  

In the last month I have sat in meetings with other grade levels, other schools, our literacy team, and our response to intervention team.  In each of these instances the conversation seems to quickly spiral into ways we could do more.  Even looking at the assessment information and notes I've obtained from the students I support in reading intervention, I find myself looking for ways to do more.  

The truth is, however, we're already doing more.  Educators have many students that have particular individual and small group plans.  There are plans for intervention that are progress monitored.  There are additional support staff that support some learners and programs purchased with the intention to support and remediate.  We pull learning apart from its larger concepts to its minute skills, drilling into what we think might be needed for these students.

Let's pause, for just a minute...

Let's breathe...

Let's leave the rushed frenzy of our data driven world...

Let's put standardized hurdles aside...

Let's not do more...

As I look at the information I have on my readers and consider the rushed pace of our learning, I realize I can't do more.  They can't do more.  I'm asking the wrong questions and seeking the wrong plans.  What I need to be thinking about is, what can I do better?  What are the essential instructional practices that will support my learners?  What really works?  How do I improve my language so that what I am doing has more power, but leaves them with more time to practice these very strategies? 

Experience has taught me that if I put first things first, the rest will fall into place.  So I'm changing my question to "What can I do better?".  As I reflect I am looking for those essential pieces that matter most, and working to do them well.  

Growing Readers in Digital Spaces

"We have found that when our students have lots of ways and reasons to connect, their stance as learners begins to change (p. 72)." Sibberson & Bass 

When the school year ended I had good intentions to stay connected with my students.  I had brought parents in for a discussion around keeping students reading across the summer, updated our reading hub, and talked with students about summer reading plans.  As the calendar turned from June to July, I was struggling to connect with readers I had served in intervention.  My students are too young to have their own accounts so all correspondence goes through their parents.  They don't see my updates on Twitter.  They don't read my emails.  The only way I stand a chance is if they stop by our hub, but that didn't seem to be happening.

Where did I go wrong?

As the calendar turns from July to August, I'm still finding it difficult to connect with these readers.  I'm hoping they're still reading, but I miss hearing about the books they are discovering.  I miss hearing them make recommendations to one another.  When I had my own classroom we spent time together in digital spaces across our year.  We had a class Shelfari account.  We posted together in our class blog space.  We continually visited our Kidblog account to write, read, and respond.  We posted together using our class Twitter account.  We used our Symbaloo spaces to connect to sites for our learning.  Digital tools were embedded in the learning we did across our day.

Building Digital Habits
In thinking back to my last year working as an intervention teacher, I hadn't really developed those same digital habits in my students.  I had tried to incorporate greater use of digital tools.  We responded to reading using Pixie, Educreations, and Explain Everything.  We set goals and talked about our reading lives in Evernote.  We participated in the global read aloud.  We commented on the reading hub blog periodically.  The problem, as I think back, was that we didn't do anything regularly or in routine.  We didn't really talk through the purposes of digital work.  Digital work wasn't consistently an option for my students.  Limited time added to the challenge.  I found it easier to work with students digitally if their classrooms had set digital spaces and digital work was just part of the way they learned.

Having just finished Digital Reading:  What's Essential by Franki Sibberson and Bill Bass, I'm finding myself thinking more and more about the work I do supporting readers in classrooms.  As I step back into my role in August I know I want to be building habits that will help my students to grow as readers, both in traditional and digital ways.  I know that I want to find ways to make digital opportunities an intentional part of our lessons.  I know I want to grow their connectedness with their reading communities, books, and authors.  Most of all, I know I want to find ways for parents and students to be [digital] readers TOGETHER.

What changes will I make?

• Build My Awareness:  Instead of creating new spaces, I want to work within classroom systems where they exist.  I want to be more aware of digital spaces students are using in their classrooms and weave these spaces into the work we are doing.  Students don't always need to respond in their notebooks.  I'm going to need to be more intentional about helping them to find times they want to share their response/thinking with others beyond our group.  If students have digital space to collect important work, I want to utilize this space more as a part of our normal routine.
• Use Digital Spaces:  When students do not have digital opportunities in their classrooms, I need to be ready to grow spaces we can use.  Finding opportunities to use our community blog space, create spaces for personal blogging/response for students who do not have them, and taking them back to our hub to connect/link to spaces that support our learning as part of our routine will be essential.
• Connect Parents to Our Learning:  I've spent a lot of time building our community hub. I need to find ways to bring parents into this space with greater intention.  I'm not sure yet how I will accomplish this. I think it will be combination of working to improve the content so parents want to go there, continually updating and reminding parents of information here through emails or consistent posting, and getting students to help guide parents into this space may be a start.  
• Intentionally Embed Digital Possibilities:  Last year I had some students who would light up when digital tools/reading sites were used during our lessons.  I need to figure out who those students are early and provide them with opportunities that might help grow their interest in literacy.  I also need to make more of an effort to balance digital possibilities with traditional print possibilities in both reading and writing.  
• Document Our Reading Stories:  Right now, I use Evernote to document our reading stories.  I'd like to find ways to turn this over to students.  One place I'd like to begin is in keeping track of the books we read (more on this in an upcoming post).  I'm also playing around with Seesaw, Google, and our new Canvas LMS to figure out how to make this work.  

Digital tools/sites provide new opportunities and space for genuine choice.  My lessons have to stay focused on literacy, but I could be doing more to open paths toward digital possibilities.  This year I want to work to build the authenticity, intention, and connectedness discussed by Franki and Bill into the way we learn so that when summer comes next year, these habits will be part of the way we work as citizens in our literate [digital] world.  

Classroom Environments that Support Inclusive Intervention

Last year was my first year in reading intervention for quite some time.  It was the first time I had been completely out of my classroom and devoting my entire day to supporting readers.  My time is spent with primary students needing additional reading support.  I don't consider my readers to be struggling or deficit, but to be a different place than most of their peers.  My role, as I see it, is to help them to build bridges and make connections so they can be a part of their reading communities.  I still find myself thinking between my role as a classroom teacher and my role as someone providing reading support.  Both roles provide different advantages and challenges in supporting readers.

To support readers I prefer situations in which I am able to go into classrooms (some advantages here).  I'm not a big fan of the word push-in.  It sounds controlling.  It sounds forceful.  For me, I think of it more as working alongside.  There's something that feels more accommodating about going into a classroom.  I feel like it sends the message that the student is most important.  It seems to say, "I'll meet you where you are."  I also find that it helps me to make stronger connections to classroom instruction and help students with transitions between lessons and the work they do in their classrooms.

I am continually reminded of how lucky I am to have teachers who are willing to set up communities that make coming into their classrooms to support readers work.  Of course, for this type of situation to work classroom teachers and support staff must be willing to work together in the best interest of the children.  Communication has to be open and honest.  Time has to be respected on a daily basis.  These are some of the characteristics I find conducive to success:

• Long Literacy Blocks:  Recently I was talking to a few friends who work in the same role I have in other districts.  They were asking how I managed to get into classrooms with schedules being the way they are.  As we talked I realized some of what makes my situation work is that teachers dedicate 120-150 minutes in literacy instruction.  In grade levels where teachers run similar schedules, it is also possible for me to flexibly move students between classrooms to better match lessons to student need without shaking up everyone's schedules.   
• Consistent Routines and Schedules:  It's easier to go into classrooms that have consistent routines and schedules.  In these classrooms students know their role across learning times and teachers are freed up to meet with small groups and individuals.  Coming into classrooms works best in classrooms that are using a workshop model.  There's much flexibility within the structure of a workshop to meet with students.  
• Timeliness:  Both teachers and support staff have to work to respect time.  If I say I am going to be in someone's classroom for a certain period of time it is important that I am there every day at that time.  Because the time of support staff is also limited, it is helpful when classroom teachers are keeping the class on schedule to help utilize the time available for specialists.  
• Cooperative Learning Environment:  I find the best inclusive intervention happens when the tone in the room is one where everyone works together, problems are solved as a community, and each member is seen for the strengths they bring the others.  In these rooms the group understands they're stronger together.  The teacher isn't the only one solving problems, and students are connected to others beyond their classroom.  
• Students Engaged in Self-Selected Work:  I have found I've had the most success in classrooms where students have choice and ownership in their work.  In these situations, students know they have time during workshops to complete projects as learning carries across days and isn't as full of deadlines.  Stepping away from their work for a bit doesn't mean they won't be able to finish.  Students given tasks to complete by the end of a literacy block worry they won't be able to finish on time.  Additionally, it is easier for me to connect our learning to the work they are doing when they are working on authentic tasks related to learning.  
• Students Are Responsible for Their Time:  When all students in the classroom are responsible for their time and have ownership in their learning they are more likely to use their time effectively.  Interruptions are much less in these types of classrooms.  
• A Hum of Learning Fills the Room:  Silence isn't necessary for me to go into a classroom.  As a matter of fact, our small group can sometimes be a distraction in a room expected to be silent.  However, in rooms where everyone respects the learning space it is much easier to meet.  In these rooms students and teachers move to one another to talk.  Voices are kept at a whisper and conversations are about learning.  There's conversation in these rooms, but it is purposeful conversation.  
• Thoughtful Movement:  It isn't necessary for everyone to stay in their seats for small group work to happen, but it is easier when movement is limited to purpose.  In classrooms where students collect books, tools, and other items needed before finding a space to begin there is less movement during the time we work together.  

As the calendar turns to August I'm busy thinking of ways I can better support students in the coming year.  What worked?  What needs to change?  I know I couldn't do any of this without the help of the classroom teachers that support these students across the day.  I'm fortunate to be part of a community that believes in the power of literacy and putting students first.

Keeping Schedules & Plans Flexible

"When I suggest that we must 'teach with a sense of urgency' I'm not talking about teaching prompted by anxiety but rather about making every moment in the classroom count, about ensuring that our instruction engages students and moves them ahead, about using daily evaluation and reflection to make wise teaching decisions."  Regie Routman, Reading Essentials (p. 41) 

Whether a classroom teacher or an intervention specialist, in our roles as educators, it becomes much too easy to get caught up in our routines and schedules.  Before we know it, we can be cycling through groups and schedules with superficial attention to the learning going on within them.  We work hard to keep an eye on learning as we observe our students.  What do they know now?  What's next?  How can we best support these next steps?

As a primary intervention teacher, I'm fortunate to work with teachers who are very willing to rethink schedules and learning plans for students.  In the last few weeks, a variety of circumstances have given me reason to look at my intervention schedule yet again and see if I can make changes.  New data, changes in teaching focus, and classroom teacher's schedules have created the need to rethink the way the day looks.  It's not always easy to revision something we have grown comfortable doing.  I'm fortunate to be able to go to other intervention teachers, our literacy coach, and other classroom teachers for fresh eyes and new possibilities in working with students.  When a new need arises in my schedule, but I can't see the solution, I know I can go to these people to puzzle it out and work to make changes.

Every time I plan a schedule change I worry just a bit as I know this will impact teachers in their classrooms.  Yet, these changes are often necessary to make optimal use of the time given for support.  I always keep an open mind to the concerns of everyone impacted by these changes.  There's always a way to accommodate the needs of everyone, it just takes flexible thinking.  These changes have to maintain a balance between support, important classroom instruction, and time for students to work independently to practice new concepts and strategies.  The teachers I work with are always so willing to rethink the time students are receiving support, keeping what's best for children in the forefront of their decision making.  There are always ways to rethink and rework schedules to better meet the needs of students and teachers.  It just sometimes takes some creative thinking.

Time.  There could always be more of it, but the truth is there are ways we can use the time we have more effectively.  What's needed next?  What's most important?  What can we set aside?  To make the best use of the time I do have with students I try to:

• group students with common needs.
• set clear learning goals.  (Even better, have students set their own learning goals.)
• make sure independent learning times are used to work on next steps.
• move children around often.  
• stay on the edge of student learning.  
• use frequent formative assessment to track progress and plan next steps.  

As an intervention teacher, I work to maintain an open dialogue with teachers.  Knowing the focus of learning in classrooms, being aware of classroom schedules, keeping classroom teachers informed of learning goals, and chatting often about students often helps us work together to find ways to support young literacy learners.  It isn't always easy, but together we accomplish much.  

Opening Doors: Stepping Inside a Learning Community

It's hard to believe we've nearly completed the first month of school.  With assessments nearing completion (that's another day's story), it feels good to be getting into the routine with students.  Yesterday, I was afforded the opportunity to come in to read aloud to Deb Frazier's first graders.  Next week, I will begin going into her classroom during reader's workshop to meet with readers needing extra support.

Upon entering I found her students gathered around the carpet engaged in a deep conversation about living in other places.  I had to smile as I listened to students share their stories of visiting family around the globe.  It wasn't long until the conversation turned to their reading lives.  Many families had started Shelfari shelves and friends were deciding "what they knew about the reader" based upon the books resting on their shelves.  Deb led the discussion linking students' home reading lives to the books available in their classroom library.  "If you read this _____, you might want to check out _____ basket."  This class is beginning to develop as a reading community.  It was obvious students were already learning to categorize books, developing a reading niche, and beginning to build conversations with one another.

Deb and I had decided to use the read aloud I would be sharing, My Pet Book, as part of the focus lesson for the morning.  I can't lie, it felt good to be holding a read aloud and sharing it with a live audience.  If you haven't read the book, a boy decides a book is the perfect pet for him.  It doesn't need to be fed.  It's quiet.  You don't have to carry a scoop when you take it for a walk.  It's perfect --- until it runs away.  Oh no!

For me, it was helpful to be able to see how the readers I will be supporting interacted with their peers in book conversations.  It was helpful for me to find out how they talked about books and listen to their responses.  It was helpful for me to see how they got started as we sent them off to read.  Of course, it was therapeutic to have an opportunity to read aloud to a group of students, especially a group as eager to be drawn into the story as this class was.

Opening Doors
In Rethinking Intervention Frost reminds us, "If you want students to do well in regular classroom instruction, then the intervention curriculum has to be aligned to the classroom curriculum (p.9)."  Opportunities for students to receive added support IN their learning communities is one way to meet the needs of students.  Helping them to apply new strategies and understandings in daily classroom work will help them continue to progress.

I'm grateful for the educators I work with each day, and their willingness to work together to help make the best decisions for kids.  We've flexibly used what we have learned about students and their learning communities to determine the best way to support them today.  We will continue to flexibly make adjustments as needed to help students grow as readers across the year.  In the weeks to come, we will be moving from getting to know each other, to celebrating all we know so we can continue to build on it, and then begin taking next steps.

Change & Possibility

"If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed, the vision pulls you."  -- Steve Jobs

Change 
After days of sorting, packing, pitching, putting things away, I looked around the now empty classroom.  It was in this moment that I realized for the first time in 26 years I was saying goodbye to spending part of my day in a classroom.  Each year, for 26 years, I've become entwined in a community of learners for a year.  Each year we've learned to share space, we've helped each other discover new learning, we've shared books, and we've laughed together.  Even during my years as a Reading Recovery teacher and a Literacy Coach I was still in a classroom for half of my day.

Suddenly I stood in the doorway and realized the significance of my decision to move to a reading intervention position in my building.  It was time for a change.  I like change.  I thrive on change.  I'd been teaching first grade in the same space (well, nearly the same space --- long story) for at least 8 years.  That's kind of a record for me and speaks to the community I am a part of which always pushes my thinking and keeps me laughing at the same time.  When I heard of a primary reading intervention spot opening up in our building, I'll admit I was intrigued.  There was so much possibility there.  The idea of thinking about something new was exciting.

As the possibility became a reality I was excited, but I was also a little worried.  How would I feel not having a classroom community?  What about reading aloud to a classroom of students?  What about not sitting beside writers every day?  What about technology?  What about my amazing team?

Possibility 

As I looked around the room, I took a deep breath and tried to gain perspective.  Walking to the new room I would use as a hub in my work with readers I started to consider the new possibilities and determine ways around potential roadblocks.  Having just come from a classroom, I have learned a lot I hope will help me in this position to support readers and teachers.  From my point of view as a classroom teacher I have learned many of the benefits of reading support and some of the challenges readers receiving support face in the classroom.  In my work as a Reading Recovery teacher, my friend, Jen Morgan and I, worked to consider classroom transitions.  This will be important to think about in the months to come.

This summer, I will be contemplating possibilities.  My bookshelf is stacked with books to read and reread about reading instruction, intervention, and shaping readers.  I'm keeping a running list on my phone of ideas I may want to consider as I begin a new year.  I'm rethinking "community" and making mine bigger.  I'm considering how I will collaborate and share information with teachers to make it easy for them to access without taking much of their time, yet allow us to stay consistent in our messages for readers.  I'm wrestling with Google vs. Evernote.  I'm thinking about technology tools and applications that will purposefully support the readers I will see each day.  I'm planning ways to transition into a new year and get in touch with readers as they do the important work of learning routines and finding their place in their classroom communities in the first weeks of school.

This summer, I'm planning possibilities.  I'm looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges that are ahead.



Let's Connect
If you work in this capacity and you have thoughts/suggestions/tips you'd like to share, please leave them in the comments.  I'd love to build connections and learn from you.  If you work with readers who receive support and you have have thoughts/suggestions/tips you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them.  I'm interested in knowing about books that have shaped your practice, challenges you've faced, organizational tips, planning suggestions, your instructional framework, structuring days that work for students and teachers, and much much more.